Zen Sun

Give Thanks!

Neuroscience Reveals How Gratitude Literally Rewires Your Brain to Be Happier Look in the mirror when you are brushing your teeth, and think about something you...

“Dogen Zen-ji said, ‘To know yourself is to forget yourself.’ We might think that knowing ourselves is a very ego-centered thing, but by beginning to look so clearly and so honestly at ourselves—at our emotions, at our thoughts, at who we really are—we begin to dissolve the walls that separate us from others. Somehow all of these walls, these ways of feeling separate from everything else and everyone else, are made up of opinions. They are made up of dogma; they are made of prejudice. These walls come from our fear of knowing parts of ourselves...
“So to know yourself is to forget yourself. This is to say that when we make friends with ourselves we no longer have to be so self-involved. It’s a curious twist: making friends with ourselves is a way of not being so self-involved anymore.
Then Dogen Zen-ji goes on to say, ‘To forget yourself is to become enlightened by all things.’ When we are not so self-involved, we begin to realize that the world is speaking to us all of the time. Every plant, every tree, every animal, every person, every car, every airplane is speaking to us, teaching us, awakening us. It’s a wonderful world, but we often miss it.”

Buddhism and “The Matrix” Each Friday, we share three topical longreads in our Weekend Reader newsletter. This week, LionsRoar.com editor Sam Littlefair reflects on the Buddhist themes in The Matrix, 20 years after the film's release.