P is for Puja (a Buddhist ritual form of worship)
There are many forms of Puja in Buddhism, from the simple offering of flowers and a bit of chanting (aka community singing), to a more elaborate ceremony that may involve bending your bones to perform full-body prostrations - a kind of spiritual workout for your embodied self.
Zim-Zen Tip: A little bit of puja is a good thing and can be very inspiring but do be careful. Doing full-length prostrations can be strenuous and may cause embarrassment if you have to call an ambulance to help you get off up the floor.
Q is for....
Well, after consulting three Buddhist dictionaries I can't find any entries beginning with the letter "Q" - although the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism cheats and includes the single line "Questions of King Milinda", so I think I'll cheat too and as far as I'm concerned, Q is for Queuing.
Zim-Zen Tip: You can safely bet your weekly pension on the fact that you will almost certainly spend a lot more time queuing than you will doing formal ZimZen practice. One way of utilising the time you spend waiting at supermarket checkouts or at bus stops is to develop what we call a "two-for-the-price-of-one" practice - devote equal time to reflecting on patience as the queue gets longer and on compassion for those who barge in front of you.
R is for Rebirth (born-again Buddhism)
This is the pre-Buddhist idea that after we die we come back in some form to do it all over again - and again. But as you've grown older you might have noticed that the "birth" bit of rebirth fades, and the reality of the fact that we will all eventually pop our cloggs becomes more prominent.
Zim-Zen Tip: It might be helpful to focus on "re-dying" rather than rebirth as it was a very long time ago when you made your entry into the universe this time around. One word of warning though: taking comfort in the idea of rebirth can lead to the desire to procrastinate - to put things off in this life that you might (or might not) deal with in your next one.
Zim-Zen Tip: A little bit of puja is a good thing and can be very inspiring but do be careful. Doing full-length prostrations can be strenuous and may cause embarrassment if you have to call an ambulance to help you get off up the floor.
Q is for....
Well, after consulting three Buddhist dictionaries I can't find any entries beginning with the letter "Q" - although the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism cheats and includes the single line "Questions of King Milinda", so I think I'll cheat too and as far as I'm concerned, Q is for Queuing.
Zim-Zen Tip: You can safely bet your weekly pension on the fact that you will almost certainly spend a lot more time queuing than you will doing formal ZimZen practice. One way of utilising the time you spend waiting at supermarket checkouts or at bus stops is to develop what we call a "two-for-the-price-of-one" practice - devote equal time to reflecting on patience as the queue gets longer and on compassion for those who barge in front of you.
R is for Rebirth (born-again Buddhism)
This is the pre-Buddhist idea that after we die we come back in some form to do it all over again - and again. But as you've grown older you might have noticed that the "birth" bit of rebirth fades, and the reality of the fact that we will all eventually pop our cloggs becomes more prominent.
Zim-Zen Tip: It might be helpful to focus on "re-dying" rather than rebirth as it was a very long time ago when you made your entry into the universe this time around. One word of warning though: taking comfort in the idea of rebirth can lead to the desire to procrastinate - to put things off in this life that you might (or might not) deal with in your next one.
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