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Sep 23, 2020
Martin Goodson

The Zen Gateway Blog

Dharma, Culture, Philosophy & Life-ways

Here you will find blogs, curated videos and podcasts, books, musings and resources for new ways of living and relating in and through the world.

Compound eye of Antarctic krill as imaged by an electron microscope

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Blog: The ‘Dharmafication’ of Science

Is science being infiltrated by estoeric ideas from Eastern religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism? What are the ramifications for Western cultural understanding and how we see ourselves in the world?

The Heart Sutra: The Swiss Army Knife of Mahayana Buddhism

One of the best known sutras, chanted throughout Asia and the Far East, has multiple uses and seems to evolve through time and place.

Blog: “Tell me then, where do you go after you have died?”

Blog
Do the Buddhist scriptures really give us a definitive answer to the question of life and death?

Blog: Can We Ever Truly Leave Omelas?

Blog
At a time when the price paid for western prosperity is being held under the microscope, it may be worth asking, can we ever truly separate ourselves from the society into which we were born?

Transfer of Merit: A Short History of its Practice

Blog
Why do we dedicate merit at the end of meditation or chanting? What is its significance and do we really need to do it? 

Weaponised Psychology

How Facebook turns your demons against you - and what you can do about it.
A whistleblower gives an insight into how big tech uses emotional triggers to increase clicks. Developing emotional intelligence can give us a bulwark against being manipulated in this way.

Dragon Slaying: A Policy For Disaster?

Blog
Martin Goodson examines how the myths that have shaped our culture are molding our perceptions of the crises we face today.

Dragon-Slaying: A Policy for Disaster (part II)

Blog
Is it is good to annihilate evil? The Buddha's teachings on dependent origination show us how 'slaying dragons' may have grave consequences for the future.

On What Does Our Dignity Stand?: A Policy for Disaster (part III)

Blog
Humanity's feeling of incompleteness is not intrinsic to our biology and may be a symptom of a much larger sickness within our many cultures. 

What Do Ancient Greek Theatre & Zazen Have in Common?

Blog
Zen practice and the ancient Greeks, have a lot more in common than you may think…

Psychopaths, altruists and the persuasive power of the podcast

Blog
Rachel Hilton takes a look at what Psychopaths can teach us about compassion.

Drama, the most important lesson on a School Timetable…

Blog
Nick Julius argues that the teaching of Drama in our secondary schools may be more important than the teaching of ‘hard’ subjects like Mathematics and Science

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone!  

Blog
After (begrudgingly) starting a gratitude journal, Rachel Hilton discovered things about herself which had remained hidden for years.

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Further reading

Mumonkan: The Gateless Gate by Mumon Ekai with commentary by Soko...

Book Review
Even before opening this book, I knew that this review would be whole-heartedly endorsing it and recommending it to our readership.

Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Robert Frost.

Poet's Corner
Robert frost captures the Buddha's teachings on The Three Signs of Being in this short stanza.

The Zen of Poetry

Poet's Corner
How to use poetry in Zen training.

Spirited Away: An environmental message about being a small player.

Subscribers contributions
At a time when societies are searching for the big ideas that will save the world, Adrian Mathews agues that the film Spirited Away may offer us a more local solution.