Essays by Yin De
Just Who Am I?
by Yin De Shakya
Published Apr 27, 2012
Each of us has a narrator in our head. An internal voice that we call “me”. And most of us assume that this narrator is real. We assume that it’s our true self. Some believe it’s the thing which inhabits the body and the brain rather than something that arises... Read more
Reincarnation - a.k.a., New Year's Day
by Yin De Shakya
Published Dec 30, 2011
It’s a new year; a time for looking forward, and a time for looking back. Each time we celebrate “New Year’s Day” we are giving ourselves the opportunity to begin anew. It’s a chance for a fresh start. It is, for many of us, an opportunity to release feelings of guilt... Read more
The Prayer of a Zen Buddhist Atheist
by Yin De Shakya
Published Feb 19, 2011
I gave a talk recently at the request of a church group that was interested in my perspective on prayer and worship as a Zen Buddhist and an Atheist. I told them that even though I am a Zen Buddhist and an Atheist (in the conventional sense of the... Read more
Form and Emptiness: A Buddhist Defines "God"
by Yin De Shakya
Published Jan 07, 2010
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." A. Einstein Some Unitarian Universalists claim a belief in "God" in one form or another. Some consider themselves Agnostic and others happily call themselves Atheists. Some Unitarian Universalists are Buddhists, and... Read more
Hope and Faith
by Yin De, OHY
Published Nov 02, 2005
A friend asked me to elaborate on how, as Buddhists, we should deal with concepts, words, and emotions that seem to go against what we're taught but still seem to be as "real" as they were before we came to Buddhism. He asked, specifically, about the concepts of hope and... Read more
How "Zen" is That?
by Yin De, OHY
Published Sep 16, 2004
A friend of mine has a habit of asking me; "How Zen is that?" whenever I seem to react with any degree of emotion, particularly when I am angry about something. A year or so ago, when one of my neighbors learned that my shaved head wasn't a fashion-statement and... Read more
The Fire of Desire: The Buddha's Second Noble Truth
by Yin De, OHY
Published May 07, 2003
Today, I'd like to talk about the Second Noble Truth of Buddhism - desire and craving, the cause of suffering. It's human nature to want more of what we like and to have better than what we have - not only for ourselves, but for our children and the people... Read more