Alex Kakuyo is a Buddhist teacher and breathwork facilitator.A former Marine, he served in both Iraq and Afghanistan before finding the Dharma through a series of happy accidents.Alex has a degree in philosophy from Wabash College and he helps students transform daily activities into spiritual practice.He is the author of Perfectly Ordinary: Buddhist Teachings for Everyday Life.
You can follow him by visiting his blog, The Same Old Zen and on Twitter: @sameoldzen.
When Life is Poop: Buddhist Ways to Fertilize the Garden
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo As a homesteader, I spend a lot of time dealing with manure. I clean it out of the cat's litter boxes. I step in it each time I feed the chickens and I collect it from our two rabbits, Belladonna and Oleander. That last part might be...
Enlightenment is Not the Goal (Hint: It’s a Starting Point)
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo A student sat down in front of their teacher and asked, "How do caterpillars become butterflies?" The teacher replied, "They don't---only butterflies can become butterflies." This koan comes from my new book, A Year of Zen...
My Bodhisattva Vow: I’ll Do My Best to Stop Your Suffering
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo In a couple of weeks, I'll have my one-year anniversary of living on a homestead. I can say with full honesty that I love this life. Growing food and caring for animals is rewarding. Watching the land grow and shrink throughout the year is...
I’m Buddhist and I Have Faith When Things Get Hard
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo Faith is a dirty word in American Buddhism. When teachers discuss having faith in Buddha and his teachings, for example, there's a lot of hand-wringing involved. We're quick to explain that faith in Buddhism is more akin to trust, and...
Buddhism is Finding Happiness in a World Filled with Suffering
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo Suffering is an inescapable part of life. The sutras tell us that every person has a nature to be born, to grow old, to get sick and to die. On top of that, we lose the things we want, and we gain the things we don't want. The landscape of...
What Does a Buddhist Do on Christmas?
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo On Christmas morning, Buddhists find themselves in a tricky situation. They may wonder if celebrating Christmas is in-keeping with the Dharma, or if they should abstain from the celebrations all together. However, a brief survey of...
How Buddhist Practice is Like Cutting the Grass
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo Many years ago, I dreamed of having a house in the country. I imagined how it would feel to eat food from my garden. I visualized chickens flapping their wings and running around in the coop that I'd built for them, and I strategized ways...
There are Buddhas Everywhere: Why We Need to Get Rid of the American Me-First Mindset
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo In America, we have a culture that is self-centered and individualistic. We believe that each person must look out for their own self-interest, working to earn as much money as possible at the expense of others. Ideas like...
The Desire for Something Else: Adam, Eve & The Buddha
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo One of the first bible stories that I learned involved Adam, Eve, and the garden of Eden. As the story goes, Adam was the first man, created by God from the dust of the earth. And Eve was his wife, created from Adam's rib in order...
A Buddhist “How-to” on Forgiveness
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo As Buddhists, we have an unnatural pressure placed upon us to forgive people who harm us. This is to be expected. After all, humans are social creatures, and they hate conflict. Unfortunately, the quickest way to end conflict is ask the...
In the Midst of Political War, We Sit on Cushions and Pray for Peace
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo Throughout history, the only way for someone to forcibly takeover a country was through intrigue and bloodshed. In fact, some of history's greatest rulers (Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Shaka Zulu, etc.) were also it's greatest...
Is it Better to Have Never Been Born: Buddhist Thoughts on Suffering and Life
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo David Benatar is the head of philosophy at Cape Town University and the author of Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence. In his book, David argues that bringing new life into the world is an immoral act. In order...
Cardi B a Bodhisattva? Dharma Lessons from Her Latest WAP Video
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo Cardi B is a Bodhisattva who appeared on the VH1 Reality TV series: Love and Hip Hop New York from 2015 to 2017. In June of 2017, Atlantic Records released her first commercial Hip Hop single, Bodak Yellow, which reached number one on the...
A Buddhist View of Dealing with Online Bullies & Trolls
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo The greatest troll of all time was a man named Andy Kaufman. Kaufman was born on January 17, 1949, and he made his living as a performance artist, professional wrestler and self-proclaimed "song and dance"...
Sacred Little Altars Everywhere: My Altar Helps Me Walk the Path
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo When I became a Buddhist I was against the use of altars. In part, this was due to a youth spent in the evangelical Christian church, where we received daily warnings against false idols and eternal damnation. It...