Daniel Scharpenburg is an independent Dharma teacher in Kansas City. He gives teachings regularly online through the Open Heart Project. He’s studied with many different teachers of diverse lineages.
He was trained and certified as a meditation teacher at the Rime Center Buddhist Community. He received additional training in the Zen tradition, both as a monk in the Korean Zen tradition and as a lay teacher in the Caodong Chan tradition. He decided it’s better to be a regular person. He has taken the vows of a lay zen teacher and also Bodhisattva vows. He teaches people how to find a more awakened way to engage their lives and relationships through the Bodhisattva path of wisdom and compassion.
His writing has appeared in Lion’s Roar, The Secular Buddhist, Patheos, and Elephant Journal.
He has given public teachings at the Rime Buddhist Center and at the Heartland Pagan Festival.
How Much of Your Time Will You Waste Today Worrying?
By Daniel Scharpenburg “Take all the courage you have left Wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head.” -Mumford and Sons We waste a lot of mental energy; we are wasting it all the time. I only use the word "waste"...
Zen Stories & Paying Attention to the Little Things
By Daniel Scharpenburg What we call the Zen school is really a conglomeration. It includes the original teaching of the Buddha, which I call First Turning Buddhism, and the spirit of Chinese culture at the time. What we call “Zen meditation”...
Why Do Some Buddhists Wear Robes?
By Daniel Scharpenburg I have a set of robes that I don't like to wear. To me putting on robes feels kind of like playing dress up. Why would I dress up like a Chinese or Korean Zen teacher? I'm an American Zen teacher. Also they remind me a little too...
How the Netflix Show Atypical Reminds Me of the Metta Sutta
By Daniel Scharpenburg I started watching this show on Netflix called Atypical. When I say “started watching” I mean I watched all 18 episodes in this month (I like Netflix a lot). It’s a coming of age tale about a teenager named Sam who is...
You are not Alone: Finding a Spiritual Community
By Daniel Scharpenburg Buddhism was created because a guy sat under a tree by himself. Prior to that he studied with some spiritual teachers, but he didn't find the relief from suffering that he was looking for. Then he practiced asceticism...
Faith in Buddhism?
By Daniel Scharpenburg In Buddhism there was a development called Pure Land. This movement started around the year 100, so…700 years after the life of the Buddha. It began in India but it really took off in China, and was a teaching that had...
People Ask, Why are You Buddhist? This is Why:
By Daniel Scharpenburg “I seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened by this thing that I’ve become.” -Toto I'm often asked by people, "Why are you Buddhist?" The Buddha felt the unease of life, the same unease that we often feel today....
Deshan, the Food Truck & the Importance of Practice
By Daniel Scharpenburg “All the profound doctrines are but a speck of dust In a vast void. All the great affairs of the world are but a drop Of water cast into a bottomless chasm.” Deshan was a Buddhist monk in southwest China. He...
Drugged Dharma: Psychedelics in Buddhist Practice?
By Daniel Scharpenburg Lion's Roar published an article on August 16th called, The New Wave of Psychedelics in Buddhist Practice. It's about people who are bringing mushrooms and LSD and who knows what else into their Buddhist practice. One...
Going Forth From Home: Buddhism is Rebellion
By Daniel Scharpenburg Walking the Buddhist path is an act of rebellion. I think people sometimes lose sight of that. In the Buddha’s time there was a really rigid system where people weren’t allowed to move up in life. If your dad was a shoe...
Not Happy? Change What You’re Doing
By Daniel Scharpenburg My kids fight with each other. They’re three years apart and they’ve had quite a struggle over the last few years. I hear a lot of, “He’s being annoying!” and “She’s yelling at me!” and “I want him to stop looking at...
Recognizing Buddha Nature
By Daniel Scharpenburg "I glean what the harvesters have overlooked or rejected. So why are their baskets empty while mine is bursting with so much good food? They just didn’t recognize their Buddha Nature when they saw it. Everything in life...
Raw: My Journey from Anxiety to Joy {Book Review}
By Kathleen Willis Amid a lovely recollected scene in which a healer that Mahaya Carter has gone to see tenderly turned her in each direction to pray and gather blessings, she quotes the Indian poet Tagore, “For years I have been stringing and...
This is the Reason Why I am a Reluctant Monk
By Daniel Scharpenburg My first blog was called Reluctant Monk. I named it that because religious authority makes me nervous. Well, I guess authority in general makes me nervous, but especially religious authority. I was a Zen Monk back then....
Light My Fire: How to Make the World a Better Place
By Daniel Scharpenburg “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” -the Buddha I've been thinking a lot about what we're...
