‘To approach real peace requires a very strong, stable, spiritual commitment, a vow. Just take a vow. Make a commitment toward real peace, just like Buddha sitting under the dead tree. But remember, even though we do make a commitment toward real peace, there will be many individuals who don’t accept our way. So finally, […]
Encountering whatever meets the eye, all is intimate. In sitting, lying or walking meditation, the body is completely real. When someone asks the meaning of this, A speck of dust appears within the Dharma eye treasury. (Extensive Record, vol 10, 66)
‘Basically the only thing we have to do is “just sit there” and be “unfabricated.” Now how hard could that be? Just sit there and be unfabricated. Well if you are honest, what is it that goes through our minds about 99.9% of the time? What are all these thoughts about? I sometimes call it […]
Last Monday I rode my bike over to the Embarcadero at noon to meet my dharma brother Zachary, who had brought his car over from North Beach with all the zafus and goza mats; the parking fairies were on our side, and he got a spot right by the open space we were planning to […]
‘The Buddha addressed Sariputra: “Such a wonderful Law as this is only preached by the buddha-tathagatas on rare occasions, just as the udumbara flower is seen but once in long periods. Sariputra, believe me, all of you; in the Buddha’s teaching no word is false. Sariputra, the meaning of the laws which the buddhas expound […]
‘Just because it’s so very close, you cannot get this Truth out of your own eyes. When you open your eyes it strikes you, and when you close your eyes it’s not lacking either. When you open your mouth you speak of it, and when you shut your mouth it appears by itself. But if […]
‘Of course, just sitting is not as easy as it sounds. All kinds of thoughts come up, all kinds of sayings, all kinds of delusions and ideas. All kinds of problems as always coming to interrupt zazen, one after another the thoughts come out: we question whether what we are doing is doing any good, […]
On my commutes, I am still enjoying spending at least a part of the time reading zen books; this gives me plenty of material to fill this blog with, but also is an important part of my current personal practice. Sometimes a phrase I read will just land in a way that stops everything. It […]
A shower in the middle of a fight about irrigation.
‘Remain solitary without dependency and drop off all of reality. Mixed together with the ten thousand forms, be clear and apparent. Eminent and vigorous on each bit of ground, be like the moon stamped on the water, flowing but not flowing. Like the wind in the sky, move but do not move. Having become thoroughly […]
