‘Joy isn’t something we have to find. Joy is who we are if we’re not preoccupied with something else. When we try to find joy, we are simply adding a thought—and an unhelpful one, at that—onto the basic fact of what we are. We don’t need to go looking for joy. But we do need […]
I realised, after I had posted the other day, that I had left out one element of the two different rides I had been on: riding up the mountain was all about effort, and riding along the water was all about no effort. Among my dharma talk drafts, I have one that centres on that […]
‘When we first come to Zen practice, many of us think that is is only about us individually. We think it’s about “me” getting better at “something.” We might want to be a better student or parent or runner – or just a better person. Personally I wanted to be free of my fear: fear […]
‘This is the great secret of joyful effort and perhaps its most important aspect: Joyful effort isn’t something you do. Joyful effort is life, it’s sharing life. It come to you from elsewhere, flows through you when you are ready to allow it. Once you stop getting in its way, stop straining, stop thinking your […]
‘Fellow monks, this is a good time; just make effort. Time does not wait for people. Extinguish the flames from your head. Entrusting what is in front of your face, how could this depend on expression in words? One who actively responds to what meets their eyes is called a superior person who studies the […]
As I like to point out, Dogen’s title is not claiming to be a sutra about mountains and waters, but telling us that the mountains and waters are themselves the sutra – if we pay attention to them rather than thinking we know what they are. I was originally going to title this post ‘things […]
Billions of offerings to buddhas create boundless benefaction. How can it compare to reading an ancient teaching? Yet, letters are merely inked on white paper. Please open your eyes and see through immediately. A picture I have used before.
‘The only zazen is the zazen that’s real, and the only zazen that’s real is the zazen that’s happening right now. The one that happened last week where it felt really good—it’s not real. And the one that you envision ten years from now, after you’ve been doing this every day and it’s really become a part […]
‘I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about not knowing what to do in zazen and thinking I am not doing it “right.” I think everyone must go through this. My relationship wth zazen has of course changed over the years, and I don’t worry any more about doing it “wrong” or “right,” as long […]
‘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 […]
