‘Seeing all things wisely, as “empty” of their “own-being,” the bodhisattva begins to live differently in the world. Based on the vision that this perspective enables, this new way of living absorbs energy from the surrounding world and transmits quantities of energy that can be absorbed by others. Wisdom empowers that ability, in part by […]
‘The power of trust is to be fooled by the self and have nowhere to escape. It is to be called by someone else and turn your head around. It is to be just here from birth to old age… The power of effort is to speak of what action cannot express, to act what […]
‘There are many forms of practice that may look like Zen practice, but the practice of the Way of Buddha is nothing other than knowing that, essentially, we are not deluded. If you want to get rid of delusion, or think that your present condition is not so good, and therefore want to transform yourself […]
Today is the day when Zen Center commemorates the death of Suzuki Roshi, forty-eight years ago now. The story of his dying, and the timing of it (on the first day of the Rohatsu sesshin) is told often enough. I picture him lying in the room that is now the kaisando, the room that all temples have where the […]
‘Common sense tells us that water is in a river, ocean, lake, or bowl, and that it comes out when we tip the bowl. Dogen says that wherever water goes, that place becomes a river; where water stays becomes a lake; where water becomes large and rests becomes an ocean. There is no ocean, river […]
‘You may think, “The Way of the Buddha patriarchs distinguishes individuals and capacities. We are not up to it.” Such a view is truly the stupidest of stupid views. Who among the ancients was not a body born of a mother and father? Who did not have feelings of love and affection or thoughts of […]
Perfect when clear Perfect when cloudy Mount Fuji’s original form Never changes.
