‘A wall can be a barrier. A wall can be a protection. A wall often represents a problem. Most of us have a tendency to turn our backs on our problems. Facing the wall is turning in the direction in which we will take responsibility for our own problems. Facing away from the wall may […]
I leave for England in two and a half weeks, and I do seem to have compacted the time down before then in my mind, so it feels quite imminent. I am trying to make sure loose ends are taken care of – not least by stockpiling posts on here for the next couple of […]
‘”Emptiness,” understood as the interdependence of all things, functions in meditation to provide the requisite conditions for compassionate generosity. Meditating on interdependence, we develop the realization that we share a collective destiny with others, especially those in our immediate community, but ultimately all living beings. The more we contemplate it, the more we realize in […]
‘Actually, hearing dharma is not limited to ear sense and ear consciousness. You hear dharma with complete power, complete mind, complete body, and complete way from before your parents were born, before the Empty Eon, through the entire future, the unlimited future. You can hear dharma with body first and mind last.’ (Shobogenzo Mujo Seppo)
‘To take the unsettles self in hand, under whatever conditions, and return to the mind with which one set out; to pick oneself up again, after the mind changes, weakens, and breaks down, and stiffen the determination; to carry through the oft-reconstructed original vow – isn’t this the true meaning of courage?’ (Novice To Master) […]
‘Dogen never speaks of realization as a one-time thing. You don’t say, Well, I got it. I’m done. You ate breakfast this morning, but it doesn’t mean you’re done eating—in the same way, understanding is not something that you get and then you keep. Not true understanding, anyway. Understanding is something that’s happening all the time. […]
Small birds in the pine Going about their business Overhead – unseen.
