‘When my teacher, Soyen Shaku, was twenty-nine years old, he went to Ceylon, and stayed there for three years. On his way home, he took a steamer from Singapore to Siam. He was very poor, and barely had enough money to be a deck passenger. He was hungry, and suffered from thirst. Nobody knew the […]
‘A monk asked, “I am chaotically adrift and drowning; how can I get out of it?” The master just sat motionless. The monk said, “I’m asking you sincerely.” The master said, “Where are you ‘adrift and drowning’?”‘(The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu)
‘If you say that you can only take care of what’s inside of your skin, and what’s outside of your skin is someone else’s problem, that doesn’t work. Your external body, limitlessly opened, is the larger part of your body, actually. The inside of your skin is a very small part. It’s a landmark, where […]
‘How can we determine if we are in the present moment? There is no fixed criterion to measure this because it is never hidden or revealed. At any moment, the present moment is the present moment without fail. Therefore, in our lives, the present moment is the present moment anytime and anywhere. However, if we […]
‘If you’re just looking to confirm what you’re already thinking about people and the world, the Buddha’s teachings might not be the right place for you. It’s the job of the Buddha’s teachings to challenge assumptions and show you that you have a limited perspective if you think you’re the only one in the right. […]
‘I don’t think taking sides suggests that we negate the humanity of everyone else’s position. We take sides and we understand that we must take care of the whole. We take sides in a way that doesn’t take sides. We take sides in a way that doesn’t separate. It distinguishes and it discerns, but it […]
‘At this time, while we continue aiming to arrive at freedom, as the ultimate treasure-object, this intention to arrive is itself real manifestation—and so, right in the moment of getting free there is expression of the truth, which is realized without expectation. It is beyond the power of the mind and beyond the power of […]
