Mind makes everything. If we don't get underneath that, it's all playing with the branches and the leaves. We can have a better life, but not really getting to the base of it. Our teaching is keep a great question. The great question in Zen practice is "What Am I?". "What Am I?", you could say,...
Faith is a tricky word. For me, I have to bring Great Question to the word faith, because it's not, traditionally in Western religion when we think of faith, like faith in God, faith in some supernatural thing, or experience outside of ourselves.
Faith in Buddhism has nothing to do with anything...
Many people who start practicing Zen want all the bad thoughts and feelings to go away and only want to keep the good ones. There is nothing wrong with that, and that is what can lead us to practice. If we stick with it and practice correctly, we see the struggles we are experiencing as less...
When you fall asleep, your conditioning runs the show. You just play things out the way conditioning would play it out. It’s only through being alive, aware, and awake in the moment that we are in, that there’s a possibility to change that. In Buddhist terminology, we say if you fall...
Correct is not conventionally correct, because it’s not about right versus wrong. The Buddha talked about Clear Seeing, being able to perceive the moment as it is. When we talk about correct situation, we’re talking about perceiving the moment as it is, without adding to it our own...
Like or dislike is what creates a prison that we live in. So if you only practice when you want to practice and then don’t practice when you don’t want to practice, that’s a fundamental problem. You are following the winds of your desire, and that’s what leads to...
The Diamond Sutra says that all formations are always appearing and disappearing. If you view all appearances as non-appearances, then you can see Buddha.
If you want to see Buddha, Buddha has already disappeared. If you don't want to see Buddha, then seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting...
During the Buddha’s time, there was a farmer who had many problems. He told the Buddha all about how difficult his life was. The weather never cooperated with what he wanted. It was too wet or too dry, so his crops often failed. His wife was very critical of him, and his children didn't...
Our teaching is the way of compassion. When we can recognize the suffering of others as they act, we can move in the direction of forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness and reconciliation is the way to change our world to a more peaceful and loving place.
Our practice allows us the...
The teaching is so prevalent. The guiding wisdom is all around us. All we have to do is listen. Zen Master Seung Sahn used to say "try, try, try for 10,000 years non-stop."
10,000 years non-stop means forever. Forever means right now. 10,000 years is too long. But right now, it’s possible.
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The Four Great Vows, sometimes referred to as the Four Bodhisattva Vows, are used both in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and in Zen. A “Bodhisattva” is someone who dedicates their lives to helping others. Instead of relieving our own suffering, we also help others when they are...
Our preference is always for the good feeling. If we have the good feeling, we feel like things are right. But if we have the bad feeling, we think things are wrong and we need to somehow fix it so it will be right. The problem with that is we are attached to one particular result and in the...