Category: Zen teachings
living into what cannot be solved
Mindfulness allows us to live into all that cannot be solved. It’s also a gateway to equanimity, the peace of the present moment. The other day, I listened to a podcast of an interview with Frank…
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this is why we meditate
In the present moment we discover a spontaneity beyond time, where there is no aging, no measuring, no comparing to what was, and no worry about what will be. Perhaps I get a little carried away…
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Compassion in Buddhism: Why does Kuan Yin have so many hands?
Kuan Yin is an archetype of compassion in Buddhism. Sometimes portrayed as female, or male, or androgynously, they manifest the impulse to help suffering beings. In his celebrated Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot observed: Human kind…
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the most important thing
This meditation is a self-discovery of the treasure of our very own being. Someone once asked Suzuki Roshi, the pioneering Zen teacher from Japan who founded the Zen Center of San Francisco in 1969: “Roshi, what’s…
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to love the world just as it is
Good poetry can show intricacies of meaning and feeling easily lost. This is why I trust the vision of poets and consider good poetry as mindfulness. The Zen teacher Sobun Katherine Thanas in a book which…
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not knowing is most intimate
Relaxing into not-knowing is a key to the present moment. When you don’t know, all possibilities are open. How do we live our life knowing that it’s temporary? We have this opportunity to live this life,…
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the universe marinating itself
As we marinate in the present moment, we let go of the urgencies of the self, the agendas of the ego. Our marvelous mindfulness is a kind of marinating in the present moment. Seemingly solid things,…
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In Buddhism aging is a practice
As we approach the last pages of our human story, in Buddhism aging as a spiritual practice encourages us to be softer, more vulnerable, more caring and loving. The other day at the hospital, I ran…
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eating the blame
If we know how to experience our discomfort gracefully, we suffer much less. We’re no longer afraid of eating the blame when this is called for. One of my favorite Zen stories goes like this: One…
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appreciate your life
We savor our life just as it is, messy, littered with abandoned to-do lists and unfulfilled expectations. We appreciate our life now, we’re not just managing it. When asked about the fruit of meditative life,…
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let go of expectations
As we let go of expectations in our mindfulness practice, it generalizes in our life-we are more present and responsive, and less reactive. Buddhist practice is not so much about answering the so-called big questions of…
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it’s crooked!
There is a lot of pressure on the whole pandemic New Year’s thing, right? I mean, the pandemic, economic turmoil; not to mention I am behind a few loads of laundry. And all of a sudden…
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a moment of well-being
Despite all that is wrong, I can still take delight in a moment of well-being. News stories are not the conversation starters they used to be. In the day, I could fill an awkward gap by…
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how to meditate every day when it seems impossible
The suffering in the world is overwhelming, but the whole mess looks differently when we when know how to meditate every day. Everyone is frazzled. Shootings, politics, racial and economic disparities, climate catastrophies. That’s why it’s really…
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an ordinary new year wish
While everyone is wishing their co-workers, friends and family a fantastic new year, I would settle for an ordinary new year. Wishing others an entire year of monumental experiences or events, is curious to me. I…
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reading Suzuki Roshi 43 years later
I remember the first Dharma book I ever bought. It was Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Suzuki Roshi. I still have that dog-eared, multi-highlight layered paperback I bought in San Francisco in 1979. It’s been a…
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intimacy with all things
When asked about the fruit of the spiritual life, the 13th century Japanese monk Dogen Zenji replied: “Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.” Mindfulness allows us to intimately see a flower, or watch a sunset, or…
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focusing the mind
With mindfulness we learn how to single-task, leading to focusing the mind, bringing clarity, ease and contentment in our lives. There is a Zen story and the power of focus told by the Vietnamese monk Thich…
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drink deep
Meditation practice is about coming back to love and compassion, and celebrating the one who is doing it, AKA self-compassion. In one of Tara Brach’s online talks on self-compassion, she tells a story about the work…
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beginner’s mind
The prominent mindfulness meditation teacher Jack Kornfield tells this story illustrating the freshness of what has been called beginner’s mind in one of his talks about a Western woman who ordained under Ajahn Chah in Thailand…
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Wash your bowls–meditation in daily life
The practice of meditation in daily life allows us to become present in all aspects of our life, leading to anive integration of body and mind. There’s an old Zen story that I like very much.…
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the church of what's happening now
This is our true home. We must live here, for it is only there that we are fully alive, in the church of what’s happening now. Our son Kupai started Kindergarten last week. When I woke…
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