70. Zen and the Arts
The late Zen Master John “Daido” Loori authored a book titled The Zen of Creativity.Daido was a highly acclaimed Roshi who over decades helped many students find their clearlife direction. He was also a very talented photographer. His works have been exhibited widely.In the aforementioned book he talks in detail about beginning his study of […]
69. Simple advice for maintaining balance
There is an old Zen saying:“Those who wish to strengthen their sight keep their eyes closed. Those who wishto strengthen their hearing avoid sounds. Those who wish to sustain the chi intheir mind maintain their silence.” The Buddha was quoted as saying “Most important is not overusing the fivewindows of the senses,” those five are […]
68. Time Is Running Out For Humanity
On the grand scheme of things, over billions of years, human beings as a speciesare just a flash in the pan. Yes, you heard me correctly. The present trajectory ofan over populated planet, persuaded by religious dogma, and influenced bycorporate avarice, social media, smart phones and cable news have collectivelypushed homo sapiens to a precarious […]
67. Bodhidharma’s Simple Message
Bodhidharma is the 28th Ancestor in the transmission line beginning with theBuddha.He is the First Ancestor as it relates to Chan or Zen Meditation as we practice ittoday.Below are a few quotes from his famous Wake-up Sermon. “The essence of the Way is detachment.”“Whoever realizes that the six senses aren’t real. that the five aggregates […]
66. Giving Our Mind A Job
This blog is a continuation from last week. It is one thing to say, “Oh, I sit meditation an hour each day” which on it’s surface is wonderful, but what about the remaining 23 hours? Are you present in each activity or are you moved around by events and circumstances.True samadhi was characterized by the […]
65. Zen and Taoism Continued
Last week I placed a few Taoist teachings side by side with Zen to demonstrate similarities.Let’s continue that format briefly again this week. The twelfth century Japanese Roshi, Dogen Zenji famously taught “to thinknonthinking.” But we are always thinking. The forever non stop thinking mind ispolluted like some gassy swamp. All kinds of things bubble […]
64. Connect the Dots
My teacher Zen Master Seung Sahn was often heard saying “Open mouth already a mistake.”It was a simple way of reminding his students that constantly engaging our linear, discursive,rational, thinking mind essentially leads us into intellectual interpretations and conflicts. “Tryingto fix the mind with the mind is like washing off blood with blood.” It may […]
63. BODHIDHARMA
The 28th ancestor in the line of Buddhism, Bodhidharma also became known asthe first Zen Ancestor.An oft quoted statement by Bodhidharma, one regarded as essential in Zen is thefollowing: “Without reliance on words and speech,A special transmission outside the scriptures;Directly pointing to the human mind,See your true nature and become Buddha.” In addition to this […]
62. Still Body, Still Breath, Still Mind
Ups and downs in everyday affairs is zen teaching. Don’t attach to either. Try to become awareof the stillness that is already within you. At every opportunity, access this stillness.Know in your heart that it is readily available in each and every moment. We choose to abandonit. Somehow over the years through education and parental […]
61. Throwing Away Words and Speech
This writing represents the 58th blog in a weekly series that has been posted each Monday onthe Zen Center of Las Vegas’ webpage. My original intent was to share the more than threedecades of formal practice experience hoping that someone somewhere could benefit.So far so good. Diligence lies in it not being the product of […]