Loyalty part 1
Sawaki Roshi: When Hojo's troops attacked Masashige Kusunoki's Chihaya castle, it was said that fallen warriors of the Hojo Clan were praised by their friends as they met "gloroius death" on the...
View ArticleMind and Zazen
Here is one of my favorite articles. It was a talk given by Shohaku Okumura at the Stillpoint Zen Center in Pittsburgh. Enjoy!Mind and ZazenA Lecture by Shohaku Okumura Posture, breathing and mind are...
View ArticleAiming at No Target Sitting in the Midst of Contradictions
Here is part two of the talk I posted yesterday. Another good one. On a side note, Okumura Sensei's website has just been updated and has a very good introduction to zazen audio...
View ArticleLoyalty part 2
Sawaki Roshi: With the Sino-Japanese War(1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War(1904-1905), we enlarged Japanese territory and annexed Korea. We believed that it really happened. But when we lost World...
View ArticleHuman Advancement
Sawaki Roshi: After all their efforts, racking their brains as intensely as possible, people today have comeback to a deadlock. Human beings are idiots. We set ourselves up as wise men and subsequently...
View ArticleGiving Credit Where Credit is Due
On this lazy Sunday I decided to pick up "To Meet The Real Dragon" by Gudo Nishijima and give it a read( for the millionth time).What strikes me about this book, and Nishijima's writings in general(as...
View ArticleOne's Own Opinion
Sawaki Roshi: Human beings are not the same. Our consciousness is our own individual possession.******Everyone just sees the world from their own hole. They drag their opinion and thoughts along with...
View ArticleZen Master Patrick
Here is a funny parody on Zen.Go to minute 3:30. In this instance, Stanley Squarepants is representative of what actually happens in zazen.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g24UxCIx8QAEnjoy :)Al
View ArticleCollecting Food and Hatching Eggs
Sawaki Roshi: Everyone steeps himself in his own life or lives, blindly believing that there must be something to his daily activity. But in reality, a human being's life does not differ from a...
View ArticleCalculating The Difference
Sawaki Roshi: During World War Two, I visited a colliery and went into a coal mine in Kyushu.Like the colliers, I put on a hat with a lamp and went down in an elevator. For some time, I thought the...
View ArticleOur inertial lives
Sawaki Roshi: A strange creature, the human being; groping in the dark with an intelligent look.****Human beings strive only to avoid boredom.****A lot of things in this world attract you. But once you...
View ArticleMoney
Sawaki Roshi: If you have no money, you are in trouble. But it's good to know that there are more important things than money. If you have no sexual desire, something is wrong. But it's good to know...
View ArticleEveryone is naked
Sawaki Roshi: To wander from place to place in this transitory world is to pursue "name". A person is born naked. But then he is given a name, registered, and covered with clothes, and a nipple is...
View ArticleGiven that I will die
Sawaki Roshi:A shower in the middle of a fight about irrigation.After a long drought, they fight over water for the rice fields. In the middle of the fight, a shower hits them. Since the fight about...
View ArticleGhosts and the power of suggestion
Sawaki Roshi: People often ask me if ghost exist. Anyone who thinks about such matters is a ghost.Uchiyama Roshi: Sawaki Roshi always expressed himself unequivocally. As long as you don't believe in...
View ArticleIn the Family
Sawaki Roshi: Too often, the home is nothing more than a place where husband and wife, parents and children, spoil one another and bind each other up in fatal ties.Uchiyama Roshi: I don't think I'm...
View ArticleMy Life
Sawaki Roshi: Human beings don't seem to wake up unless they are compelled to compete with each otherfor a prize. It would not be strange to run a race if we were ostriches; it would not be strange to...
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Sodo Yokoyama-Distracted Thoughts
Here is a wonderful article from Sodo Yokoyama aka; "The Leaf Whistling Monk". Yokoyama was a disciple of Sawaki Roshi and the dharma brother of Uchiyama Roshi. Distracting Thoughts "All you have to do...
View ArticleIssho Fujita
Here is an excellent two part video introduction to Zazen by the Reverend Issho Fujita.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_pryjchBishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zme-93kzvFor those of you who don't know...
View ArticleIssho Fujita Audio Talk
I found a talk by Issho Fujita(along with a bunch of other gems) over at Taigen Dan Leighton's website. It is talk number 64 and is titled "Zazen is Not Learning Meditation". What an inspiration!...
View ArticleThe Mudra
It's been a while since I've posted anything.For one, I've been extremely busy( a good thing) at work and I was away at Sesshin at the Milwaukee Zen Center w/ Rev. Tonen O'Conner. Tonen is one hell of...
View ArticleThe Posture is Beyond Thinking
I read this passage today from Issho Fujita via Kyoshin Samuels excellent Jodo Shinshu/Zazen blog "Echoes of The Name". I highly recommend Kyoshin's blog. I've really become intrigued with Shinran...
View ArticleIan MacKaye
I just ran across this quote from one of my favorite musicians and Washington D.C. native Ian MacKaye:"The first time I played a bass, I was successful. Success is not a goal. Success is in the doing....
View ArticleZazen is Buddha
What follows is an interview conducted by Living and Dying in Zazen author, Arthur Braverman with Joko Shibata the only student of Sodo Yokoyama aka "The Leaf Whistling Monk". Enjoy.AlAn interview with...
View ArticleThe Mudra
Anyone who stops by this blog knows that I'm fascinated with the mudra of zazen. I'm enthralled not only with what Dogen calls "The Buddha Mudra", but also the actual mudra of the hands. I think there...
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