Teachings
When IT Hits the Fan: Thanks, I Have No Complaints
Here we are in November. It is a cool day, the sun shines, the clouds above are light and puffy against the blue sky. This morning I let the horses out into the lower field. There the sweet grass is long and plentiful. In the same field I hear calves calling out across the pond. In moments like this gratitude is easy
Two Sides, One Coin
The Heart/Mind Comes Forth
In Zen the heart and mind are inseparable. As we awaken we open to the vastness, or as Dogen said, we “Become one with the ten thousand things.” This is half of it. There is another gate, another side of the one coin, Call this the embodiment gate which will have us respond to the world in love and compassion for the ten thousand things.
Riding the Buffalo Home
Zen is without belief. Zen is not about organizing life around some key concepts. Koans won’t participate in this project. If the concepts are the map, then the koans are the territory. If the map is topographical, one line indicating 10 feet in elevation, the koans are the surprise as the mountain begins to rise beneath your gait, as your thighs begin to burn, as you feel the exertion, your heart racing and your breath quickening.
Working with Koans: Life Meets Life
The further we move into life and the more we trust the life before us, our hearts open and soften into connection, into deep comm-unity. Here we find a unity and integrity in things, an interpenetration of being where boundaries shift and the seamlessness of life/things/the world and universe becomes apparent. Life becomes one.
When Zhaozhou spoke of this he said simply, “It’s alive! It’s alive!”
Koans in this deepest sense are alive.
It’s Dark
Not knowing means that my mind is open and I am curious about what comes next. Not knowing feels the vibrancy of life, is responsive to the energy of what is here.
Which Way?
The Way Zhaozhou asked Nanquan, “What is the Tao?” Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is the […]
The Way Revisited
The Way Revisited Zhaozhou asked Nanquan, “What is Way?” Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is Way.” […]
Setting Out, Climbing Mountains, Arriving Home
This week we continue with #19 of The No Gate Gateway. Last week we took […]