Tag Archives: zazen

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meditation

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Senzaki Nyogen Sensei often quoted his teacher, Shaku Soen Zenji: “Zazen is not a difficult task.  It is a way to lead you to your long-lost home.”

Where is the original dwelling place of the many Buddhas?  Home thus becomes a koan, but it needn’t.

Sitting quietly facing the wall like Bodhidharma, as Bodhidharma, is the vast and fathomless Dharma itself.  It is the home of practice.  But explaining the original dwelling place in such a way can be like showing a rose to a new gardener.  How to get from here to there is the question.

from The Practice of Perfection by Robert Aitken

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pebble zazen

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ocean1

Dainin Katagiri was given to me by a flyfishing buddy from Hawaii. Returning to Silence: Zen practice in daily life gave me a sip of healing broth I needed at a time in my life when almost everything seemed totally out of control.  In the middle of the chaos, Katagiri’s words were a refuge.  I don’t recall having any great insights or feeling filled with awe about Zen.  What I do remember is a sudden moment of realization as I was playing with my daughter that this form was evidence of our relationship – in this moment.

Our daily life is just like casting pebbles into an ocean that is very serene.  Every form, every action is just like this.  The moment when the pebble becomes one with the ocean you can immediately see the ripples. These ripples are called “form” – form of washing your face, form of having a meal, form of doing gassho, form of walking, form of doing zazen….  Ripples are the form of action.

ocean2

Out of contact emerges relationship.  In relationship all things are one.


Thank you for practising,

Genju