Chanting and Together-Action

Zen Master Dae Bong speaks about chanting,together action and bowing.

From http://www.musangsa.org.…

Inka Speech

Is this a good place or a bad place?

[Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

Is this no place? Is this a magic place? Is this a special place?

[Raises Zen stick overhead and hits table]

If we make any of these …

Buddha’s Birthday Poem

Given April 2, 1994

A true person
leaps into the world
takes seven steps in each direction
“Only I am holy.”
Un Mun’s foul mouth
Cries “Mistake!”

Still, 2538 birthday candles
Have already burned up
Buddha, Un Mun,
and the whole world of
desire, anger, and stupidity.
Was your birth…

Desires and Aspirations

Zen Master Wu Bong: Yes, we can help. Consider hunger. We have hunger all over this world. Where does this hunger come from? It doesn’t come from economic problems. It doesn’t come because there isn’t enough food in …

Earth Soup

Each morning we say the Four Great Vows at the beginning of practice:

Sentient beings are numberless; we vow to save them all.
Passions are endless; we vow to extinguish them all.
The teachings are infinite; we vow to learn them all.
The Buddha Way is inconceivable; we vow …

Practicing in Our Situation

One of the most famous stories in our Zen tradition is about a little girl in ancient China named Sul. She and her family lived about a thousand years ago near the temple of the famous Zen Master …

Try Mind Center

Letter to a student:

Dear Margaret,

Thank you for your beautiful card. You work is very beautiful.

You spoke about losing energy too fast and want to shut it off…. losing energy so you want to plug it up. After a period of long sitting usually we have much energy …

Dharma Talk with Ed Hathaway at Providence Zen Center

…

Kill Your Eyes

(Holding up the Zen stick.) Do you see?

(Hitting the table.) Do you hear?

If you say you see and hear, you lose …

Wild Dharma Scenes and Broken Precepts

July 26, 1977

Dear Soen Sa Nim,

I hope you are well. Please, as much as possible, try to take care of your body.

I have not seen you in awhile. I, too have been traveling around teaching the Dharma. How is the family on the East Coast?

I …

Four Kinds of Anger

Dear Soen Sa Nim,

How are you, and how is it to be back East again? We miss you here! I hope the seven-day Yong Maeng Jong Jin is going well.

It is strange how things happen, sometimes backwards. I felt very clear after the …

True Meditation

At a recent Dharma Talk, Zen Master Seung Sahn was asked what elements contribute to make a meditation practice strong and clear. He answered:

“True meditation comes from true cognition; true cognition comes from true meditation.

There are many schools of meditation in the United States. Some meditations use breathing …

Who is it that Sees these Leaves?

A Student wrote to Zen Master Seung Sahn:

In the Fall, there are leaves on the ground. If they are on a lawn, someone may come out of a house and sweep them into little piles. In the afternoon the wind comes and blows all the leaves away. Many …