We talk in our teaching about great faith, great courage, great question. To be born takes a lot of faith—if you have a bodhisattva vow, you’re born because you want to help. You’re born because you want to develop your practice and also teach other people how to practice, very
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Everybody worries about death. When we were young, our first worry was – what shall we do when our parents die? We human beings worry about that. And children worry: “How will I feel? What shall I do? Who will take care of me?” Many kinds. Then old people worry …
Read More...“Buddhism begins with pregunta. Practicing Buddhism–great pregunta. Enlightenment means become comfortable with pregunta.”
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At the heart of Buddhism and Zen lies the great question of life and death: What am I? What is a human being? Why do we suffer so much? Why are we here on the planet earth? Are we here to make money? Are we here for sex, food, or …
Read More...[Raises the Zen stick over his head, then hits the table with the stick]
Zen is rooted in Buddhism and in Taoism.
Buddhism teaches; first get enlightenment then instruct all beings.
Taoism teaches to live a life in perfect harmony with the universe.
[Raises the Zen stick …
Read More...My eyes blinked open as consciousness returned after the colonoscopy. Before I could say anything, the doctor leaned over my shoulder and said in an urgent voice, “You have cancer!”
“Geez, what kind of a bedside manner is that?” I thought in a fuzzy blur. A few hours before, when
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Talk given at the 49-day Ceremony for Zen Master Seung Sahn
Some people say that monks and nuns should not cry. I am a nun, but I am a human being, and I am crying because I miss Zen Master Seung Sahn. I miss him in my bones. I will …
Read More...Excerpted from a workshop at the 5th Whole World is a Single Flower Conference held at Providence Zen Center in October 1999.
One day, 2500 years ago, the Buddha sat on the peak of Vulture Mountain with a vast assembly of more than 1200 monks who were waiting for Buddha …
Read More...[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
The whole world is suffering. Sickness and death everywhere. For what purpose do we come into this world? Only to suffer?
[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
No world, no coming, no going, no suffering, no …
Read More...When Buddha was born, he sprang out of his mother’s hip, walked seven steps, said, “Heaven above, earth below, only I am holy.”
[hits table with zen stick]
When you and I were born, we sprung from our mother’s uterus, dropped into the doctor’s arms, and screamed, “WAAAAAAAAH!”
[hits table …
Read More...36,000 Mornings
Dear Soen Sa Nim,
Tried to register for the Berkeley Yong Maeng Jong Jin, but it was already full. Hope to make the chanting retreat in October.
One evening, I was eating dinner in the cafeteria at Prudhoe Bay. Everything was quite normal, and I was conversing pleasantly …
Read More...From a talk at Providence Zen Center on Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, 1991
Throughout the ages people have written commentaries on the Buddha’s enlightenment using many different perspectives. But from the point of view of history, the Buddha’s enlightenment is not very interesting. Nor is it very interesting from the …
Read More...Don’t be afraid of your sickness. At …
Read More...Life is like a cloud that appears.
Lifts stick, hits table
Death is like a cloud that disappears.
No life, no death.
No appearing, no disappearing.
Lifts stick, hits table
Katz!
Just now, breathing in and breathing out.
Twenty years ago I first heard the teaching …
Read More...As she reached for a flowering branch in Lumbini garden,
Buddha’s mother gave birth and soon died.
Death is birth; birth is death.
Originally, complete stillness.
Where did Shakyamuni come from?
Where did Queen Maya go?
Dreaming of an elephant, Siddhartha appeared.
Great bodhisattvas gathered here,
What is your dream?…
Adapted from comments made following a talk at Providence Zen Center in December, 1989.
The Hua Yen Sutra, that the last speaker talked about, like other sutras, is a collection of teaching techniques that the Buddha used. When Paul finished his introductory remarks he hit the floor and said, “Wall …
Read More...A hospice experience
Most of you know that I’m a nurse and I’ve been working with a hospice program in Rhode Island. The story I want to tell you is about this patient I’ve been taking care of since July. She has cancer of the liver and intestines. We have …
Read More...A formal dharma speech given on Buddha’s Enlightenment Day ceremonies at Providence Zen Center on December 6, 1986.
Holds the ceremonial Zen stick above his head,? brings the point of it down on the altar table with force.
Buddha saw a star, got enlightenment.
Hits the table again.
Guchi’s attendant …
Read More...August 12, 1977
Dear Soen Sa Nim,
Your letter, newsletter, and picture made me cry — and I am grateful. I understand: straightforward mind, straightforward heart, straightforward speech, straightforward body.
My father died yesterday. I built a small altar in my room and sat, and I told him to …
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