[Raises Zen stick over his head, then hits table with stick.]
Every day people are born. Every day people die.
[Raises Zen stick over his head, then hits table with stick.]
The Buddha understood this point and realized there is no life, no death.
[Raises Zen stick over his head, …
Read More...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
…
Everybody makes enlightenment very special. All sutras, all practicing people, said enlightenment is No.1 and very wonderful. That’s not good, not bad because that word “enlightenment” sets up for human beings a goal, something to look forward to in life.
But every morning you wake up from your sleep and …
“Buddha said there are four things in life that are most important.”
…
[Raises the Zen stick over her head, then hits the table with the stick.]
Dirty is clean, clean is dirty.
[Raises the Zen stick over her head, then hits the table with the stick.]
Not dirty, not clean.
[Raises the Zen stick over her head, then hits the table with …
Read More...[Raises the Zen stick over his head, then hits the table with the stick.]
Our teacher Zen Master Seung Sahn said that through this hit, even just for a little while, everybody experiences enlightenment.
[Raises the Zen stick over his head, then hits the table with the stick.]
With this …
Read More...[Raises the Zen stick over his head, then hits the table with the stick.]
BOOM!
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.
Our world is always changing-sometimes fast, sometimes slow. When the change is fast, we suffer a lot. Our world changing fast means volcano, earthquake, tsunami, war. Everything is changing …
A prince sat down
So long ago
Beneath a tree he kept don’t know
He saw a star
That rose at dawn
His mind was clear his ego gone
Not God or Deva did he make
What are you then?
“I am awake!”
I am awake?
Is that the truth?…
[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
Two thousand five hundred forty five years ago, Buddha sat under …
Read More...Here’s a question for everybody: How can you get out of samsara, how do you get out of suffering? We’re really lucky because we have a good practice situation. We can help and support each other, come here freely and nothing is stopping …
Read More...Coming empty-handed is going empty-handed. Going empty-handed is coming empty-handed.
[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
Originally — no coming, no going.
[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
Coming empty-handed is coming …
Read More...At 7:30 pm on April 27, 1998, two events were taking place within a mile of each other. Nestled between the neon and glitter, bright lights and buffets of the Las Vegas Strip, the Aladdin Casino?s luck had run out. Nostalgia has no identity in Glitter Gulch, history affords no …
Read More...Opening speech at Buddha’s Enlightenment Day ceremony, Providence Zen Center, December 5, 1998.
Once a student, while in a particular mind set, said to me, “If I hear one more talk about Buddha’s enlightenment, I think I’ll scream.” This raises a question as to the purpose of our coming …
Read More...Three men are walking. The first man makes a sword sound, the second man waves his hands, and the third man picks up a handkerchief.
1. If you were there, what would be your correct function?
2. What is the relationship?
3. And lastly, what is the situation?
Commentary: …
Read More...“Everybody comes into this world carrying nothing,” Zen Master Seung Sahn has said. “Everyone leaves for someplace, also carrying nothing. We cannot take anything with us. Yet in between, everybody wants things, chases things, and is attached to things very much.”
Back in 1964, as a young music student in …
Read More...Computers don’t understand the year 2000,
Human beings don’t understand what is human being.
Buddha does not understand Buddha’s birthday,
What is true Buddha?
In front of the Buddha statue offering flowers, incense and bows.
Praying for enlightenment, peace, love, and happiness,
Who will give you these things?
Buddha or …
From talks in Cambridge on April 1, 1999 and Providence on April 2, 1999
Question: In your book, Compass of Zen, you say that “Mu practice” is not a correct practice. But Mu is the same as Kwan Seum Bosal, so why is it not correct?
Zen Master Seung …
Read More...[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
Enlightenment is no enlightenment. No enlightenment is enlightenment.
[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
No enlightenment. Not no enlightenment.
[Raises Zen stick over head, then hits table with stick.]
Enlightenment is enlightenment. No enlightenment is no …
Read More...So, someone left the retreat last night. That’s not unusual in a retreat. It’s part of growing up. Whatever we do in our practice, we learn from. If we keep a mind …
Read More...A New Translation of the Hsin Hsin Ming, the classic poem by the Third Patriarch of Zen, Seng T’san
Zen Master Hae Kwang
The Great Way is not difficult,
Just don’t pick and choose.
If you cut off all likes or dislikes
Everything is clear like space.
Make the slightest …
Read More...