Big Pregunta
“Buddhism begins with pregunta. Practicing Buddhism–great pregunta. Enlightenment means become comfortable with pregunta.”
Posts tagged ‘Great Question’
Jun 5 11
Aug 20 08
What There Is, Is Really Enough
Part of a dharma talk during the Summer Kyol Che at Warsaw Zen Center
Once there was a sick man, who went for help to many doctors, but they only spread their arms helplessly – they were not able to help him. At last he found a person that we…
Read More...Mar 1 88
A Kong-An is Nothing Other than the Present Moment
The function of a kong-an is to spark a question, to give rise to that which in the Zen tradition has been called the Great Question. When the mind “questions,” it awakens and opens. This moment of questioning, however fleeting it is, is a manifestation of a pure and
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Read More...Jul 6 86
Jun 1 85
Clowns and Dharma Teachers
Dear Bobbie,
I’ve just written to the Dharma Teacher Association to ask for a leave of absence as a Dharma Teacher. This is a confusing and difficult step for me.
I have not been practicing (sitting, bowing) for a while now. I’m not being a Dharma Teacher, and I’m…
Read More...Mar 1 85
The Bodhisattva of the Toll Gates
The Bodhisattva of the Toll GatesZen Master Seung Sahn and four of his students were traveling down Route 95 from Providence to New York to visit the Chogye International Zen Center. Soen Sa Nim chatted with his students as they drove, answering questions and giving advice. They came
…
Read More...Dec 1 84
The Bodhisattva Ideal
A talk given during the winter 1982 Kyol Che intensive meditation retreat at Providence Zen Center.
People often ask me what does the Bodhisattva vow – to save all people from suffering – really mean? A student said to me last week, “I really want to practice and help…
Read More...Dec 9 78
Kill Your Eyes
Bobby Rhodes, JDPSN, (now Zen Master Soeng Hyang) gave this formal Dharma Speech at the Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony at the Providence Zen Center on December 9th, 1978.
(Holding up the Zen stick.) Do you see?
(Hitting the table.) Do you hear?
If you say you see and hear, you…
Read More...Sep 14 77
Low-Class Practice
Allston, Massachusetts
September 14, 1977
Dear Soen Sa Nim,
How are you? I hope you are well, even though you are working so hard. Everyone at the Cambridge Zen Center says hello to you and to our West Coast family.
I must tell you something. This summer, I…
Read More...Jul 1 73
Keeping a Zen Mind
A visiting student asked Seung Sahn Soen Sa after a Sunday night lecture, “When practicing Zen, how can one keep a Zen mind?”
“Do you understand your mind?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, it is just this ‘don’t know’ mind that should be kept while practicing.
“But then is this mind…
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