Morning Zazen

From Mushin Recollecting and forgetting. This is a pulse that runs through a life of practice. Starting a day with zazen, as we do every day at Sangha Jewel, orients us to the completeness of our life, our breath, and the full possibilities of each moment. Zazen...

Four Methods of the Bodhisattva

Dogen Zenji offered us Four Methods of the Bodhisattva. The first is generosity, what and how we give. Our daily lives are where we offer our energies, our hearts, our efforts. As in zazen, where we sit in our authentic self, when we’re not on the cushion one way that...

Existential Investigation

From Mushin: We gathered for a summer movie night at Sangha Jewel, where we watched I Heart Huckabee. The story begins with Albert confused and worried about coincidences that he feels have some meaning which he can’t figure out. His confusion prompts him to seek help...

Desires

The first of the Eight Awakenings of Enlightened Beings is having few desires. This is a great practice. It steers us to noticing how often desire lurks just below the surface of our mental stream. All the thoughts of “I want this” or “I don’t want that.” All the ways...

Nothing Special

Words from Mushin: “Zazen never becomes anything special, no matter how long you practice,” said Kodo Sawaki Roshi. “If it becomes something special, you must have a screw loose somewhere.” Listening to this fine old master Zen adept we are...