by Abby Mushin Terris | Mar 1, 2021
To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. This instruction orients us to what we are all about in Zen practice, and comes to us from Dogen Zenji’s Genjo Koan, the Way of Everyday Life. To experience the present moment directly, and in the body, is how we study...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Feb 22, 2021
I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom and slavery and who’s in control? Which is not exactly the same as, but is related to, who’s responsible. Who’s responsible for your life? Are you responsible for your life or is someone else? Zen practice is always pointing us...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Feb 12, 2021
It is common in any center that trains in Zen practice to ask serious students over the course of their training years to assume each of the roles that help maintain the center. In addition to the roles for conducting formal practice in the zendo and...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Feb 5, 2021
We may begin Zen practice with a wish for bliss, a wish for peace. We do taste these in practice at times and more so in long practice, but we may also discover once we get into it, more deeply-seated grief, shame or fear. Feelings and mind states that have never been...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jan 29, 2021
Coming across a quote that I share with you here from the journalist, Walter Lippman, clarified something for me about the practical importance of the precepts and may be of help to you too: “The right to freedom of speech is no license to deceive, and...
