by Abby Mushin Terris | Jul 3, 2022
We are beginning a series on Tuesday nights on Buddhism’s Ten Grave Precepts. It’s important to approach them, not as absolutes that you do or do not uphold, but as guides for action in our complicated everyday lives. As guides, precepts point to the spirit of wisdom...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 26, 2022
Here’s a koan. Someone asked (great master) Shitou, “What am I supposed to do?” “Why are you asking me?” “Where else can I find what I’m looking for?” “Are you sure you lost it?” We, like Shitou’s earnest seeker, come to practice searching for solutions to our lives,...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 19, 2022
I dreamed that I woke up and all excitation was gone. And in its place was a wonderful silence. What is found at the seam of silence and speech? Is there anything behind the curtain? We look into this in zazen. What happens to how you perceive when you truly open into...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 12, 2022
In the Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen’s Instructions to the Cook, Dogen quotes an exchange with the cook. “What is practice?” he asks. The cook replies “There is nothing in the world that is hidden.” Such a simple statement. How does it guide us in practice? Well, we certainly...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 5, 2022
These words are reprinted with kind permission of their author, Senkei Robertson. What becomes clear over time is how thoroughly Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha in particular, pervade everything we do in this practice. We enter by bowing and sit silently with presence and...
by Abby Mushin Terris | May 29, 2022
Memorial Day is a good time to offer metta (lovingkindness) to all who are suffering with samsaric conditions without the support of the Dharma. You may do this by setting aside a time to light a candle and some incense. Then offer aloud and from your heart,...
