by Abby Mushin Terris | Oct 22, 2021
There’s a practice that Chozen Roshi used to assign during the summer Grasses and Trees sesshins: to walk out in the fields and sit down by a flower, a blade of grass or perhaps a tree branch or down by the stream. And open all the sense gates. Listen. Really.. . . ....
by Abby Mushin Terris | Oct 9, 2021
In addition to meditation and ethical precepts, our spiritual tradition includes study. As we study the full Sunday’s chanting service, we learn about the teachings, as well as the teaching lineage that we inherit in this sangha. You notice that we chant in English,...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Aug 9, 2021
Some of you have mentioned that you’ve let go of the habit of daily meditation this summer and realize how busy your mind has become as you attempt to re-up zazen again. This experience is familiar to anyone who’s been sitting for any length of time. And the antidote...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Aug 5, 2021
The heart of living according to Buddha’s teachings is guided by the Buddhist Precepts for a Healthy Life. They are both ordinary and profound, and are reliable guides for the myriad choices of how to speak and act each day. There is no end to these precepts as we...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 27, 2021
In his Receiving the Marrow by Bowing Dogen Zenji says, “…retreat from the world and make the way your abode.” Ordinarily we might understand this as saying that practice is separate from the ordinary daily round. But Dogen is prompting us here to realize that the...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 17, 2021
A dharma brother who is walking the Pacific Crest Trail sent along a haiku-ish verse that I think is a wonderful koan . . . Of all the virtues only one opens all doors — what is this? What are the virtues referred to here? Do you...
