by Abby Mushin Terris | Jul 15, 2023
Practicing Zen is all about attitude. Discovering and cultivating quiet mind encourages us in an attitude of openness and modesty, a willingness to be with what is. With this comes simplicity in how we live and consume. How we receive what is given without complaint...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jul 8, 2023
After a day engaged in work activities, where we respond to conditions directly and immediately, reading the news can catapult us into a swirl of anxiety, mental confusion and stress. Anxiety arises when we can’t find our ground. The media world of facts, alternative...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 24, 2023
Research shows that when you have a bellylaugh you breathe in six times more oxygen. When was the last time you laughed like that? Just reading this may remind you of the physical experience of laughter, the way the whole body joins in. Thinking mind is given a...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 17, 2023
The Vow to awaken for the sake of all beings unfailingly points us in a reliable direction. And Bodhisattva precepts give us the tools to enact this vow at every choice point in our daily life. Precepts guide what we become aware of and what we value. Instead of being...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 10, 2023
The Buddha encouraged us to meditate in the forest in the early morning. Except for us humans’ recent astrophysical technology, we are still Earthbound creatures, subject to the rhythms of the Earth. How often do you experience the sunrise, as a creature of the Earth,...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jun 3, 2023
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 | May 27, 2023
Our moment to moment lives are made up of the little things, unfolding along as we go. When we are relaxed and at peace with ourselves, the little things get the attention that they need. Cooking a meal, listening to a child, bathing the dog, greeting an aged neighbor...
by Abby Mushin Terris | May 20, 2023
Sitting on the altar in front of the back zendo windows is a brightly tessellated Buddha that you may not have noticed. To Buddha’s left on that altar is Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom, who sits on a lion and holds a sword that cuts through delusion. On...
by Abby Mushin Terris | May 6, 2023
When our happiness is entirely dependent on conditions, we experience the suffering that Mother Teresa described as a poverty of spirituality. In our Buddhist spiritual tradition, we examine how our lives are shaped by causes and conditions. Causes and conditions...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Apr 30, 2023
When we come to Dharma with our ordinary mind, we tend to be a language fundamentalist. We take the words of the teachings to be real and concrete, forgetting that they are intended to turn us back in the direction of our own intimate, all-embracing embodiment right...
