by Abby Mushin Terris | Nov 3, 2014
This is a very brief description of what is meant by mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. If you want a full presentation there are many wonderful works of popular scholarship on this topic, several of which I list at the end of this piece. Also Google is an...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Oct 5, 2014
We human beings we are always at play in the ordinary conditions of our life. We experience our days and nights through the lens of all our previous experiences – our fantasies and expectations of a “future”, our temperament, through our senses, our...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Sep 13, 2014
Dharma Blog Post: There’s a koan : Be an ancient tree in a high wind. This koan can inspire a way to approach the forces and energies in our lives that catch us up and blow against our fixed ideas about things. And it brings to mind, too, what is ancient in...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Aug 30, 2014
Dharma Blog: While looking at a photo of a group of friends, I was struck by the various expressions as they looked at the camera. One was beaming, a couple were smiling dutifully, one was quite doubtful. All but the beamer had several things going on. Each expressed...
by SJZC Administrator | Aug 16, 2014
Sangha Member Post: I’ve been practicing Zen for a number of years now and lots of the little things in life have smoothed out…but NOW I have a BIG, HARD, HONKING, problem. I’m in a big disagreement with someone I’m very close to. I’ve tried all the normal...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jul 31, 2014
Dharma Blog: We always have the choice of what our basis of operation will be. Even when we lose track and forget who we most fundamentally are, our Buddha nature continues to operate. And we can, by simply remembering our vow to awaken, turn our heart and mind back...
by SJZC Administrator | Jul 31, 2014
Sangha Member Post: Yesterday I was meditating when the silence was suddenly broken by the distinctive drilling of a woodpecker against the metal grate on our chimney … D.d.d.d.d.d.d.d … listening … D.d.d.d.d.d.d … listening … silence.My...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jul 21, 2014
Dharma blog: We human beings are always at play in the ordinary conditions of our life. We experience our days and nights through the lens of all our previous experiences, our fantasies and expectations of a “future”, our temperament, through our senses, our...
by SJZC Administrator | Jul 15, 2014
Sangha Member Post: How interesting that if I sit here with Chubbs, my sweet old dog, and his failing health, the whole of all the sorrows of the past few years come crashing down around me. Do I have the courage to sit here with “just this”, with the tears and the...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Jul 7, 2014
Dharma Blog It’s one thing to “just walk” when doing walking meditation (kinhin) during formal practice. Mind and body doing the same thing. But how do we carry over our practice as we walk around during the day? Same activity, different state of mind,...
