by SJZC Administrator | Oct 21, 2024
The Buddha heart is our very own heart. Each of us has a heart of gold that is shining just now just below any dis-ease we may be feeling. It is our responsibility and our joy as practitioners to uncover this awake heart and share it with one another. The heart cares,...
by SJZC Administrator | Oct 14, 2024
“Separate yourself from disturbance and face whatever appears before you” ~Master Hongshi Sometimes we think we are stuck, stuck in habit, stuck in our responsibilities, stuck in our emotions. But in reality, we are never stuck and at any moment we have...
by SJZC Administrator | Oct 6, 2024
Where do we come from? I mean, all of us, all of this. Where do our thoughts come from? Our feelings? Projections? Can we watch them arise? Not just a story about them, but the actual thoughts themselves. Or is that when we really look, really look, there’s actually...
by SJZC Administrator | Sep 30, 2024
The dharma works at every level of consciousness. As ordinary life flows along, you turn towards the dharma whenever you wonder how to be thoroughly present. What is the true nature of this presence? Resting all your awareness on the body experience is a reliable...
by SJZC Administrator | Sep 24, 2024
The stillness of the afternoon just now, the silence that is filtering through the stream of sunlight is just freely offered. Distant children’s voices. What else is freely offered at this very moment? We have to stop to notice. It’s not so much that we have to...
by SJZC Administrator | Sep 16, 2024
Once a monk asked Master Shirto, what are monks supposed to do? Shirto said, “Why are you asking me?” The monk said, “If I don’t ask you, how will I find the truth?” Shirto said, “Are you sure you have lost it?” How are we to...
by SJZC Administrator | Sep 9, 2024
From Shinei… What is a thought? What is it made of? Is it true? In Zen practice, we emphasize releasing the story and touching our experience directly, before concept. A thought about something is like a painting of a glass of water. It is not water and will...
by SJZC Administrator | Sep 2, 2024
We can celebrate this Labor Day by remembering how important everything we do is. It’s all that we have to work with, to take up any task wholeheartedly. To remember that this activity, this action will have results. The more carefully we attend to it, the more...
by SJZC Administrator | Aug 26, 2024
Is Zazen necessary? Of course not. Humans, dogs, birds, donkeys, grasses, the moon, my car – all get along completely fine without it. What is zazen? This cannot be answered. When is zazen necessary? Zazen is necessary when our own source calls to the surface,...
by SJZC Administrator | Aug 21, 2024
How often in a day do you just stop? Not to rest, not to turn around, but just to stop to experience stopping. This is a wonderful Zen practice to pepper the day with. Stop. Physically. Experience the stillness that is so much more apparent when you have been moving...
