Entries by Daiko

The spirit of the summits

  There is a mountain of which the summit stands higher than the other mountains, a mountain of which the summit is hidden from the human eye, a summit wrapped in pure air, free from any pollution, always covered with sparkling snow. This mountain is the mountain of zazen. It is sometimes called the Mountain […]

In the morass of opinions

For the great elephant* who got bogged down, who went too far in the morass of opinions, there is no other way out than to step back, to find the strength by himself; no-one can do it for him, he will have to put all his faculties into it. The great elephant who got bogged […]

Doing what we have to do

At the smallest thought, you begin to ramble. You ramble, that is to say, you leave the Way. Journalists always comment the news. Truth is sufficient unto itself, life is truth, truth is the Way. Any comment we add only makes us loose the Way, the truth, life. At the smallest thought, we begin to […]

True wisdom and true love

What we must cherish more than anything else is the present moment, which never comes again. It is nothing more than to be standing in the stream of life, to be standing in the eternal now, nothing more than not wasting our life trailing behind in the past or anticipating the future. To be standing […]

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The world of being

There is a saying: “The soul is reflected in the eyes.” The mind is reflected in the eyes. Do not try to catch anything, do not fix your eyes on anything. This is what is meant by to look inside. There are two ways to look at the world. One is to look outside, to […]

Making Peace

Dear friend, don’t you see this man of the Way,who does not seek the truth,nor flees from delusions? This is the first verse of the Shodoka, the Song of Awakening, written by Master Yoka Daishi. Yoka Daishi gives us a piece of friendly advice. This man of the Way understood that the three poisons – […]

Having few desires

2600 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha invited his fellow human beings to reconsider their relationship to the world. As he was dying, he gave eight recommendations, called the Eight Satori of the Great Man. The first satori was to have few desires, to be content with the satisfaction of legitimate desires, to be content with very […]

Summer Retreats

The health situation led us to innovate: the usual summer sessions gave way to the “Summer Retreats”. All summer long, everyone could come on the dates that suited them and for the duration they chose. The practice was that of the daily life of the monastery: zazen, teachings – followed by Noble Silence -, activities […]