The unifying absorption
One can begin to practice for all sorts of personal reasons: to have a more successful life, a better health, higher intellectual capacities… In fact, at the beginning, people often mistake the Way of the Buddha for a means of personal development.
But…
Absolute, free from doubt, such is the Dharma
It is always good to remember that zazen is no ordinary meditation. Zazen is to experience reality as it is, one's inner reality as well as the outer reality.
Hōkyō Zanmai is a fundamental text in our school, of which the title could be…
Zazen is a request from the depths of our mind
Last weekend, fifteen persons or so came to discover Zen practice. On the first day, after sitting in zazen, a person decided to leave: “I haven’t come to sit.” But Zen is nothing but zazen. No one can be forced to practice zazen. Kodo…
The leaves keep falling
In a sutra, Buddha says: To practice the Way is to put right all that has been upset.
To put right all that has been upset, that can be difficult. When he awakened, Shakyamuni Buddha said to himself: “My fellow human beings are not going…
It’s by practicing that we understand
Someone asked Master Dôgen:
- Why do say that zazen is the great gate that cannot be by-passed?
For a person considered as one of the greatest philosophers of mankind, Master Dôgen gives an unexpected answer:
- I say that zazen is…
The finger pointing at the Moon
To study the Way, to practice the Way, is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to become one with all beings.
To practice the Way is to forget oneself.
To study the Way is not to study in the academic…
The greatest danger is to be afraid
The greatest danger is to be afraid. Our answer to fear is to try to anticipate. We want to know beforehand, we want tomorrow to be certain. And so we keep thinking, we keep thinking…
We think about polishing weapons. We think about building…
Because we are life, we practice life
Master Nangaku - this story took place in China - saw his disciple Baso practice zazen with deep conviction. So he said to him: ‘But what are you actually trying to do?’ The disciple answered: ‘I’m trying to become a Buddha’. So Master…
Looking inside ourselves helps other people to see themselves
There are those who want to change the world by asking others to change, and those who want to change the world by looking inside themselves. These two standpoints are mutually exclusive. If we look at other people too much, we can’t see ourselves.…
In keeping with reality
In an attempt to define Zen, one could say that it is to place the world of Being at the heart of our lives. To place the world of Being, rather than the world of Having, at the heart of our lives.
Before having any thoughts, we are, we exist.…
