The Daily Zen Teisho

Taking refuge and making vows are not subjects we speak about in casual conversation, even with ourselves! Traditionally, we think of a formal ceremony where a teacher is initiating a group of studen…

This collection of exchanges between Yuanwu and students, teachers, lay people, men, and women offers a truly fine look and feel into an exceptional teacher’s skill in finding a way to meet each pers…

Nowhere else have I seen this particular piece on the Buddha’s last sermon. Many of us have read the admonition to “be a lamp unto yourself” as his last words, but whether the piece above was spoken …

For many of us who have not encountered that wonderful Good Friend who can help us see into our own nature, it looks like it is up to us. And there have been many people who have tried to find just t…

What a great combination of sharing some hints along the way with a grand adventure, discovering the Way.

Most of us have not had the almost mythic sounding breakthrough experiences of Master Kao-…

This is a question that will stop any of us in our tracks. After so many years of practice and studying Buddhism and Zen, what would you say best represents the heart of the teaching? Do you think of…

These selections are taken from Sangha Instructions from ancient times and give the flavor of a master wielding a sword to cut through illusions. Sparse and to the point, Linji has no tolerance for s…

While this selection reads like a lyrical piece about a man retiring to a meditative life, and seemingly having little to do with us today, this is not a story about a recluse or one removed from ord…

In the tradition of a true Zen master, Bassui always assisted his questioners to return to the origin of inquiry itself, “Who is the one who sees, hears, and understands?”

Read the Journal while l…

It probably doesn’t get much more essential than this piece elucidating the path of Zen practice. We all are cultivating the mind that seeks the Way and can easily accept that “Sentient beings are re…

Sometimes it’s hard to know when to stop; other times you just have to stop somewhere to reorient yourself or you get lost.  However, when it comes to following the Way, there is really no resting pl…

There are several translations of the Shodoka, and this is just the beginning of a very long poem translated as Song of Realization of the Way. With a commentary and translation by Nyogen Senzaki, it…

Like a good friend attempting to warn us of a hole we’re about to step into or a cliff we’re about to fall off of, Torei offers very practical advice for us.  Who hasn’t known someone who disdains th…

The beauty of Buddhism is that no matter where we are in our understanding, we are given a way to proceed.  We are also given instructions that depend on our own efforts, not someone else’s.  With mo…

Yuanwu is best known for the very well-known collection of 100 public cases,  The Blue Cliff Record, which in reality consists of notes taken from lectures he gave to his students who collected their…

When the vastness of the experience of our true nature seems simply beyond comprehension,  similar to when we try to “grasp” a sense of the expanding universe or infinity, it is reassuring to remembe…

This is a topic we have discussed often, but it can’t be emphasized enough as it is easy to fall into the trap of confusing intellectual understanding with the complete turnaround of realization. Wit…

There are countless schools of Zen and Buddhism, each offering their own entry into practice.  Koan practice or “just sitting” practice appeals to different people’s sensibilities, but any practice c…

We can all appreciate the straightforwardness of Sheng Yen, and since he is closer to our own place in time, we know he had an understanding of our world.  Even though the human situation is the same…