Zen Wisdom for Your Everyday Life

What happens when the world as we’ve known it suddenly vanished and much of what we’ve held onto for security and identity slips away? This is a great Zen moment. An opportunity to look deeply at whe…

Usually we feel it's up to us to make everything right. We have something to say about everything, decide what is and isn't right. But as we interfere, we often take actions that get in the way and m…

In the midst of our endless rush to do something, change life, stay safe and protected, there is one within who is "not busy", not rushing around. And yet this one, takes care of everything. It hears…

Zen koans are a wonderful way to address problems. We cannot understand them logically or figure them out. Just like the times we are now faced with, we must find a new way to respond to them. To dis…

It is said that the real cause of all suffering and hardship is that we are not able to be in a room alone with ourselves for an extended time. How easy it is to see that now that the usual routines …

The big joke of practice, is that the simpler it is, the harder for us to grasp and live it. We yearn for difficulty, challenge, obstacles to prove how smart and strong we are..Zen practice, which is…

How do we find the balance, harmony, health and love we are all seeking. Usually, we struggle, scramble and feel it is up to us to make everything right. Yet to find a state of true love and oneness,…

Our entire lives are organized around avoiding suffering. We grab moments of happiness and demand more. When things don't go our way we declare ourselves failures, and are in pain. As if we were in c…

From the time we are born we want stimulation, enjoyment, distractions of all kinds. Our whole life becomes about playing with toys, winning at the game of life. As we get older our toys change and w…

Here we are at Valentine's Day, many wondering who their Valentine is, if they are loved, wanted or special in anyway? Or will they ever be? And all the time love is all around us, just waiting to be…

We come to life and relationships hoping all will be well, beautiful, just as we want it. When, despite all our efforts, things do not go as we wish, it's so easy to lapse into disappointment, anger,…

We all want to be powerful, strong, in charge. Life often seems to overpower us, and in response we fight it off, try to change, control, or dominate it. We want things to go as planned, are frighten…

It's so simple to be drawn in to the voices, demands and excitement of the world. We turn to others for so much, for comfort, clarity, and help. Yet, there is a deeper source of wisdom and well being…

Most of our lives we grapple with problems, going back and forth, hitting our heads against one obstacle or another. It is as though we were locked in situation with no way out. Why can't we stop a m…

In our world of confusion and holding on, we long for things to stay stable. We need to know what we can count on, what is real and dependable. Yet Zen practice tells us to look beneath the appearanc…

As the New Year  approaches, we review the year, make lists of how we succeeded and what went wrong. We  list our failures, and resolve to improve next year. We do not see that it is not what went wr…

As the year ends and the days grow darker, holidays come to bring light and love into the world. We do all we can to light candles, give gifts, decorate the world with . We crave the warmth and glow …

We think our everyday lives are ordinary, nothing much going on. Yet Zen practice tells us that right in the middle of our days, we are being given a huge koan. A koan cannot be figured out, or expla…

t's so easy to get caught in endless mixed messages, hopes and dreams and not know what to believe, or where to go. But Soen Roshi told us that it is easy to step out of confusion, and showed us how.…