Read more

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=us/2011/01/10/natpkg.hernandez.hero.intern.cnn Check out the above young man who helped Congresswoman Giffords after the shooting – especially what he has to say about being a hero. Every living thing could use a little mercy nowOnly the hand of grace can end the raceTowards another mushroom cloudPeople in power, wellThey’ll do anything to keep their crownI love life, and life itself could use some mercy now Yeah, we all could use a little mercy nowI know we don’t deserve itBut we need... Read more

 Read more

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf The above presentation by Barry Schwartz is a complementary reflection regarding the Eido Shimano situation, dharma, and ethical guidelines.  Schwartz suggests that neither rules nor incentives move us to what we really want – for ourselves and others to serve the greater good. They’re necessary but the exercise of “practical wisdom,” he says, is better: “There is a collective dissatisfaction with the way things run…. Even as we do our own work, all too often, we find ourselves having... Read more

I’ve been reflecting on the Eido Shimano situation (read more here and here). There’s a lot to the story. Sex, power, enlightenment, denial, self-righteousness, pretense, etc.  And then there’s the Roshi. Anyway, the above image keeps coming to mind.  You might be scratching your head about now wondering, “What the heck, Dosho?” Or “Are those really snowshoes?” Let me assure you, they are snowshoes and this is a post with a moral … so first we need to take a trip... Read more

Dharmas all arise from causes and conditions. Because they arise from causes and conditions, they have no own-being. Because they have no own-being, they have no going or coming. Because they have no going or coming, there is nothing obtained. Because there is nothing obtained, in the final analysis they are empty. Because in the final analysis they are empty, this is called the perfection of wisdom. Homage to all the three treasures, incalculable and vast, which give rise to unsurpassed supreme and perfect awakening. ... Read more

I arrived at the Boundless Way rohatsu sesshin a bit late, during the first morning talk, and so I sat in the office next to the zendo only to discover that those rascals had selected the wild fox koan as the theme for the sesshin. Dang! No escape. You’ll find the talk that I gave on day three below. Click here for an MP3 version and all the other talks from the sesshin too. The talk sections are about 15... Read more

I guess there’s always more than one opinion. @font-face { font-family: “Times New Roman”;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } “k” has made several comments to a post that appeared here in October about a Dogen passage that I read as giving clear directions for doing koan introspection that featured the Boundless Way Zen teachers’ perspectives. Click here for that.... Read more

Photo: Suzuki Roshi and Katagiri Roshi (top right) from the blog Suzuki Roshi Dharma Talks. The good folks over at the Soto Zen Text Project posted portions of an important document recently, Standard Observances of the Soto Zen School, translated by a fine scholar, T. Griffith Foulk. There is order information on the bottom of the page if you are so inclined.  Online and free to the Zen public they offer a detailed table of contents – interesting reading for... Read more

Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment is a clearly written, warm book with lots a specific instructions for working with unhappiness.  Ezra Bayda studied Zen with Joko Beck and his book reads much like Joko’s books, although without the occasional bite. He also shares generously from his own process, grounding the book nicely, and adding an occasional joke – which I found myself looking for as I read. To make a point about how our fixed identities can... Read more