Tonight with dog Bodhi at my feet, I’ve been studying for the Dogen Study Group that meets here on Thursday evenings and clicked over to the Shasta Abbey Shobogenzo (the whole lollapalooza 96 volume version, free and online) to peek at their translations of Genjokoan and Bussho (the home of the earthworm koan way at the back). Tonight I found the translations quite wonderful and thought that some of you might enjoy them too – just click the titles above. Read more

This is my first (and maybe last) book so maybe that makes the process especially sweet but I just recently received a blurb from Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede. Bodhin is one of Phillip Kapleau’s successors (you know, Three Pillars of Zen) and I’ve enormously liked the guy since I saw him sitting at a peace vigil at the UN Disarmament Conference in about 1982. “Now that’s how to do zazen,” I thought. In northern Minnesota we’d say he sits like a brick... Read more

Sesshin ended earlier today. Back on June 25th I posted some thoughts about the earthworm koan regarding living a divided life. Here at Wild Fox we’ve been focusing on the earthworm again. Its keeps wiggling back. Today I look at it more closely, in terms of our hearts. Here it is followed by brief comments: In the assembly of Chang-sha, Minister Chu asked, “An earthworm is cut in two pieces; the two pieces are both moving. In which piece do... Read more

I just saw Bill Maher’s mockumenarty, Religulous – the Catholics come out lookin’ pretty good thanks to a couple odd-ball priests, otherwise Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all take a severe beating. I enjoyed the movie and found Maher’s emphasis on doubt and reason refreshing. But then I tend to like rough humor. The film underscored for me the importance of zazen as a practice for deep reflection and not for becoming a not-thinking zombie. During dinner conversation, we turned to... Read more

In today’s Soto Zen discourse in America, terms like shikantaza and practice-enlightenment are often wantonly misused. Reader of such words, take heed! They are often pasted onto some “special” state of mind or used to justify some deluded state of mind. In such a way the wondrous and vital realization to which they point is obscured. Maybe it’s always been this way. Dogen called practice-enlightenment a “subtle method.” Katagiri Roshi often said that only a few people really understood shikantaza.... Read more

On August 4th I first wrote about offering Virtual Practice Meetings via Skype. “I’m curious, I said, “about how this technology might be used to support home practice and I’m willing to give it a try. I may find that it doesn’t work, that our physical presence is so important that this mode of communication creates more confusion and misunderstanding than clarity and openness.” So here’s a brief update: so far, so good. This mode seems especially well suited for... Read more

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XDcVDKGdBFo A student was over this morning and said this song’s been on his mind. If you can handle the hand-held camera wiggling around, I think you’ll enjoy this. Read more

In the Dogen study group, we’re now working through the Genjokoan in usual Soto fashion – three sessions and we’re done for now with the title. Along with various translations, we’re also using Sen’ne’s 13th Century commentary where we find this about the “ko” in Genjokoan, usually understood according to Sen’ne, to equalize the unequal:What can we use as a criterion to define equalizing inequality? Once we understand that to be equal and to be unequal are one, it is... Read more

Here’s an email from a Zen teacher that I deeply respect, Barry Magid (a successor of Joko Beck) and my long-winded response. We had exchanged emails about my book and some concerns about “wholeheartedness.” I highly recommend his recent book, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide. Barry’s psychoanalytic training has given him an extremely valuable perspective and fitting language especially suited to clarifying barriers that many modern practitioners face, including our “secret practice.” Dosho – so here’s a... Read more

This old case bubbled up in zazen this morning: Yunyan asked Baizhang, “Every day there is hard work to do. Who do you do it for, master?” Baizhang replied, “For the one who requires it. ” Yunyan replied, “Why don’t you let her do it herself.” Baizhang replied, “She has no tools.” Questions for our work: What is our work? Who do we do it for? What is required? What does it mean that she has no tools? Read more