This Too Will End.
Breath Seven… Last gasp…. Breathe in …. This is part seven of a series of posts about Shobogenzo Chapter 73. Part one is here.….. They said it would never happen, but we did it kids; reached the final...
View ArticleF is for Fake.
Chapter 74 of Shobogenzo is called Tenborin or “Turning the Dharma Wheel” and it’s a blessedly short one. In this chapter Dogen explores the nature of authenticity. What does it mean to receive a...
View ArticleAre Viruses Alive?
Sedlec Ossuary Chapter 75 of Shobogenzo is called Jisho-Zanmai or “Samadhi as Experience of the Self.” Samadhi is “the balanced state.” Practice and experience become the same thing. No...
View ArticleFantastic Mr Fox.
Chapter 76 of Shobogenzo is called “Dai-Shugyo” or “Great Practice.” This chapter features a koan, a fox and a monk (Hyakujo), so I’m already feeling folksy. This chapter tackles cause and effect. You...
View ArticleThe Patra
Chapter 78 of Shobogenzo is called “Hatsu-U” or “The Patra.” A patra is a large bowl. Traditionally, Indian Buddhist monks used a patra to eat their meals from. Nishijima points out that the patra has...
View ArticleLojong Slogan 1: First Train in the Preliminaries.
Angel Kyodo Williams “Our rage, our love, our dreams, our disappointments, the death of our loved ones, the blissful joys as well as the cruel facts of life. It’s not the way of white folks we need to...
View ArticleTheory into Practice #4: Notes from Retreat.
SOURCE CREDIT – “British Film Institute” A Zen retreat is not a pamperfest. It’s a 70+ hour grind. Or at least that’s what it seems like at first. Then everything settles. Then the really interesting...
View ArticleI Think We’re Alone Now.
Chapter 91 of Shobogenzo is called “Yui-Butsu-Yo-Butsu” or “Buddhas Alone, Together With Buddhas.” In this chapter Dogen explores what it means to fully realise the Buddha-Dharma. As the first line is...
View Article“I Just Don’t Want To Be There When It Happens.”
Chapter 92 of Shobogenzo is called “Shoji” or “Life-and-Death.” Its two sides long. However, some teachers have given over 13 hours of consideration to those two sides, so let’s not get too hasty about...
View ArticleThere’s no use in pretending what’s behind the curtain.
Chapter 93 of Shobogenzo is called “Doshin” or “The Will to Truth.” Can you believe we only have two chapters left to go? What will I do then? Something else. I suppose. According to Nishijima, Doshin...
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