A Revolutionary Act teaching Dec 23, 2021

What practice offers us in a very simple way, is to connect to the moment. Put aside that dream of I, my, me and act, not making a big deal about it. Then go on moment to moment, meeting these moments.

The more we stay in the dream of who we think we are, the less able we are to connect with what...

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Inspiration to Practice teaching Dec 09, 2021

Like or dislike is what creates a prison that we live in. So if you only practice when you want to practice and then don’t practice when you don’t want to practice, that’s a fundamental problem. You are following the winds of your desire, and that’s what leads to...

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Got Enlightenment? teaching Dec 02, 2021

The Buddha saw a star and got enlightenment. That's the myth of the Buddha, that's the story that's been told for 2,500 years. Buddha had this experience. Zen Master Man Gong said, "I saw a star too and I lost enlightenment." Everybody thinks "Got Enlightenment" is what we want. But Man Gong says...

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You Already Are It! teaching Nov 26, 2021

We talk about the Buddhist teaching, but the talk is to help us actualize the teaching, the practice, and our own true nature in the very moment of our lives. In many ways, this is a pretty radical teaching because everybody can do it. It's not like you have to attain some special knowledge, or...

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Right View is No View teaching Nov 18, 2021

The first of the Buddha’s Eightfold Path is clear view, or right view. Right view means clarity. Right view means letting go of "my" view to be able to perceive the moment. We all know what this is like. There are times we are involved in an argument, and in the middle of it we start...

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Believe in Yourself 100% teaching Nov 04, 2021

Zen Master Seung Sahn, our founding teacher, with his stick, used to poke us right here (pointing the stick at navel). He'd poke us and say, "Make your center Stronger....Stronger! Stronger! You must believe in yourself 100%!"

But what does that mean, believe in yourself? Make your center...

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Zen is Not Self Improvement teaching Oct 28, 2021

Mind makes everything. If we don't get underneath that, it's all playing with the branches and the leaves. We can have a better life, but not really getting to the base of it. Our teaching is keep a great question. The great question in Zen practice is "What Am I?". "What Am I?", you could say,...

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Great Faith teaching Oct 21, 2021

Faith is a tricky word. For me, I have to bring Great Question to the word faith, because it's not, traditionally in Western religion when we think of faith, like faith in God, faith in some supernatural thing, or experience outside of ourselves.

Faith in Buddhism has nothing to do with anything...

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What Is A "Zen State"? jason quinn jdpsn teaching Oct 14, 2021

Many people who start practicing Zen want all the bad thoughts and feelings to go away and only want to keep the good ones. There is nothing wrong with that, and that is what can lead us to practice. If we stick with it and practice correctly, we see the struggles we are experiencing as less...

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Awake In The Moment teaching Oct 07, 2021

When you fall asleep, your conditioning runs the show. You just play things out the way conditioning would play it out. It’s only through being alive, aware, and awake in the moment that we are in, that there’s a possibility to change that. In Buddhist terminology, we say if you fall...

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Clear Seeing teaching Sep 30, 2021

Correct is not conventionally correct, because it’s not about right versus wrong. The Buddha talked about Clear Seeing, being able to perceive the moment as it is. When we talk about correct situation, we’re talking about perceiving the moment as it is, without adding to it our own...

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Practice Prison teaching Sep 23, 2021

Like or dislike is what creates a prison that we live in. So if you only practice when you want to practice and then don’t practice when you don’t want to practice, that’s a fundamental problem. You are following the winds of your desire, and that’s what leads to...

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