Faith, doubt, and determination are three elements of Zen practice about which lots has been said. Most Zen practitioners tend to connect more with one of the three than with the others. For ... Continue Reading »
Kyosho was a young monk who came to study with Zen Master Gensha. Kyosho said, "I’ve come to you seeking the truth. Please tell me, where can I start to get into ... Continue Reading »
There’s an important Zen story in The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, in Case 129: When Priest Yaoshan was sitting in meditation a monk asked, “What do you think about, sitting in ... Continue Reading »
It's important to find a ground floor in Zen practice. By ground floor, I mean a place where you can dependably settle. For me, the ground floor is zazen. Not ... Continue Reading »
Fukushima Keido Roshi died on March 1, 2011 at the age of 78. It was my honor to know him and to be his student. I met him about 15 years ... Continue Reading »
The practice of zazen is ancient, but I think it has a parallel in an entirely modern experience: email. The analogy isn’t perfect, but it’s interesting to think of the awareness we ... Continue Reading »
I wrote in a previous blog post that I struggled for quite a while to understand the concept of faith in Zen practice. I thought of faith as “blind faith,” and ... Continue Reading »
Some further comments on the Zen proverb that practice requires faith, doubt, and determination: For a long time the word “faith” made me uncomfortable. Sometimes even now when I hear ... Continue Reading »
There’s a Zen proverb that practice requires three things: faith, doubt, and determination. I’ve been thinking about zazen in the context of these three elements. The way I learned to sit, ... Continue Reading »
Recently, I had a big fight – verbal, not physical - with a relative. I thought he was treating me badly. He’d been irritating me for a while but I hadn’t ... Continue Reading »