I like to mix the Buddhist philosophical talk and Dogen-think with just sitting, just being-experiencing … life. Our practice is not complete without both sides of the coin, I believe. So, when this thunderstorm came along today … nature’s summons to the Zafu. We are leaving Coconut Creek in a couple of weeks, back to…

I’ve been asked several times whether Zen is a ‘religion’, a ‘philosophy’, or just what it is. My teacher, Nishijima Roshi, has written that all people necessarily have a ‘religion’, no matter that they call it a ‘philosophy’, or claim that they are ‘atheists’, or that they have no religion at all. [My] definition of…

Which of the following statements are true? (a) Zen Buddhists drop all opinions . (b) Zen Buddhists hold clear opinions . (c) Zen Buddhists drop all judgments of ‘right’ and ‘true’ . (d) Zen Buddhists judge many things as ‘right’ and ‘true’ . Answer: (a) (b) (c) & (d) Thus Dogen Zenji, a man of…

Notice the picture below … the center-pole anchoring opposing judgments of ‘true’ or ‘false’, see the whiteness from which all of it arises … Imagine that the pole stands for a world prior to all human judgments of right and wrong, true or false, this and that, left and right, good vs. bad, self and…

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