One Bright Pearl

Rohatsu Sesshin is upon us here at Sanshinji. We will begin by having dinner together at 6:00pm and then meet again at 7:30pm for Okumura Roshi’s orientation talk. When he finishes sharing his words of encouragement, we will turn and face the wall, as the Buddha did all those years ago.
We sit a classic Uchiyama [...]

My life is not theoretical. It is real. In this life, at all times, all things are possible. Only I can obstruct myself. I have met many students of Zen over the years, and one thing that seems to be common, is the lack of belief in their own innate wisdom. As if what the [...]

As the Universe continues to manifest itself through my five skandhas, a deep sense of Universal enjoyment rises and subsides, moment by moment. With this deep abiding joy comes acceptance, acceptance to what is right here now. And what is right here now, often looks like, feels like suffering, and it is, but it is [...]

the wind murmurs
ghosts
through gnarled limbs
this old pine
feels like home

cool november grey
sky to the ground
feet cold and wet!
.

There was a time when I was doing the ‘done in a city of broken dreams filled with the sound of coming down. So I kinda like this song in a “just like me” way.  Just like me, you don’t wish to suffer, or be the cause of another’s suffering. Just like me, you wish [...]

bones of my ancestors
rattle with my every breath
wind turns chill
and the leaves of autumn scatter
guiding me toward a distant shore

the smell of miso
reminds me of that time
in the zendo
when we were still friends

Life and Death
ghosts walking
everywhere
How beautiful
this dewdrop life

this goes with the last post,,,
I’m not a pretend buddhist, sometimes I suffer.