One Bright Pearl

the white ox refuses to leave
suddenly - Bong!
dinner bell ringing
.

zen practice
might not be
just sitting
just walking
just working
just listening
it could be
dancing
who knows?
.

Dogen instructed,1
Students of the Way, do not worry about food and clothing. Just maintain the Buddha’s precepts and do not engage in worldly affairs. The Buddha said to use abandoned rags for clothing and beg for food. In what age will these two things ever be exhausted? Do not forget the swiftness of impermanence nor [...]

I have always loved the poems of Han Shan. One of my favorite is number 26 -

Since I came to Cold Mountain
how many thousand years have passed?
Accepting my fate I fled to the woods,
to dwell and gaze in freedom.
No one visits the cliffs
forever hidden by clouds.
Soft grass serves as a mattress,
my quilt is the dark [...]

a life long mistake
begins to bloom
through no fault of my own
.

“You must understand that we practice within delusions and attain realization before enlightenment.“  Dogen Zenji - Chapter 3: Gakudo Yojinshu

What does it mean to have a practice?
Practice is not done in isolation, and at the same time isolation is not what you think it is. The Buddha proclaimed, “I, alone, am the only one!”
What is [...]

The Samadhi of the Self accepting the Self as only the Self is known as Jijuyu Zanmai. Old Buddha Eihei presents this self fulfilling truth in his treatise Bendowa or Talk on Whole Hearted Practice of the Way. As an instruction for practice of the Way, it is supreme.
To actualize Jijuyu Zanmai, one must practice [...]

half a person
neither retreats
nor advances
what! is our vital function

Something is happening here. It feels as if a new opening is taking over my life. I cannot see the future and the past isn’t important. The process of moment to moment exploration of this life as it manifests as a singular field of action is creating some kind of change I cannot put into [...]

The only question that has ever mattered to me is - “Who am I?” This one question has always seemed to be the main knowledge, the ultimate knowledge, the one answer that resolves all other questions about meaning, purpose, relationship to myself and others.
So what have I discovered through this questioning? More than anything, I [...]