In Zen-Buddhism, Dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a “successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual ‘bloodline’ (kechimyaku) theoretically traced back to the Buddha himself.” The...
GOING FOR REFUGE Going for refuge and taking the precepts is the cornerstone of all the Buddhist paths. It usually becomes a turning point in a person’s life. One where they work toward an ideal – this ideal being shown to us through The Buddha – a...
THE HEART SUTRA The Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokateshvara, while in deep meditative concentration, absorption and curious inquiry, looked deeply into the nature of experience, penetrated fully to the intuitve realization of the emptiness of the skandhas and after...
The Perfect Enlightenment Sutra is one of the most popular and influential sutras in Zen. It was held in the highest regards by some of the greatest Zen Master’s like Zongmi and Chinul. The sutra itself is twelve chapters and the introductory section describes...
“Do you have a Koan?” That was the first question Korean Zen Master, Venerable Hwasun Yangil Sunim asked me. I had heard about Koans before – mainly from books. I didn’t really think they were essential for Zen practice. But here I was, sitting...
A quick and expedient way of awakening… The master takes his staff and points directly to your heart saying, Listen here! This! This! A thousand times this! The seeker is what’s sought. Originally the mind is pristine, vast and expansive like a clear blue...
A young monk tentatively asked the Master, “Teacher, why did Bodhidharma come from the west?” The Master looked out the window and said, “The cypress tree in the courtyard.” The Zen Master whacks his stick against the floor. You’re startled, heart racing, eyes...
The conceptual every day mind is never happy. It always wants something to chew on. It’s a hungry ghost and no matter how much information we feed it the mind will never be satisfied. “Does a dog have buddha-nature?” “Why did Bodhidharma come to China?” “Was the...
Zen is… “A special transmission outside the scriptures, not founded upon words and letters. by pointing directly to one’s mind, It lets one see into one’s own true nature and thus attain buddhahood.” (1) The above statement from Bodhidharma is an...
Catching the Zen Bird So many people hear of the Zen Mind or Buddha Mind or Truth or Suchness or Enlightenment or the Great Way or the Absolute or the Unborn or the Fundamental Nature – there’s a million different names for it – and they know they...
Transcript: Finding the Treasure in Your Mind is a True Practitioner Finding the Treasure in Your Mind is a True Practitioner We think that we should learn and accept while meditating on a daily basis. But more important than that is you must save yourself. The...
SHE JUST LET GO . . . By Ernest Holmes She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go. She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around in her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within...
The great light of illumination In the sky light expanse of mind You blaze with splendour and light Soft easeful wisdom emanating infinite blessings Giving rise To all the vehicles and teachings So that all beings may come here To this timeless moment And realize they...
“Plunge into the nowness of everfresh completely spontaneous everpresence. Pure pristine awareness.” Master e All phenomena are completely new and fresh, absolutely unique and entirely free from all concepts of past, present, and future. They are experienced in...
The Prayer of Kuntuzangpo, The Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra Ho! Everything – appearance and existence, samsara and nirvana, has a single ground, yet two paths and two fruitions, and magically displays as awareness or unawareness. Through Kuntuzangpo’s...
One of my first teachers Lama Sonam while teaching me as we ate breakfast one day said, “Just be natural. Nothing special about you whatsoever.” We make meditation into an event – either we’re at it, in it, doing it, getting ready to do it, suck at doing it, are...
THE MIRROR OF ESSENTIAL POINTS A Letter in Praise of Emptiness From Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje to his Mother I pay homage at the lotus feet of Tenpai Nyima, Who is inseparable from Dharma-lord Longchen Rabjam And perceives the natural state of emptiness Of the...
A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha Breathe in A Breathe out Ah Breathe in Sha Breathe out Sa Breathe in Ma Breathe out Ha This is the Breath of Brilliance The syllable Ah points out the unborn nature of reality. Ah is the non-conceptualization of unborn existence. Since nothing...
The everyday practice of Dzogchen is simply to develop a complete carefree acceptance, an openness to all situations without limit. We should realize openness as the playground of our emotions and relate to people without artificiality, manipulation or strategy. We...
