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...
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...
The Song of the Vajra Unborn, yet continuing without interruption, neither coming nor going, omnipresent, Supreme Dharma, unchangeable space, without definition, spontaneously self-liberating— perfectly unobstructed state— manifest from the very beginning,...
Rigpa, Primordial Awareness has no “I” Rigpa or Zen Mind, is an awareness without a personal experiencer nor a personal perceiver who perceives. The Bahiya Sutra “The Buddha was approached and asked by a person named Bahiya to reveal the insight necessary to realize...
The Play of the Mind: Form, Emptiness, and Beyond By John Welwood Form is emptiness, emptiness itself is form; emptiness is no other than form, form is no other than emptiness. -Heart Sutra In every crescendo of sensation, in every effort to recall, in every progress...
Morning Bell Chant Our vow: may the sound of this bell spread throughout the universe, make all the hell of dark metal bright, relieve the three realms of suffering, shatter the hell of swords, and bring all beings to enlightenment. Homage to the shining, loving, holy...
A long time ago in China, Zen Master Un Mun went into town one day with one of his monks. As they walked down the street, Un Mun looked ahead and saw a shop with a sign that read “Dragon’s Treasure Chest.” On seeing the sign, Un Mun turned to the monk and...
A long time ago in China, Zen Master Un Mun went into town one day with one of his monks. As they walked down the street, Un Mun looked ahead and saw a shop with a sign that read “Dragon’s Treasure Chest.” On seeing the sign, Un Mun turned to the monk and...
The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest magic is transmuting the...
A student had really resonated with the teaching of giving and said that this came up for them in their business meeting just recently – to give so that they could get more. Here is my response… The practice of giving if tied to getting (the expectation...
After perfectly taking the bodhisattva’s vow of moral ethics, accumulate virtues through your body, speech, and mind in order to achieve enlightenment. Briefly, these are called the “accumulation of virtues.” What are they? The Bodhisattva Bhumis says: Maintaining and...
