Turn around the light to shine within, then just return. The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers, be familiar with their instructions, bind grasses to build a hut, and don’t give up.
Soto practice
Field of Boundless Emptiness, by Zen Master Hongzhi
The subtlety of seeing and hearing transcends mere colours and sounds. The whole affair functions without leaving traces, and mirrors without obscurations…
True Peace of Mind, by Harada Sekkei Roshi
Many people think Zen is something difficult. However, the Chinese character used for ‘Zen’ means ‘to demonstrate simplicity’. As this character implies, Zen is an extremely clear and concise teaching. Zen is also said to be the Buddha-dharma itself. The Chinese character for ‘Dharma’ is written with the components for ‘water’ and ‘to leave’. This implies that water flows from a high place to a low place. Zen, then, is to realise the Truth (the natural principles of things) which is completely separate from the judgement and intervention of the ego-self…
Little by Little, by Maezumi Roshi
We can see in both Soto practice and Rinzai practice sudden and gradual aspects. We can say it is a continuous process — first practise, then sudden realization, then further practise and further realization continuing endlessly. From the experiential point… Read More ›
