SANGHA BLOG

Satsujo Weeps by Wilbur Mushin May

The old woman grieving tears or no tears?! That’s the question: wet or dry? To jump into the water you get wet. No separation. To...

The Old Woman Steals Zhaoshou’s Bamboo Shoots

One day Master Zhaozhou was outside the monastery and an old woman came along carrying an empty basket. He asked her: “Where are you...

More from Choki

II How did this happen? Ordinary concepts… So futile. A self…a bubble popping. How many are there? This one was so hidden, so close that...

Poem from Behind the Fence Part I by Choki

I. I saw myself today, almost for the first time? The ego? The super-ego? Just words. The deep-rooted character I play; the ultimate...

Eventuality by Kakushin

Poems from Behind the Fence: Eventuality Life is but a dewdrop Reflected in a dewdrop We are born Into a world of tears No future…No...

Constancy (Zen Mind, Beginners Mind) page 83 Comments by Wilbur Mushin Sensei

Dozan’s landscape is famous for its misty mountains and rivers. But when you go there, you see only rocks and water. Empty of all...

A Distorted View of Indivuality

A Distorted View of Individuality, by M. Horaku Each of us and everything around us is a beautiful, complete manifestation of the Silent...

“Holding up empty space scooping up valley water”

“Holding up empty space scooping up valley water to build a stupa and create a Buddha image.” Commentary on Dogen’s chapter Space page...

Enlightening Incident: Buddha as a door stopper

One of my Hospice patients used my Buddha statute as a door stopper. She did not know Buddha, nor was she aware that this was a...

Do Not Kill

Remember the first of the Ten Grave Precepts? “Do not kill.” While this translation is easier for Western people to grasp, the Japanese...