In our practice of Buddhism we must consider the combination of all aggregates that make us alive. Whether we are lay people who join meditation at a Zendo, or practice contemplation while taking a morning stroll, maybe we are a monastic who studies the Dharmas and meditates our whole life in the seclusion of our monastery, or the priest who oversee a small community of practitioners with Dharma talks, meditation and the occasional ceremony. Even if we are a lone practitioner, lay or clergy wandering the mountains, forests, beaches, etc. We must practice with balance of mind (meditation and co ..read more

“The mind may be said to be of two kinds, pure and impure. Driven by the senses it becomes impure; but with the senses under control, the mind becomes pure. It is the mind that frees us or enslaves. Driven by the senses we become bound; master of the senses we become free. Those who seek freedom must master their senses. When the mind is detected from senses one reaches the summit of consciousness. Mastery of the mind leads to wisdom. Practice meditation. Stop all vain talk. The highest state is beyond reach of thought, for it lies beyond all duality.” (Amritabidu Upanishad) As human beings ou ..read more

Compassion & Satori. “Go down on your silly knees, Pray for what? Tomorrow is yesterday.” Master Ikkyu So many people use words in hopes that words alone will give them enlightened or some divine grace. Others use prayer to make themselves appears righteous or in the opposite lowly and poor. Ikkyu as did many other great Zen Masters have pointed away from the use of semi useless murmuring to using true action and few words. This is the complexity and paradox of Chan Buddhism, but there again it is the beauty in the simplicity of the paradox that makes it so effective upon the body and min ..read more

Nature is a place in which we can experience rebirth of mind, body and spirit. But just putting on your hiking shoes and tuning your I-phone or I-pod to your favorite beats is not what I am taking about. What I am talking about is taking the practice out of the meditation hall and using it in a natural non-man-made setting. It does not always mean that you have to find high mountain peaks or deep mountain valleys, but rather someplace that is not traveled so often and is peacefully nature. It could be a walk through a thicket of spruce or cottonwood in the neighborhood park, along river or cre ..read more