Cast away all speech…

“Cast away all speech. Our words may express it, but cannot hold it. The way of letters leaves no trace, yet the teaching is revealed.” (Dogen Kigen 1200-1253) Can anything else be said now..?

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Can’t Think Your Way Out

In the head is a noise machine. It thinks…especially when we believe there is some problem confronting us.  The problem is when those thoughts speed up or become oppressive.  True liberation is freedom from the noise machine in the mind.  Becoming aware of the “thought machine” with yourself as the watcher, gives you a glimpse [...]

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Spiritual Awakening with Eckhart Tolle

One of my favorite authors and spiritual teachers is Eckhart Tolle.  Long before he appeared on the Oprah show, I’d discovered his teachings by chance.  My first of his books was The Power of Now. This was not the first spiritual book I’d read, but the changes it helped start in me were quite profound.  [...]

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Living in the Mountain Forest

A beautiful Zen poem by Li Po… You ask why I live alone in the mountain forest, and I smile and am silent until even my soul grows quiet. The peach trees blossom. The water continues to flow. I live in the other world, one that lies beyond the human. – Li Po (701-762)

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My Mother in the Tao

The following passage from the Tao Te Ching resonated within me when I read it the other day.  Why?  Surrounded by concrete in the city, I long for Nature, my Mother.  Why have we made our cities so unlike Nature?  It seems due to our minds–the true source of our suffering.  Nature has endowed us with [...]

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This Moment is Enough

What is your relationship with this moment? Who is the one in you that notices that you are thinking?

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Eras of Earth: One Kalpa for Human Evolution

Found this chart of the eras of the Earth while browsing a dictionary yesterday.  In Buddhism, there is the term called kalpa to represent over 4 billion years, which happens to be about the age of the Earth.  The scientific description of the origin of humans is quite fascinating!  Because of the fairly recent mapping [...]

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The Ten Grave Precepts of Zen

Lately, I’ve been thinking about this list of Ten…  What enlightenment is there without the fruit of these precepts?  Time to sit, time to practice, time to water the seeds of understanding. The Ten Precepts of Zen Buddhism are: No killing No stealing No misusing sex No speaking falsely No giving or taking drugs No [...]

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Chai Tea with Han-Shan

So I’m opening this blog over a hot cup of chai spice tea on a cold November day in the Inland Northwest, wondering how to start.  The Zen life is a moment by moment experience.  The setting sun is reflecting off a window across the street straight into my window and onto the computer screen.  [...]

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