Sublime

Fresh awareness of whatever arises … is sufficient.

the Buddha is not so concerned with philosophical argument as he is with putting an end to suffering, which arises from projection and which ceases upon understanding the true nature of one’s own perceptions.

Bankei (1622–1693) was a contemporary of Hakuin and for some time roshi at the Myoshinji monastery in Kyoto. Translations of his informal talks on Zen, directed especially to lay people, may be found in D. T. Suzuki’s Living by Zen (Pasadena, Calif.: P. D. and Ione Perkins, 1949), and in Lucien Stryk, ed., World of the Buddha (New York: Doubleday &

In the sitting practice of meditation, we are able to discriminate between what are discursive thoughts and what is the essence of mindfulness and awareness. We begin to realize there are differences between the two. However, neither of them is rejected or accepted per se. We include everything in our practice. Our world of practice does not have t

A more precise interpretation of nirvana is the adoption of a broad perspective that admits all experiences, pleasurable or painful, as aspects of awareness.

This gatha is simply an offering given to us by the Buddha, the Buddha’s way of saying goodbye: “Until we meet again, here is something for your empty bowl: regard all things, all beings, this teaching, this sutra, this body of merit, this realization, regard them all as unreal.”

The shorter version of the Heart Sutra begins: “When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva penetrated the prajna-paramita, she saw that the five skandhas [form, sensation, perception, volition, and cognition—the constituents of what passes for the individual] are empty, and she freed herself of all sufferings and obstructions. Shariputra, form is no other th