Words on
the way of Zen
Reflections on practice, tradition, and the everyday path of Zen.
Bringing Out the Mind of Renunciation
Master Long Shu was truly compassionate and deeply earnest, expounding on this point again and again from every angle. His sole purpose was to awaken within us a profound weariness of this Sahā world and a longing for the Land of Ultimat...
ReadWhere Is the Most Sublime Aspect of the One Vehicle?
The One Buddha Vehicle refers to applying the Buddha’s wisdom and insight to address the challenges faced by sentient beings, thereby enabling the attainment of the most complete spiritual merit. Thus, the focus of contemplation of princ...
ReadTreat Your Job as a Way to Temper Yourself: Use Work Experiences to Cultivate and Refine Your Mind and Heart
When I go to work today, I am not working for anyone else. I treat my job as a form of tempering: I refine my mind and heart by working through every situation I encounter on the job. In the past, we only went to work to seek good perfor...
ReadAppreciating a Zen Poem: Do Not Judge Me Through Right and Wrong — The Floating Life Is Unrelated to Such Contrivances
A Verse Revealing the Dharma
ReadMaster Hanshan: Do Not Pursue All Manner of Enjoyments for This Physical Body
For monastics, the first essential point to understand is that the fundamental purpose of leaving home, cutting off worldly attachments, and parting from one's family is to transcend birth and death. If you are resolved to attend to the ...
ReadMaster Gangxiao: Expositions on the Twenty Verses on Consciousness-Only — Verse 12
The atoms have no spatial extension; who then combines, and who is combined? If there is no combining, then composite forms cannot be established, nor can there be spatial extension.
ReadDzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche on Meditation
Meditation, says Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, is one of the most direct, practical, and simple methods for training the mind.
ReadRaw chestnuts effectively tonify the kidneys, but those with weak spleen and stomach should not eat too many
Chestnuts are a favorite food for many people, and there are many traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulas that use chestnuts as a medicinal ingredient. While chestnuts are most often eaten cooked, eating them raw is also an excellent...
ReadWhat Is Zen Buddhism? The Most Comprehensive Overview
The term "Chan" is the condensed expression of the core essence of dhyana (meditative absorption). Its roots trace back to the Sanskrit term dhyana, which translates to Chinese as denoting the state of "cultivation of thought" and "calm ...
ReadBumping the Dantian: A Health Practice to Stimulate the Body's Primordial Qi!
Today I’d like to share a Daoist health cultivation practice called “Bumping the Dantian” — a few gentle bumps to this energy center deliver the same benefits as practicing internal qigong.
ReadAll Phenomena Answer the Void
Monk Cen, a dharma heir of Nanquan, was in Hunan.
ReadThe cardinal sin of spiritual practice is constantly switching your object of focus back and forth
Let me tell you a story about a goat for you all to reflect on. There was a goat that woke up one morning wanting to go to the field to eat some bok choy. When it arrived at the field and was just about to take a bite, huh, the morning s...
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