Practice
312 articles in category.
One Path to the Source
The Linji school is known for its sharp, uncompromising style. As the Record of All Dharmas Returning to the Mind puts it:
ReadAttaining Buddhahood in This Very Life
A Huayan master asked Master Huihai, “Venerable, do you hold that insentient beings are Buddhas?” The master replied, “I do not. If insentient beings were Buddhas, living people would be no better than the dead, and dead horses and dead ...
ReadThe Passing Years Are Impermanent
The sun cannot linger, the earth cannot stand still; time shifts with the sun’s rising and setting, and fades with the earth’s turning. Thus the Buddha taught: “All things arise and pass in a flash, ever-shifting and impermanent!” Those ...
ReadThe Master's Gourd
A young monk went to see his master.
ReadWas There Ever Any Confusion?
A wandering monk, resting before a small hermitage kept by an old woman during his travels, called out:
ReadZen Poetry Appreciation — Cold Ice Congeals Within the Flame
Hymn on the Unity of Lord and Vassal
ReadMaster Zibo on Putting the Mind to Good Use
A sharp blade drawn from its sheath, its radiance dazzling as the sun. It cuts through iron as if it were clay. Whatever wood it meets—catalpa, nanmu, pine, or cypress—each becomes a useful vessel once shaped by its edge. Such is one who...
ReadZen Poetry Appreciation: The Sharpened Blade Must Still Be Honed
Verse on Dharma Transmission
ReadZen Practice: The Unity of Samadhi and Prajna (Part 1)
Question: "In the later stages of practice, the true meaning of the unity of samadhi and prajna remains unclear to me. Please expound on this further, dispel my confusion, and lead me into the gate of liberation."
ReadZen Poetry: If the Mind is Like a Tree, It Accords with the Way
The Tree Before the Gate — Tang Dynasty, Chan Master Longya Judong
ReadMaster Xuyun: The Mind is Like the Void
Long ago there was an elder practitioner who had lived for many years within a large monastic community. He was even-tempered and broad by nature, and always treated others with kindness. He often urged people to “let go, let go.” Someon...
ReadZen Meditation | One Thought Turns the Light Inward to Reveal One’s Original Nature
Question: "You say that sudden awakening and gradual cultivation are the two paths, the way of all sages. If awakening is sudden, why bother with gradual cultivation? If cultivation is gradual, why speak of sudden awakening? Please expla...
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