The "I" is On Fire →

One of the earliest sermons of the Buddha was what's come to be known as "The Fire Sermon." He says:

<<"Monks, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning?

"The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion...."The ear is burning, sounds are burning...

"The nose is burning, odors are burning...

"The tongue is burning, flavors are burning...

"The body is burning, tangibles are burning...

"The mind is burning, ideas are burning, mind-consciousness is burning, mind-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with mind-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs.">>

Between the 18 Dhatus and the 5 Skhandas that DON'T comprise "Self," what is there?

Maybe if rather than making something out of nothing, when we see something, we see something. When we hear, we just hear. If we do that, maybe not so much suffering.

Oh, That's just Me (NOT!) →

Famous last words, right before justifying some ridiculous nonsense, "Oh, that's just me." If I tell myself a story about myself, how believable is it, how close to Reality is it? If I tell that story about me to you, how true is it, how much interpreting of it are you going to do with it, and how close to Reality is that going to be? Zen practice is to engage directly with Reality. Not a pretty (or ugly) version of Reality, just Reality. No picking, no choosing, just Reality. So, if I think I'm (Noun), then that means I should (verb). No. "Thinking" and "should" are not the best parameters to choose our nouns and verbs with. No stories, no justifications, as they say in Korea, no "painting legs on a snake." The snake is just fine as it is, just like I'm just fine as I am, you're fine the way you are, except for those fairy tales we think we have to concoct about ourselves.

The Dharma Talk from June 18, 2015. Click on the title to listen.

"Zen-ax" →

In the US, we seem to be living in a reality-TV culture, where bad behavior is not discouraged, and in fact is often rewarded. The more outrageous the better! Zen Buddhism teaches that a wider pendulum swing is not necessarily a better pendulum swing. Our meditation practice brings us in closer contact with our True Nature, and one of the ways that is outwardly manifested is through the application of the Four Immeasurables: Loving-kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity.

The "Self-iness" of the wide swing gives way to a narrower motion, where there is less concern for "I, I, I, I, I," and more concern for others...even the ones that maybe we don't like so much.
When to others it might look like we're being uncaring, detached, aloof, or indifferent, we are actually less perturbed by things we know are impermanent, and when you get down to it on a practical level, just really not that important. Our practice takes us there naturally. It's not like we're taking Zen-ax as a tranquilizer, we're just returning to a more tranquil state...the one that's always been there.

Click on the title to hear the Dharma talk from June 11, 2015.

Refuge! →

We take refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. And we're grateful for all of them.

Siddhartha did the heavy lifting for us, searching, and eventually finding the BIG Answer to the BIG Question.
Once we've been given the Dharma, do we use it our every day lives?