Sublime

Master Linji said that when we meet the ghost Buddha, we should cut off his head. Whether we’re looking inside or outside ourselves, we need to cut off the head of whatever we meet, and abandon the views and ideas we have about things, including our ideas about Buddhism and Buddhist teachings.

Shibayama Roshi said once in sesshin, “This Buddha that you all want to see, this Buddha is very shy. It’s hard to get him to come out and show himself.” Why is that? Because the Buddha is ourselves, and we’ll never see the Buddha until we’re no longer attached to all this extra stuff. We’ve got to be willing to go into ourselves honestly. When we

In Japan, poems should not be tethered to the entanglement of a person’s ego. Humility, modesty, and a keen eye for small details in the natural environment are key attributes. As Basho said, “If you want to learn about the pine, then go to the pine, if you want to learn about the bamboo, then go to the bamboo. When you have become one with them, t

You always empower the demons you fight.