Sacrifice Innumerable Sacrifices A Daily Practice of Devotion Let’s start with a chant, Innumerable Sacrifices. Innumerable sacrifices brought us this food; We consider how it comes to us. We reflect on our virtue and…
Hell is empty… and all the devils are here. The Tempest, Shakespeare This fellow Shakespeare knew a thing or two. The line comes from the mouth of the young character, Ferdinand who has just experienced…
The Third Position: Neither Here, Nor There It is just a matter of hitting the bell, closing the door, lighting a candle. In the past IT abides. In the future IT abides. But don’t ask,…
Right Understanding. Let me begin with a definition of right understanding. It is a teaching of the Eightfold Path and is considered the root in the ground of the Lotus. It is embedded in…
Remembrance of Aging The Four Boons of Aging. My hope is to pull the door open, even if it is just a crack, on what is beneficial in the truth of aging. I’ll begin by…
A Single Thread, The Zen Contemplative Order of Hsu Yun Welcomes Old Heart Mountain, 老心山, Lǎo xīn shān shakya aka Arakawa Mitsugi to our Order. Old Mountain, as he likes to be called, is previously…
Escape from Hell We named him Arthur which is a name derived from the word bear. In Medieval Latin Arthurus/Arturus, usually said to be from Welsh arth means “bear.” In sanskrit, artha means wealth, the…
Flee the chit chat with others, except as an act of charity. Love people very much. Talk with few. Talk with moderation. Put nothing or no one between you and the Source. Do not…
Personal Note When I first came in contact with Ming Zhen Shakya, our late founder and my teacher, I had read this particular essay written by Ming Zhen. I read it several times and after…
So much talk in the US about soldiers these days…bashing them, calling them “names” – misunderstanding what and why someone volunteers to serve as a warrior. To willingly put themselves in harms way for the…
The body and mind are of the nature to grow old. The body and mind are of the nature to get sick. The body and mind are of the nature to die. All that…
Death and the Maiden By Egon Schiele Egon Schiele died in 1918 of the Spanish flu at the age of 28. __________ Hiding By Sophia Meyers-Green A poem written some 20 years after the death…