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Essays by Yao Xiang Shakya

The Ox by Fashi Lao Yue

Many spiritual seekers do not know what the aim of practice is. In this essay, Fashi Lao Yue gives us some direction on the ultimate aim of Zen practice. It’s simple but it ain’t easy. See for yourself.

The Heart, the Intellect & the Ass by Fashi Lao Yue

“Faith is rarely where your head is at. Nor is it where your heart is at. Faith is where your ass is at!  Daniel Berrigan

How many times have you wanted to give up, walk away, quit? Fashi Lao Yue tells us faith is in the ass, not in the head or the heart.

How Do We Find the Field of Emptiness? Of Love?

Fashi Lao Yue helps us understand the ever present, ever lasting spiritual work before us with a bit of help from Rumi.
“Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. … When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.”

How to Find God on the Zen Path: The Heart Sutra, The Thread of Love by Fashi Lao Yue

When a bird gets free it doesn’t return to the remnant on the bottom of the cage. (Rumi) Fashi Lao Yue offers a short intensive on the path of the Heart Sutra.

Avalokiteshvara while practicing deeply with the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore,
suddenly discovered that all of the five Skandhas are equally empty, and with this realisation he overcame all Ill-being.
Thich Nhat Hanh translation.

Mirror, Mirror: The Riddle of Self Reflection, The Seeker

What comes out of your mouth matters! Whether you lie or exaggerate, whether your words are venomous or sweet. How you speak and what you say is a reflection of your spiritual state. And it doesn’t matter what you’re talking about….your words show you where you are on the path.

Announcement: Another Master Blooms in ZATMA

In the truest sense of the Dharma, a master is a master long before he or she ever receives the ornamentation of being known as a Master. It is a gift to be found and given the responsibility to serve in this way. Yao Xiang Shakya, our dear old editor, is the founder and teacher of A Single Thread, A Contemplative Order of Hsu Yun.

The Good Fortune of the Contemplative Path

Many might well question, as some often do, the solitary life….a life that directs itself towards the heights of Nirvana….in a singular way….towards the emptiness of not needing anything in particular….