Zazen Notes

In his “Lancet of Seated Meditation” (“Shobo genzo zazen shin”), Dogen quotes a conversation:

Once, when the Great Master Hung-tao of Yueh shan was sitting in meditation , a monk asked him,

What are you thinking, sitting there so fixedly?

The master answered, “I’m thinking of not thinking.”

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Here is Dogen, from one of his lectures (as recorded by Koun Ejo):

Is the way attained through mind or body? In the teaching schools it is said that since body and mind are not separate, the Way is attained through the body. Yet it is not clear that we attain the Way through the body, because they say ‘since’ ...  read more

Someone on a forum site I follow wondered if there was any redeeming value to “The Diamond Sutra”. Here’s my response, and a bit more.

Let me first say that I have not personally read the Diamond Sutra, except in occasional excerpts that I’ve encountered. What I’ve encountered did not ...  read more