Zazen Notes

A friend of mine reports that he has trouble falling asleep, and getting back to sleep when he wakes up early.

I sent him a copy of Waking Up and Falling Asleep, and I wrote:

I think it’s easier to experience the things I talk about in “Waking Up and Falling Asleep” when you’re actually trying ...  read more

A friend emailed me this quote from Pablo Neruda:

To feel the intimacy of brothers is a marvelous thing in life. To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life. But to feel the affection that comes from those whom we do not know, from those unknown to us, who are watching over our sleep and solitude, ...  read more

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.”

 ...  read more