Dharma Flower Zen Center

Zen Master Huang Po:

Thus, the mind of the Bodhisattva is like the Void and everything is relinquished by it. When thoughts of the past cannot be taken hold of, that is relinquishment of the past. When thoughts of the present cannot be taken hold of, that is relinquishment of the present. When thoughts of the future cannot be taken hold of, that is relinquishment of the future. This is called utter relinquishment of Triple Time.

(from The Zen teaching of Huang Po, tr. John Blofeld)

photo by Harold Rail

Candy City
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Zen Master Seung Sahn:

Human life has no meaning, no reason, and no choice. But we have our practice to help us understand our true self. Then we can change no meaning to great meaning, which means great love. We can change no reason to great reason, which means great compassion. Finally, we can change no choice to great choice, which means great vow and the Bodhisattva way.

photo by Rail

Nancy Hedgpeth JDPSN:

We come into this world: birth gate. We leave this world: death gate. We have phases of life. We have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind. Many gates. We have the dharma gate and the gate to the meditation room. Precepts. Relationship. Nature. Friends. Family. Work. Desire. Anger. Ignorance. Many, many gates. Moment to moment, which gate do we go through? Which direction will we take? I want this; I don't want that? Up, down, good, bad, right, wrong-opposite directions? Become one direction? Save all beings from suffering direction?

So which way will you turn? What kind of gate do you like?

(from her inka speech in 1994)

photo by Kwan Mi Sunim

disappearing at 50mph

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things venerated #1

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Buddha-Nature
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Spring Grass

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Zen Master Bon Hae (Judy Roitman):

Who is it that brushes your teeth? Who is it that puts on your pajamas (if you wear pajamas)? Who is that puts on your shoes (I'm sure you wear shoes)? Who is it that walks down the street? Who is it that's sitting here right now on Zoom? Who is that person? That's a very important question.

(from a 2024 dharma talk)

photo by Rail

Antique Shop

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Hotel Hopper

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Tim Lerch JDPSN:

The truth is, we don't know what happens when we die. The Buddhist teaching about death can be helpful in that it gives us a good feeling, some sense of comfort in this mystery. This framework that can be helpful in the grieving process, but the Buddha taught that originally there is no life or death, our true self is infinite in time and space. Don't Know Mind doesn't have a beginning or an ending. Zen Master Seung Sahn's teaching is to wake up in this moment and attain our true nature. When we keep a Don't Know Mind we are addressing the big question of life and death moment to moment.... whenever anybody dies, they are teaching us that we must wake up, because our lives only occur in this moment [snaps fingers]. Just that.

We don't actually have a thing called a "life." When we talk about our lives we are usually referring to what happened in the past or speculating about what might happen in the future. But that is only thinking about what has already happened, already gone, or what may never happen. In Zen we say, "The past is already dead, and the future is just a dream." In the midst of all that talking and thinking about our so-called lives we overlook something? this moment. This moment is the only place where anything that we might call "our life" is actually happening. Indeed, the poignant meaning of someone dying is: wake up now!

(from a talk in 2003)

photo by Rai

Opera House and Enso circle

©2024•harold•rail•photograph

Years ago, a monk would take one kong-an into the mountain and hold it for many, many years until he got enlightenment. That was possible because a monk’s life does not always need to be involved with changing situations in a hectic world. But nowadays many people must connect their practice with life in a very fast and complicated society.
If you only hold this samadhi-style and become-one style of using kong-ans, you are attached to an old and dead tradition. Then your kong-an practice does not have some practical and spontaneous application to life in the modern world. This is how Zen died out in China. Zen practice and kong-an practice there could no longer connect with everyday life, so they both died. Zen became an esoteric practice based on secret words and behind-meanings. Zen practice after the T’ang and Sung dynasties lost all of its bodhisattva direction.
Our Zen style means intuitively perceiving how you use these kong-ans to connect meditation practice to bodhisattva action in a complicated world. That is the point of separating this way of viewing kong-an practice. It is a Zen revolution. —Zen Master Seung Sahn

Sometimes we think we don’t understand because we just haven’t read the right book yet. Somewhere, at some library, there must be a book that will solve all my problems. It will let me understand what I really need. But Buddha didn’t do that. Instead, he went to sit underneath a tree. You may think that’s really stupid. Who would go and sit underneath a tree? Why do that?
Buddha knew that the answers to these questions are somewhere inside. Actually, “go and sit underneath a tree” does not mean “go and sit underneath a tree.” The way to sit underneath a tree is to start looking inside. We are exactly like the Buddha because, for us, too, the answer lies inside. We all know the Buddha (and Zen, also) always asks the question: what am I? What am I? But it’s very interesting, if you ask that question, Zen does not have the answer. It doesn’t, but you do, inside. So you and the Buddha are the same. Just look inside.
Zen means finding your true self and helping our world. Very simple! Zen Buddhism is not complicated at all. You may be very stupid or very smart—that doesn’t make any difference. Inside, everybody has this original Buddha nature. Inside. So our job is to find that and help this world. Very simple. —Zen Master Dae Kwang