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emptiness: what is it?

[AUDIO AND TEXT] We see in Zen Buddhist literature innumerable references to “emptiness.” In the Heart Sutra, we have, “Form is exactly emptiness. Emptiness is exactly form.” Ad infinitum (or for some of us, it’s ad nauseum). So, what exactly is it they’re talking about? What is Emptiness anyway? What does it mean when they…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

emptiness—another take

[AUDIO AND TEXT] A few weeks ago, I brought before you some excerpts from a conversation between a particle physicist and a Buddhist monk dealing with emptiness and impermanence. They talked about string theory and other scientific propositions. At the end, I said I was willing to accept a characterization of emptiness that could be…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

aspirations, intentions, and vows

[AUDIO AND TEXT] Back in May of this year, we touched on Robert Aitken Roshi’s presentation of the Great Vows (also known as the Great Bodhisattva Vows). In that talk, I quoted from Aitken’s 1994 book The Practice of Perfection: The Paramitas from a Zen Buddhist Perspective (© 1994, Robert Aitken, Pantheon Books. © 1997,…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

Aitken Roshi and the great vows for all

[AUDIO AND TEXT] Each evening as we close our meditation session, we recite the Great Vows for All. These are the vows of the Bodhisattvas – those who promise to delay their own full enlightenment until all beings have been enlightened. Kind of like Jesus. Here is Robert Aitken Roshi’s translation of the Great Vows:…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

the song your being sings

[AUDIO AND TEXT] The question for tonight: What is the song your being sings? In the evenings here, after heavy rains, a choir of frogs takes voice in my back yard. The rainwater has been absorbed into the earth, and there’s a bit of ground and grass and weeds for the frogs to rest upon.…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

peace of mind is ordinary mind

[AUDIO AND TEXT] Some of you may recall Case 19 of the first koan collection used by our Zen lineage, The Gateless Gate, or Mumonkan. Here’s an abbreviated version of Case 19: Joshu earnestly asked Nansen, “What is the Way?” Nansen said, “The ordinary mind is the way.” When we talk about “ordinary mind,” we’re…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

some thoughts on certainty part 1

[AUDIO AND TEXT] Current events, especially in our home country, have been raising hackles within many of us, I suspect. That’s definitely true in my case. And in a continued effort to deal with my own resistance to what’s happening, I’ve started to consider the possibility that the problem is a sense of certainty. This…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

some thoughts on certainty part 2

[AUDIO AND TEXT] Last week, we considered the notion of “certainty” as presented in the Oscar-nominated film Conclave. We saw a homily given by a fictional Roman Catholic Cardinal who asserted that holding to certainty is problematic, and that abandoning it can bring us to tolerance and unity. And in our practice, we’re taught that…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

cataracts and seeing

[AUDIO AND TEXT] I’m having cataract surgery in January, near the end of the month. Both eyes, one week apart. I know this is not a complicated procedure, and most everyone my age will undergo that procedure before it’s all said and done. But the thought of having someone poking around my eyes doesn’t give…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

always becoming

[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is going to be really short. Tonight is for sitting, but I’d like us to sit with these thoughts in mind. Recently, the phrase “always becoming” has been echoing in my little brain. It echoes as I drive down the freeway; it clangs about as I’m trying to go to sleep…

by EmptyCloudWestZen

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