Latest writings

We can be both sick with worry and worried sick. If we're feeling bad, we often find ourselves panicking, looking around at diets, programs, exercise devices and other fads, trying to stave off ill health. When we get into this kind of panic, e are focusing all our…

    The notion of "I" is a form of discrimination. We try to understand the world and ourselves through our discrimination. Because of the ego, our opinions, comparisons…

Someone asked Elder Zhao-Zhou (Joshu) how he practiced, and he said "For thirty years my mind remains undistracted, except perhaps when eating and putting on robes. Most people dwell on what they know, I alone remain in the not-knowing." I find the idea of being un-distracted really intriguing. Some distractions are obvious, we become fidgety and chatty in social situations. Less…

It is important that we realize the fundamental equality of all beings. First of all, everyone possesses a mind. This is equality. Every person's mind can generate thoughts,…

A student asked me, "Master, how can I let go of my attachments? If I let go, what will be left?" Consider the moon and the star. They continue to light the sky as you sleep.…