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One day a Zen master asked a junior monk, "Can you grasp the intangible?" Monk replied, "Yes." "How?" The junior monk then waved his hands in the air with a grasping gesture. The Master told him,"You don't know how." Monk asked, "Well, how do you do it then?" The Zen master grasped the monk's nose and squeeze it hard. In pain the monk cried out, "Let it go, that hurts!" Master said, "That's how you grasp the intangible."

Student: Master, on a very down to the earth level, we create phenomena by decisions we make.  Is that correct?  For example, we are making a decision to…

When the purpose of your work is primarily to help people, a much greater door is opened in your reality. The capacity of your mind expands with your earnest effort to help more people. You will not only obtain material benefit but will also experience deep joy. Contrastingly, if your effort is devoted only toward yourself, the scope of your reality will be narrow If you are always focused on personal benefit, the greatest…

Stop what you are doing now. Do not find substitute; do not plan to do it later. Don't let anything occupy your mind now. Are you free?

Zen has the idea of the beginner's mind - a mind that is fresh and alive. Sometimes I wonder how you can practice beginner's mind when meditation is all about focusing on one thing only - it seems a very stagnant way of using the mind. One would at first think to practice beginner's mind is to keep it moving, keep everything "new". But actually the best way is just the opposite; it is only through repetitiveness that we…