Random Violence: a Symptom of Society’s Fatal Illness
When the shit first really hits the fan, denial is a natural human response. It’s not that people don’t care, it’s that they care so much. The possibility that there’s nothing they can do to help the situation is too terrible to face. This is...
Dispelling Illusion
Excerpted with permission from Idiot's Guides: Zen Living by Domyo Burk No matter how many things you recognize are not part of your self-essence, you can still persist in believ-ing you have one. After all, it just feels like you do. Even if you manage...
The Empty World
Excerpted with permission from Idiot's Guides: Zen Living by Domyo Burk One Big Reality One of the first things you realize once you get a good look at reality is that a lot of the things you previously thought were real were simply your concepts about the world....
What Self to Have Faith In?
A commentary on Zen Master Lin-chi's teaching. Quotations are from Chapter 11 of The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-chi, translated by Burton Watson (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1993) The Master instructed the group, saying: Those who study the Dharma of the...
Provocative Zen Teachers
Some Zen teachers are pussy cats, and some are tigers. Some are emphatic, some are ambiguous, some are dogmatic, and some eschew all dogma. Which Zen teachers are right? When you are still searching for a teacher to trust, this may feel like a very important question....
Enlightenment as Choice, Not Skill
You can choose to be enlightened this moment. Your enlightenment does not depend on any skill such as the ability to concentrate, the ability to stay in the present moment, or the ability to overcome your attachments. Perfect Zen meditation, or zazen, is the same...
What’s the Good of Zen Teachers?
Why, in a tradition like Buddhism in which you are supposed to verify everything for yourself, is there such an emphasis on Teachers? In Zen our relationships to teachers are complex and multilayered. Relationships with teachers, whether brief and informal or...
Why Offer Zen without Religion?
The religious elements with which Zen is often presented may prevent many people from hearing what it has to offer them. This is unfortunate. Most people, religious or not, hold at an intention to learn and grow throughout their lives. Yet few people are aware that...
“Religious” Versus “Spiritual” Versus “Practicing Being Human”
Many people will say, “I’m spiritual, not religious.” What does this really mean, and what significance do these concepts have in our world? When people describe themselves as “spiritual” they usually mean that they pay attention to aspects of life beyond our personal...
When Religion Refrains From Explaining “Why”
If religion’s purpose is to help people find peace and strength and to live good lives, which I believe it is, it makes sense that people would turn to religion to explain why terrible things happen in the world – particularly terrible things that happen to...