SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery

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Be responsible for your mind stream without adding your personal condiments to everything. Grasping comes out of desire, which stops the awareness, the wisdom mind. The response is just to include and observe the desire. There is no formula or standard there. https://youtu.be/DCRwdQrI87c

This is a way of looking at not attaching to what arises. Don’t buy in, but also don’t dismiss or reject it. Don’t take any position on anything. This is very difficult to do. Have some consideration for the energy that’s moving around in your kitchen or in your mind stream. If you’re training your mind, you will know if you need to do something. https://youtu.be/HnmB91AJ_Hs

The fundamental issue is the suffering, anxiety and difficulty we run into, sometimes with no apparent cause. We are trying to squeeze some happiness out of samsara. You can’t fix it. This is the illusion you need to see. If you see this, nothing will be running your life. https://youtu.be/kL1GDEqPOS4

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Pre-order Sokuzan's newest book, Sixty Second Sokuzan: 52 one-minute Zen Buddhist teachings HERE: https://www.sokukoji.org/product-page/sixty-second-sokuzan Video-link of this talk: https://youtu.be/y_G5Bnewd6c

We tend to believe what shows up in our minds; it feels safer and more comfortable. The teaching here is that it’s an illusion. Just believing that this is an illusion doesn’t mean that it won’t continue to delude you. The two fundamental areas we need to see clearly are belief in a self as a separate being and belief that there is an other. It needs to be seen. Pre-order Sokuzan's newest book, Si...

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Instead of trying to do things out in the world, go within. Slow down, sit still, and watch the continued, very subtle movement in your mind stream. Everything is dependently arisen. https://youtu.be/GY_RGOZW3hs

This talk title is a line from a classical text in Soto Zen literature: verse 20 in the Book of Serenity. You don’t have to know anything, but you have to study and receive everything. Stop responding out of some kind of interpretation based on your conflicting emotions about the nature of reality. https://youtu.be/UyazzC2VUIY

Look at the confusion without stories about how to fix it. You have no control - that’s the illusion we are buying in to. https://youtu.be/ge8O5KtNb4U

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You don’t have to be a Buddhist, but this is so important: you need to find the truth, to be aware, to donate your awareness to everything. You can’t maintain it. There’s no correct way to do this. Just return. Awareness doesn’t go anywhere. https://youtu.be/0B7p83GHdh0

In this Q & A format, a student asks, “What is the meaning of our precept of no attaching to fruition (fulfillment)?” Sokuzan answers, “See how you’re attached to outcomes. It’s about observing the attachment, not some kind of a standard that you have not live up to.” https://youtu.be/er7-o6RCWgg

These questions from students include, “What is the meaning of the sixteenth Karmapa’s teaching that nothing happens?” What appears to be happening is an illusion. There are many ways to talk about this apparent singularity that doesn’t last. https://youtu.be/CjTvfQuY0Vo

Sokuzan answers more questions from sangha in this Q and A formatted talk: What creates other? “Fear.” What creates fear? “Believing your thoughts and emotions.” https://youtu.be/QW1TBBgx-nI

A student asks: “If we don’t do anything with what’s arising, does that mean we're not functioning out of what’s arising?” If you see what is actually happening, you won’t do much: no commentary, just receive whatever shows up. https://youtu.be/Qr9L5lRMWmw

If whatever shows up is what we need to see, does that include pushing away what’s showing up? What is the difference between meditation and sitting still? Sokuzan answers students questions about practice and meditation. https://youtu.be/iApaJciDuwM