Zen Wisdom for Your Everyday Life

Send us Fan Mail The best way to give thanks is to experience and share the Goodness, Value and Beauty of every day that is given to us. But how to do this in the midst of pain, fear and anguish? What makes a day like that Good? Ummon, great Zen Master, tells us that "When there are no unnecessary thoughts in your mind, Everyday Is A Good Day". The thoughts we have about what happens, th...

Send us Fan Mail The Wheel of Time is relentless, turning constantly.  It seems that it cannot be stopped as it turns relentlessly. No matter how much we want to do something over, or control what comes next, the wheel of time, laughs at us, just turning without stop. It pushes us from day to day,  era to era, taking over our lives. But there is a way to take back our time, to enter our lives and...

Send us Fan Mail There are so many ideas, memories, beliefs and people who want to live our life. They can take over at any moment, over ride what is true for us, and push us into all kinds of actions and beliefs. They shove us around mercilessly, until it is easy to forget who we really are.  Or, we can cling to something in the past, keep trying to fix it or relive it, and that can live our life...

Send us Fan Mail When we are flooded with all kinds of events, news, hopes and fears, it is easy to get lost. Desperate to understand what is happening, and make things right, we jump into the confusion and flail around. Adding confusion t confusion only makes matters worse. However, there is another way. Stop,  sit still in the middle of all appearances, and become a Beholder of whatever arises,...

Send us Fan Mail "The Whole World Is Medicine, What Is The Illness?" is a Zen Koan for today's world. There is so much suffering, fear, and conflict that can be solved easily. We do not see that the pain we feel is due to the way we are responding to the never ending cycle of change. We do not see we are clinging to suffering, making it stronger, and that this can be easily changed....

Send us Fan Mail Everyone wants to be themselves and not have to obey another. There's a sense we must fight, rebel and say No to life as it is. But all the time we are not aware that we are still being obedient. We are automatically obeying our feelings, impulses, thoughts and repetetive patterns. Then we feel stuck and frozen, not knowing why. As we truly explore what it means to be Obedien...

Send us Fan Mail These days we sail in choppy waters. Life changes on a dime and it seems as though there is no place to anchor our lives, or the boat we sail in. Many lose hope and feel out of control, not knowing where they are headed or what to count on. However, there is a way to go through the sea of life, no matter how turbulent and be planted in a boat that is safe and secure. In this voyag...

Send us Fan Mail Whatever comes to us we turn into a problem and have to find the "answer" to it. One question about our situation comes after another. These questions take us away from our lives, tangle us up in conjecture, thinking, doubting predicting, trying to control all outcomes. And, all the while, the true wisdom we seek is right in front of our eyes. We don't pay attention...

Send us Fan Mail Years ago I had a zendo in my home for those who fell off the cushion and wanted to climb back on again. Let's try it again! Little did I realize then that it's impossible to fall off the cushion. Wherever we go we are practicing, if we look at life that way. Nor did I realize that there is no such thing as failure or success in practice, except what we impose upon it. N...

Send us Fan Mail All fear, stress and pressure arise from our concern about what is happening next. We must control it, make sure we will be happy and safe. In this process, the past interjects as well, causing us to fear that it will repeat itself again. Or we start to long for  past times to be here, once again. But as we learn the precious teaching of going back to the beginning, and staying th...

Send us Fan Mail It is so easy to get lost in dreams, fantasies and just plain confusion when we allow our attention to scatter and do not stay present to what is right here in front of our eyes. As our attention drifts from one thing to another, we cannot feel full and complete. We also cannot see the truth of what is here right now, right before our eyes. Zen practice guides us to become present...

Send us Fan Mail We all search for deep meaning in our lives, and the answer to endless questions about our true direction and how to live. When a student found a great Zen teacher and put these questions to him, the reply was quick and to the point. Pick up your coat from the floor and put it where it belongs. He was guiding the student to be aware of what was right in front of him that needed at...

Send us Fan Mail Usually we live our lives in division, unable to decide what to do, what is right and where to go next. Most of our time we regret past choices or are unable to make new ones. But there is another way to procede. The undivided mind and heart, take us where we belong without fail and without stress. It shows us life from a new vantage point, allows us to feel at home with ourselves...

Send us Fan Mail From the Zen point of view, all the suffering and struggling in life comes because we constantly strive to be different or better than we are. While who we are is already perfect, complete and valuable, we cannot taste the joy of that. Zen practice therefore is the road not to getting, learning or fulfilling a dream or some ideal. It is the road to let go of all unnecessary baggag...

Send us Fan Mail It's so easy to go through life with our eyes closed, dreaming, hoping, planning for better days. Of course as we do so, we not only miss what's here right now, but have no idea how to greet the next day when it comes. Not only are our eyes shut, our arms are often closed as well. We use our arms to push things away, or make ourselves safe, holding on for dear life. Our...

Send us Fan Mail We cling to one moment and turn away from the next, wanting to hold onto what we consider desirable. Our wish is to keep things the same, feel stable ,as if we know what is coming and how to handle it. But life itself is nothing but change, including our very body. When we fight against this powerful truth, not only does it cause suffering, but we fail to realize that nothing last...

Send us Fan Mail In our lives one experience after another arises, some bitter, some sweet. And many experiences, naturally, contain both. Rather than pick and choose what we wish to have, the great Zen secret is to taste your life completely, eat it up, digest the nourishment from everything and discard the waste. Come find out how. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail It's so easy to get caught up in the many drama's of life. All kinds of situations, relationships and events come and suck us in. Before we know it we are entangled in our own automatic reactions, hopes, and fears. We thrash about in the situation, barely knowing what we're doing. It is so easy then to get lost and disappear. Zen practice comes to ask us to stop, be...

Send us Fan Mail We all suffer greatly from the idea that something is wrong with us, and everyone else! Most of our lives becomes about improving, changing twisting ourselves into an image of what we believe we should be. This twisting and condemning is what causes the pain we live with. When we see the perfection and beauty of life as it is, including ourselves, we can live with thanks and fulln...

Send us Fan Mail We all search for the right road to our destnation, or goal. It seems as if there is a road out there which will take us where we want to go. But the further we look, or tread on roads that have long been traveled, the further astray we go. Not only must we find our own path, but the deeper truth is that the road is not somewhere else. It is not outside us in the world.  Zen pract...

Send us Fan Mail We are all living hidden away in a cave of discontent. This cave is filled with thoughts, desires, demands, fantasy and disappointment. Gripped by this we often see no way out. However, this cave has also been called the cave of unawareness. Once we shine the light of awareness within, the bars on this prison start to open, and endless life begins to shine through. Support the sho...

Send us Fan Mail Most of our lives is lived waiting for tomorrow. We plan, prepare, dream and hope that our dreams will come true. Or, the opposite happens, we live in fear of what may be on the way , become frozen, and lose this precious moment now. Zen practice turns this all around, plants us deeply in this moment, where all is fine, and we can handle and enjoy whatever is. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Most of us do not see the connection between Zen practice and love. But Zen is the practice of being in love with all of life, becoming one with it, no separation. Though we look for meaning everywhere, once we feel a sense of deep connection, no judgment, just oneness, that is the experience of love, which fills us completely and makes each moment whole. Zen practice shows us how...

Send us Fan Mail We have so many ideas about how things should be and what is good, right, and perfect. Much of our life is about striving to make our lives better, beautiful, perfect in our eyes. And in the eyes of others. When change happens uncontrollably, our sense of order, perfection and beauty disappears. Great anxiety and upset can follow. But there is another way to look at what perfectio...

Send us Fan Mail All of us want answers. We look for explanations, understanding. We develops beliefs to cling to and ways to behave. When we follow the guidance of others there's a sense of security and relief in belonging to a group. We feel we know who we are then and the direction in which we're headed. But in Zen Practice, we let go of all that. Instead, we stay fully present in the...