A few of my friends suffer from depression and, to be honest, it’s heartbreaking to talk to them some days. I’m hit with a wave of darkness that overwhelms me. I grew up with one of them. When we were young, we played football together and he was
I hear all of this talk about enlightenment. Honestly, I’m not interested. My goal is more modest: I want to wake-up feeling good about my life every day. That’s it. Can Zen help? A few years back, mindfulness programs were all the rage. The benefits touted were
Can you do a quick overview of the different traditions for me, an ignorant Zen noob? Sure, but bear in mind it’s broad strokes. There are six main schools: Chan, Soto, Rinzai, Thien, Seon, and Western. Chan: Chinese Zen. Zen started in China some 1,800 years back as
I hear a lot about the different schools of Zen. Rinzai, Soto, Korean Zen, Western Zen. So what’s what? And are the differences important? Very important. Very, very important. Have you ever watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Yea, loved it. Watched it with my dad growing up.
Do I need a teacher? No. One of my own old teachers, Russel Williams, was enlightened by a horse. Seriously. Uhhhh…was he on some wild acid trip? Nope. He was an orphan barely scraping by and took a job looking after horses. He had no background with the animals
Who does a Zen person vote for? Whoever they want to vote for. Religion doesn’t determine political affiliation. Yes, there’s some overlap. If you’re Catholic in the US now, 48% are Republican and 47% Democrat. The same applies to Zen. A lot of folks have this idea
I roughly get how Zen helps individuals, but what does it actually offer the world? Even if I’ve realized my true nature, what good does it do for farmers drowning in debt or the war in Yemen or some other plague of the world? If you’re upset by
Does Zen have rules like other religions? I know some Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists are vegetarian-mostly because I used to go to their fairs to get a free meal when I was badly strapped for cash. Rules. Lots and lots of rules. Rules on how to put on your
What’s the Zen take on good and evil? My favorite question. Uh oh. Why? Cause I get to tell funny stories. Like this first one, a classic koan from the Blue Cliff Record: A monk asked Toshi, “Is it true that ‘All sounds are the voice of Buddha’?” Toshi
If people ask about Ryokan’s death poem, tell them it was “Homage to Amitabha Buddha.”*1 Buddhism in Japan's gotten a bad wrap as a culture ravaged by sectarianism. This is a mischaracterization. While there were, at times, fierce territorial and political disputes amongst the different sects,
