When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place. The genius of what the Buddha taught is that waking up does not depend upon his or anyone else’s realization. It does not rely upon a belief [...]
Reflections on “The Old Woman’s Enlightenment”
The Old Woman’s Enlightenment Japan, eighteenth century An old woman went to hear Master Hakuin give a lecture. He said, “Your mind is the Pure Land, and your body is Amida Buddha. When Amida Buddha appears, mountains, rivers, forests, and fields all radiate a great light. If you want to understand, look into your own heart.” The old woman pondered Hakuin’s words day and [...]
With Renewed Resolve
In response to the current political climate in America, Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat says we can turn turmoil into realization, and anxiety into right action. For many of us, this election has served as a wake-up call. Perhaps we’d conveniently ignored the struggles of others. Perhaps we’d taken a lot for granted, and had become complacent about the hard-won rights and [...]
Review of “The Women of the Way”
The Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 years of Buddhist Wisdom by Sally Tisdale, reviewed by Roko Sherry Chayat. Feminism has had an impact on Buddhism, but it has been a slow, wrenching process. Yes, the Buddha proclaimed that women were capable of enlightenment; yes, Dogen, Dahui, and other great ancestral teachers declared that according to the dharma there was no [...]
Dai-En Great Circle
It's a scene out of an Andrew Wyeth painting: a 200-year-old stone and clapboard House, surrounded by the cornfields and rolling hills of Pennsylvania. But step through a door marked Mt. Equity Zendo, and you could be in Japan: a Buddha on the altar, a scroll black meditation cushions on the floor, temple bells, a gong. On the door of the large red barn beyond the house, [...]
