When the Buddha taught that all beings have buddhanature, says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, he wasn’t contradicting the teachings on emptiness—he was clarifying them. As soon as we talk about a path like Buddhism, we think about its finish line—some kind of result or goal. But in the Mahayana, there is no goal. In the Prajnaparamita Sutra, for instance, we hear that “Form [...]
Who Was the Buddha?
What do we really know about Siddhārtha Gautama, the historical Buddha? And who are these other Buddhas we sometimes see and hear about? Barbara O'Brien answers your questions about the very real human being whose spiritual quest and awakening have inspired the world for some 2,600 years. Contents Who Was Buddha? What Do We Know About the Historical Buddha? Have [...]
How Do You Step Forward?
Many of us may find ourselves on a journey that feels in one way or another like a steep climb. With great energy over considerable time, we ascend stage by stage and take heart in our progress. Whether it is in our work or personal goals or Buddhist practice, we are eager to measure our accomplishments. In Mumon’s The Gateless Gate, Case 46, Master Sekiso says, “From the [...]
The Path of Gratitude
Photo by Michael Kenna. The goal of Shin Buddhism’s central practice, nembutsu, is not to attain buddhahood for ourselves, says Jeff Wilson, but to express gratitude for all we have received. I visit a lot of Buddhist temples and groups in North America, and it’s pretty common for people to ask, “So, what’s your practice?” It’s a sort of icebreaker in the Buddhist world. I [...]
Impermanence is Buddha Nature
Norwegian photographer Eirik Solheim glued a camera to a window shelf in his home and rigged it to take a picture every thirty minutes for a year. From more than 16,000 digital images the camera fed into a computer system, he selected 3,888 daytime photos. By taking one vertical line from each of those images in sequence and compiling them from left to right, he created this [...]
Four Steps to Magical Powers
Before you fully embark on the path of the bodhisattvas and buddhas, says Chan master Sheng Yen, you must first practice the four steps to magical powers. What are these steps and what are the magical powers you need? The four steps to magical powers are also called by such names as the four steps to the power of ubiquity, the four steps to unlimited power, and the four [...]
The Lamp of Zazen
The point of zazen, says Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, is to live each moment in complete combustion, like a clean-burning kerosene lamp. In this talk at the Tassajara sesshin in the summer of 1969, the great Zen master explains Dogen’s teaching on practicing within imperfection and warns against the arrogance of the false self. In our practice the most important thing to know is that [...]
Trust Practice, Practice Trust
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 [...]
Mind Is Buddha
A simple three-word koan. Or just a one-word koan: buddhanature. So deceptively simple, so easy to leave in the realm of concept, yet it penetrates to the very heart of the matter. Here's Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, "Mazu's 'Mind is buddha.'" The Main Case Damei once asked Master Mazu, “What is buddha?” Mazu answered, “Mind is [...]
A Zen Demonstration
“Explanation-style teaching is not enough,” says Zen Master Seung Sahn, founding teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen, ”some kind of demonstration is necessary.” A commentary on Case 41 of "The Whole World is a Single Flower" It is enlightenment nature. Above is the dwelling place of all buddhas. Below are the six realms of existence. One by one, each thing is [...]