Prayer is alive and well in Western Zen, says Jan Chozen Bays, even as it challenges us to make sense of what we’re doing. Do Zen Buddhists Pray? This question was raised recently among Zen teachers online when someone in a drought-affected area requested that others join in a collective effort “beseeching the blessing of rain in any way that speaks to you.” The ensuing online [...]
Krispy Kreme Mind
Jan Chozen Bays on the incessant desires that fuel our confusion and suffering. Desire. That’s what The Buddha found after six years of investigating the cause of suffering. Desire. At the end of a seven-day retreat my mind is clear enough to see it arise. I drive past a neon sign that reads “PIZZA,” and a voice in my mind says, “I want some. Let’s stop.” Then another part [...]
Getting to Know Your Inner Critic
Jan Chozen Bays explains how to recognize and tame the critical commentary we replay in our minds. Once when the Buddha was injured by an enemy, he spent hours meditating on the physical sensations of pain, without giving in to mental or emotional distress. Finally he lay down to rest. Mara the Evil One appeared and berated him. “ Why are you lying down? Are you in a daze [...]
What Is Karma and How Does It Work?
The Buddha taught that because of karma, beings are bound to the ever-turning wheel of rebirth. Only when a person stops believing in the existence of a permanent and real self can he or she become free from karma. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Jan Chozen Bays, and Jeffrey Hopkins discuss what that means. Contents What is karma? How is karma carried from moment to moment and lifetime [...]
How Great Vow Monastery makes mindful marimba music
Jan Chozen Bays is a pediatrician specializing in child abuse. She’s also a Buddhist teacher who’s the author of Mindful Eating and co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon. Great Vow attracts an unusual number of younger people. It also has the distinction of being the only Buddhist monastery I know of with a marimba band! This interview with Bays is part of series to [...]
Why We Need Monasticism
A panel discussion with Robert Thurman, Jan Chozen Bays, Bhikkhu Bodhi and Ayya Tathaaloka. Introduction by Ajahn Amaro. Many classical Buddhist texts, of both Northern and Southern traditions, emphasize that monasticism plays an essential role in the health and longevity of the religion and its dispensation. However, in the West, the vast majority of influential dharma [...]
Zenshin’s Example
If there’s a loose definition of what is Zen in this country, there’s an even looser definition of who is a Buddhist. I heard someone comment recently that you knew a person was Buddhist if they wore prayer beads around their neck or wrist. I’ve seen malas for sale in toy stores and in the twenty-five-cent vending machines in large chain stores and supermarkets. Being a [...]
Ultimately You’re Healthy, Relatively You Die
Will meditation make you healthy? Barbara Rhodes, Jan Chozen Bays, David Shlim, and Mitchell Levy, discuss the Buddhist view of health. Meditation is widely believed to offer many benefits for mental and physical health, but the very premise of Buddhism, known as the first noble truth, is the inevitability of sickness, old age and death. In this panel discussion, four [...]
White Plums and Lizard Tails: The story of Maezumi Roshi and his American Lineage
The story of a great Zen teacher—Taizan Maezumi Roshi—and his dharma heirs. Finding innovative ways to express their late teacher’s inspiration, the White Plum sangha is one of the most vital in Western Buddhism. Spring is blossom season in Japan. Drifts of petals like snow decorate the parks and streets. On May 15, 1995, in this season of renewal, venerable Zen master Hakuyu [...]