The Zen practice of just sitting, says Lewis Richmond, doesn’t help us to reach our destination. It allows us to stop having one. But how do you “go” nowhere? The practice of “just-awareness” is the essence of Zen meditation. The Japanese word for this, shikantaza, is usually translated as "just sitting," but Dogen, the founder of the Soto school of Zen, specifically taught [...]
Shikantaza is Understanding Emptiness
Suzuki Roshi explains that the purpose of Shikantaza -- a practice commonly known as "just sitting" -- is to actualize emptiness and move beyond our interpretations of reality. When we remember there is another world beyond our limited experience, we can empty ourselves of preconceived ideas and accept things as they are. Shikantaza is to practice or actualize emptiness. [...]
Remembering Shunryu Suzuki
The great teacher who founded the San Francisco Zen Center and played a historic role in the establishment of Buddhist practice in the West was born on this day in 1904. Lewis Richmond remembers him. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi has had an enormous influence on the growth of buddhadharma in the West. Yet when he came to San Francisco in 1959, he had no plans, no grand strategy—only a [...]
This Life, Which is Wonderful and Evanescent
"One of the Buddha's most significant teachings is impermanence. But actually that is just how things are—anything, anytime, anywhere. To live in harmony with this truth brings great happiness." A teaching by the late Zen pioneer Zenkei Blanche Hartman, who died in May 2016. If you think about it, it's awesomely, amazingly wonderful just to be alive! It's a wonderful [...]
Recipes for an Autumn Dinner
Edward Espe Brown, Zen teacher and author of the famed Tassajara cookbooks, offers four recipes for colorful, nourishing, seasonal meals: All Orange Winter Squash Soup With Dried Apricots, Mushroom Crepes With Mushroom Sauce, Watercress with Apple and Raisins, and Pear Crisp with Cardamom. One of the best ways people connect with each other is by eating together. "May I offer [...]
The True Dragon
If you are carving your own dragon, says Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, you will never see the real one. That’s why true zazen requires giving up your personal style of practice. Dogen Zenji says, “Don't practice your way like a blind man trying to find out what is an elephant.” A blind man touching an elephant may think an elephant is like a wall or a robe or a plank. But the real [...]
Things As It Is
Zen master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi on The Sandokai, which he calls "one of our most important teachings." The Sandokai of Sekito Kisen The mind of the great sage of India is intimately transmitted from west to east. While human faculties are sharp or dull, the way has no Northern or Southern Ancestors. The spiritual source shines clear in the light: the branching streams [...]
10 Buddhist Books Everyone Should Read
10 Buddhist books everyone should read, as selected by the editors of Lion's Roar. After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield (Bantam, 2000) According to Jack Kornfield, enlightenment does exist and is even pretty common. The rub is that after achieving it, day-to-day tasks and troubles still await you. This is a guide to translating our spiritual [...]
Wherever You Are, Enlightenment Is There
"Even in our imperfect practice enlightenment is there," says Suzuki Roshi,"We just don’t know it." In our practice the most important thing is to realize that we have buddhanature. Intellectually we may know this, but it is rather difficult to accept. Our everyday life is in the realm of good and bad, the realm of duality, while buddhanature is found in the realm of the [...]
Mind Waves
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind is the seminal work by San Francisco Zen Center founder Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. In this chapter alone he explains: how to practice zazen, the difference between small and big mind, and the true nature of thoughts. When you are practicing Zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in, [...]
