Faith in Zen?
Faith in Zen? The Five Powers People of many religious traditions come together across the globe to celebrate the end of a year and to
December 14, 2025
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Science and Buddhism
Faith in Zen? The Five Powers People of many religious traditions come together across the globe to celebrate the end of a year and to
Killer Ancestors Table of Contents Introduction We are here because of what preceded us. This is true of all dimensions of life, from our very
Low self-confidence, self-doubt, and lack of assurance in the basic goodness of others seems to be a perennial problem for many of us. We doubt ourselves when we make mistakes or are called out for unskillful actions. Similarly, we have a hard time trusting our teachers, bosses, and political leaders. The wisdom of our parents or ancestors can sometimes appear shallow. So where do we turn?
In 1924, exactly 100 years ago, Edwin Hubble peered through the darkness of the night sky using the most powerful telescope on the planet and discovered something that astonished the scientific community, including Einstein. Hubble was the first human to witness not just that there are multiple galaxies like our Milky Way, but that they are moving away from each other! This observation forever changed the way we see ourselves in relation to the world.
This everyday, ordinary practice-enlightenment (fruit-flower) has a rippling effect around the planet where we humans activate our role among all the other species, as that aspect of the universe that has the ability to reflect on itself, or, as Dogen Zenji puts it in ‘Genjo Koan,’ “That you go forth and experience myriads of things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is Awakening.”
8 Points to Optimizing Zazen “You are perfect as you are, and there’s plenty of room for improvement.” Shunryu Suzuki Roshi Tweet Table of Contents
Sometimes I’m so busy that I feel guilty about taking rest or finding pleasure in quiet moments by myself. 以閑為楽 means, to find pleasure in leisure, or to find pleasure in a quiet place removed from the concerns of the world. On the surface it seems obvious that we should find joy in leisure time, but I find the statement to be a personal challenge from the universe to wake up to the joys of life all around us, even when we are totally stressed out.
Zen is not stoicism. Many people see it otherwise. Stone faces and stiff upper lifts, and a non-challan attitude. But all the Japanese Zen teachers I have trained with were never shy about expressing their true feelings. I’ve seen Zen masters share their joys and sorrows, their hates and their loves, their equanimity and their anxiety. Never did they not care about what was going on around them. They felt it all and felt it fully.
Bald Eagle Mountain range was not named after the bird, as I once thought, but a leader within the Lenape (better known as the Delaware) tribe, a community of indigenous people that still exists today. This tribe has three clans within it, one of which is known as the “Muncy.”
The Genuine Ancestors Monk bowing to tree. By Daishin Sitting at the edge of a small, sparsely wooded area on my college campus, the trees
