Chao Chou asked Nanchuan, “What is the Tao (Way)?” Nanchuan replied, “Ordinary mind is the Tao.” “Ordinary” simply means that the Tao is ever-present, in everyone and everything, without exception. Yet few realize it, and those who do usually go … Continue reading →
1/1/24 No Self and negative effects of meditation. A Monk said to Hui Hai, Ultimately then, there is just nothing at all. Hui Hai replied, We’ve come to the ultimate extent of yourself, but not to the ultimate. When I … Continue reading →
Youthful Folly has success. It is not I who seek the young fool; The young fool seeks me. I Ching When I was living in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury in the 1960’s, a fellow showed up at my door … Continue reading →
Yun-men said to the assembly of monks, “See how vast and wide the world is! Why do you put on your seven-piece robe at the sound of the bell?” Meditation, and zen in particular, has occupied more of my time … Continue reading →
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.” … Continue reading →
“Know matter and Spirit to be both without beginning…” Bhagavadgita Recently, as … Continue reading →
I often have a hit or two of marijuana (cannabis) from my vaporizer before doing hatha yoga and working out a few mornings each week. I’ve found it makes exercise much more interesting and enjoyable. In fact it goes well … Continue reading →
Determined to live a life of simple asceticism, in the late sixties I retreated to an isolated shack beside a pond in the foothills of the Sierras (bereft of electricity and such distractions as televisions and phones). I only allowed … Continue reading →
“The inferior man conquers others, the superior man conquers himself.” Dhammapada Most people are disciplined by outside forces and obligations such … Continue reading →
The other day I found a lump in my left testicle. Big enough to almost feel like a third nut. As usual I was unable to get to a doctor right away. Such things always occur on weekends or when … Continue reading →