The art of Zen is none other than the art of life. As Brando so aptly noted, Hamlet's soliloquy, Act III, Scene 2, says it all: "Let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of [...]
A conference at the Cinémathèque was billed as "A cinema lesson," given by the actor/director/counterculture hero Dennis Hopper. It ends up being Hopper just chatting about Hopper and his (famous) buddies. Not much about the art of cinema. A few film clips. He wows the audience by crying as a demonstration of "method acting." I'm [...]
Afternoon is in its final retreat. Evening is enveloping the city. Today I went out for an appointment, ran errands, then returned. Soon, after cooking, I'll be leaving again. The best place is always where I am, nothing finer. A traditional Zen story: Crossing a marketplace, Banzan overheard a conversation between a butcher and his [...]
It's a quiet night now after the busy day. I see I'm anticipating more of that dailyness in the week ahead. Is that what I want? As Joyce said, "I'm like a blind man walking in the street. I trip on something and when I bend down to pick it up, I discover it's exactly [...]
Question from a colleague: How can I make the benefits of practice remain with me throughout my day at the office? That is, how can I not become caught up in the tensions and frictions of (the working) life? He then says that according to the Dalai Lama, "Buddhism" as such cannot "succeed" as such [...]
Boundlessness, the Heart Sutra says, is the nature of all things. The limits, too, are limitless. That is, I am not limited by the limits of my boundless body. I go to sleep at night, or I am sleepless, and I wake in the morning, ready or not.
A runny nose has caught up with me in this season of fading away. The sidewalks in Paris are paved with a golden dropping off. One by one, every leaf is a sudden fall. As Joshu said: "A clay buddha does not pass through water. A gold buddha does not pass through a furnace. A [...]
It's Friday night. They're still taking sides across the Atlantic. Which calls for more from Vimalakirti: "Therefore, Shariputra, if one would be a seeker of the dharma, one must not seek it in anything at all." Or, I might add, seek it everywhere.
Autumn now. Day remains broad, but under threat of darkness (everything is illuminated by the hang of it) there is constantly no way out: The universe is everywhere at this very sliver of a moment.
Beware of falling markets! Beware of rising markets! Better to have nothing at all than to have something good.
Le Web carnet de Amy Hollowell Sensei, fondatrice de la Wild Flower Zen Sangha et successeur de Catherine Genno Pagès Roshi dans le lignage Zen Soto de Taizan Maezumi Roshi, fondateur du Centre Zen de Los Angeles.
The Web notebook of Amy Hollowell Sensei, founder of the Wild Flower Zen Sangha and dharma successor of Catherine Genno Pagès Roshi in the Soto Zen lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, founder of the Los Angeles Zen Center.
