Tag Archives: light

Limitless Life, Light, Liberation, and Love

    Good morning!   We can appreciate the beatitude and beauty of perennial peace in sittings, service, and sudden spring with green plants and colorful flowers. The latest topic of the Science for Everyone program of TV Japan was grapefruit. Its origin was in Barbados, hybrid on Asian citrus. A tree in Japan grown out of a discarded seed started bearing fruit after 35 years. A budding seed in the kitchen planted 35 years ago first bore fruit after 20 years and now is bearing 1,000.   The life tree seed has evolved into branches of all kinds of species. Our species has also developed into twigs. Mr. Otsuka, who often sends us his beautiful photos from Japan for our blog site, recently informed us of his mother’s passing away. His grand children living in California sent him a card saying, “Grandpa, even if you’ve lost your parents, you are not alone. We are always with you!” We are all with our ancestors and descendants – actually with all.   Humans, creating languages and legacies in individuals and institutions, tend to become selfish and sinful (separated), but we are sharing our common assets of genes – actually the genetics of all. When we sit still, stilling our karmas with their triple poisons, we become true, harmony and peace, like trees that are harmonious with water, wind, and the world. When we become harmonious with all, we can function freely and fully with all throughout space and time.   Dogen advised in his Tenzokyokun, Lessons for the Cook Monk, to cultivate the triple heart (great, mature, and joyful heart). We can enjoy greatness, maturity, and joy in truth, goodness, and beauty. The Buddha taught us the fourfold Limitlessness or Brahma-vihāra (abode, living, behaving) of friendship, compassion, joy, and equanimity (renunciation/windless of karmas, nirvana). We can live a great, mature, joyful life, limitless in life, light, liberation, and love.   4/19/15               … Continue reading

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Flowering and Fruition

Good morning!   This is the last day of our equinox sesshin. It seems that it is truly getting colder after the equinox day.  The night is getting longer and darker with the brighter morning star, Orion, etc.   Equanimity … Continue reading

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Independence in Interdependence

Good morning!   We could see the full moon in the west and the rising sun in the east just before we came here.   Today is Independence Day. So, the traffic, usually jammed with hustle and bustle, was almost … Continue reading

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Limitless Luck in Limitless Learning

Good morning!   We have a nice drizzling with warm weather at the spring solstice, risshun (立春), raising spring. Who raises spring? The sun. Who raises us? The sun – truly, the total universe.   Every day Rui-yan (瑞巌) said … Continue reading

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Separation or Seamlessness

Good morning!   When we sit in zazen opening all windows, we can enjoy calm, clear, and complete world with the beautiful sounds of insects’ singing, water flowing, and fresh breeze blowing.   There was an article “A Heimlish Line,” … Continue reading

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Awakening and Awakened Action

Good morning! After some showers we have a little milder weather. Especially after sittings we can enjoy a serene, still, steadfast, and satisfied state. Why do we sit? We all have problems and sufferings (duk-kha: lit. wrong-going, dissatisfaction). We cannot … Continue reading

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Total Truth

Good morning! In our sitting, the pure sound of flowing water penetrates through our world; the fresh breeze permeates throughout our bodies and minds; the bright, beautiful sunlight pervades the world. This is the world in cessation (nirodha) and the … Continue reading

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Limited Life and Limitless Life

Good morning!   Our life is in the holy (wholly wholesome) truth, not the other way around. So our joyful journey is with holy truth, goodness, and beauty, in limitless life, learning, light, liberation, and love.   7/8/11

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A Day Without Working: A Day Without Eating

Good evening! Day by day we are given life and light. Second by second we are endowed with air and water. Bai-zhang said, “A day without work is a day without eating.” We must appreciate the truth, goodness, beauty, and … Continue reading

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Life’s Light

Good morning! We can sit peacefully, quietly, in the early morning, sometimes with a candle, sometimes with electricity, which is, of course, brighter. In Japan now, as you know, there is a nuclear reactor crises, and the presidents of nuclear … Continue reading

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