“My whole life I’ve had a great vow that I’d rather suffer the pains of hell with this body on behalf of all sentient beings, than portray the Buddha Dharma with this mouth as a human sentiment, and blind people’s eyes.” - Ta Hui, Swampland Flowers Most people
“Has anyone supposed it is lucky to be born? I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.” – Walt Whitman, Song of Myself This essay has been edited from its original form, first published to the True Nature community on July
“The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God.” - St. Teresa of Avila There has been a significant unravelling of something in me that has long been too tightly woven and in some spots, tangled. Many mental habits are the same, but they have little to no bite. I
“How can you live your life with a bare heart, irrespective of happiness or unhappiness?” – Soko Morinaga Roshi This essay has been edited from its original form, first published to the True Nature community on June 12, 2025 Being an ordinary human being, I prefer happiness. I would choose happiness
This summer has been especially full at the CCE both personally and professionally. On the personal side, Marcy completed her second training of the year at Daishu-in West and her middle child graduated high school, while Louie went in for a long-overdue spinal fusion in May and recovered
“Suddenly you will awaken from your dream, and there won’t be any doubt about it.” - 12th century Chan master Dahui Once I’d been to Costa Rica a couple of times, I learned about the cloud forest and yearned to see it in person. I had experienced howler monkeys,
August 12, 2026 "Do not be afraid of freedom from desire and fear. It enables you to live a life so different from all you know, so much more intense and interesting that, truly, by losing all you gain all." – Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj This essay has been edited
“It is fine to investigate what others have said or written in books. But to say, “I’ve understood something that I didn’t understand before,” that is not Zen practice.” - Sekkei Harada Roshi [all unattributed stanzas in this essay are from the poem Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver] You
Here is my secret: I don't mind what happens. - Jiddu Krishnamurti This essay has been edited from its original form, first published to the True Nature community on April 17, 2025 Earlier this month, a couple dozen of us gathered at Daishu-in West for the annual memorial
“If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.” - Ajahn Chah This story may sound like it’s about forgiveness, but it’s really about grace. When I began to see through some of the foundational stories in my family of
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere.” - attributed to Guatama Buddha This essay has been edited from its original form, first published to the True Nature
“Is there anything you have not experienced? For example, staying put in a single place and really trying to experience something deeply?” – Soko Morinaga Roshi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I looked in every direction for fulfillment. If my compass rose was anchored by achievement, relationships, creative expression, and spiritual growth, I also scanned between