ZenLife Blog
Sydney Musai Walter Roshi’s Passing
We are sad to announce the passing of Sydney Musai Walter Roshi on Friday, January 18, 2019. A Zen teacher in our White Plum lineage, psychotherapist, author, lover of nature and hiker, Musai Roshi studied with many great spiritual teachers including Maezumi Roshi, Suzuki Roshi, Trungpa Rinpoche, Jitsudo Roshi and Genpo Roshi.
Great Zen Teacher, Roshi Bernie Glassman has Died
Great American Zen teacher Bernie Glassman died on Sunday, November 4th. He is survived by his wife, Roshi Eve Marko, 2 children and 4 grandchildren. Sadness filled my core when I heard the news that day and has lingered since then. Some people are just not supposed to die.
The Hidden Singer
Itʻs so easy to take sides. Our political system seems to be crazy right now with principles of truth and decency getting lost in the haze - a perfect recipe for taking sides and creating anger.
Pathways to Violence
"We live in a world in which distrust and greed and violence masquerade as common sense and in which the pathways of distrust and greed and violence are rapidly becoming self-validating. . ,
Spiritual Practice for Difficult Times
Difficult times are an opportunity to deepen the spiritual path and practice, to dig down and ground yourself in your meditation. Take time to be still, to be quiet and listen.
Hope, Optimism, Cynicism or Engagement
"Hope is not the belief that everything will turn out well. People die. Populations die out. Civilizations die. Planets die. Stars die. Recalling the words of Suzuki Roshi, the boat is going to sink! If we look, we see the evidence of suffering, of injustice, of futility, of desolation, of harm, of ending all around us, and even within us
One Who Remains Calm in the Face of Difficulty
I started volunteering again at the Cook County Dept of Corrections - the county jail - teaching mindfulness meditation to incarcerated women awaiting trial for whatever crime they were accused of committing.
Your Three Feet of Influence
Few people are powerful enough, persuasive, persistent, consistent, and charismatic enough to change the world all at once, but everyone has the ability to affect the three feet around them by behaving more ethically, honestly, and compassionately toward those they meet
Message from the Hopi
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell them this IS the Hour.
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living? What are you doing with your life?
Stop Separating Immigrant Families – Buddhist Statement
As Western Buddhist leaders, we unreservedly condemn the recently imposed policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the US-Mexican border.
How to be a Friend Until the End
It’s important in the beginning to remember that we already know how to care. We’ve extended a helping hand hundreds of times in a thousand meaningful and loving ways. Caring is a natural expression of our humanity. We can trust our good hearts to be reliable guides.
Hippos on Holiday
Hippos on Holiday is not really the title of a movie
but if it was I would be sure to see it.
I love their short legs and big heads,
the whole hippo look.
Mindfulness: Mystery and Not Knowing
In Foundations of Mindfulness, Class 4: Living a Life of Openness, we speak about the first of the three tenets of a Zen Peacemaker: Not Knowing. What it is to not know something? In this culture of quick response time that technology demands, we react fast and faster.
An Empty Day
I snuggle in the warm, clean
sheets of routine
and sigh to myself, "ah! an empty day
to count the colorful threads of
my blessings
to court and woo the many
happinesses that are my life.
Tears and Bundles of Love
After the mass, I thought about the line that caused my tears to spontaneously arise. What were those tears about? They definitely had to do with the heart and beauty. I finally realized the deep abiding love that Our Lady of Guadalupe represents is in each one of us, whether we see it or not.
Saved from Freezing: the Spirituality of Art
I’m in my car, on the highway. I turn off the news reports and the baseball game I’ve been listening to and switch to a Beethoven violin sonata that’s loaded in the CD player. Listening to the music, my mind gradually starts to release, like a hand that had been grasping something tightly and is beginning to let go
Mindfulness Road Map
At the Zen Life and Meditation Center we speak of mindfulness meditation as intentional awareness that is embodied and non-judgmental.
Your Own Heart, There is the Practice Hall
Such work with your heart is spiritual practice. Itʻs about building patience, discipline, courage and love. Itʻs important for waking up. Your own heart, the practice hall.
Blue Pancake
Ummon said, "The world is vast and wide. Why do you put on your robe at the sound of the bell?"
Mindfulness: Clarity vs. Certainty
I told my friend that direct experience is what Living a Zen Inspired Life simply is. Embodied. Direct. On the ground. Domestic. He wanted an example of being Zen and I told him: wash a plate. Is it that simple? Yes.