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by Domyo Burk
Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.
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This is part two of my "Zen Testimonial," composed of prose and poetry I wrote between 1995 and 2005 – starting just before I got involved in Zen practice and stretching over ten years. See Episode 342 for the first part.
This is part one of my "Zen Testimonial," comprised of journal entries, correspondence, and poetry I wrote between 1995 and 2005 – starting just before I got involved in Zen practice and stretching over ten years. I have already told the story of my spiritual journey on the Zen Studies Podcast, but in this episode I give my 20-and-30-something self the chance to tell you directly about some of my experiences. I share because personal accounts - from anyone - can be fascinating and inspiring.
Many people think that the aim of Buddhism is let go of any kind of longing. However, without wholesome desires – to awaken, to act ethically, to honor your relationships, etc. – you wouldn't progress in practice. In Part 1 I started discussing five kinds of appropriate longing based loosely on the Vajrayana teaching of the five wisdom energies, covering Red and Yellow energy longing. In Part 2, I talk about Blue, Green, and White energy.
Many people think that the aim of Buddhism is let go of any kind of longing. However, without wholesome desires – to awaken, to act ethically, to honor your relationships, etc. – you wouldn't progress in practice. I discuss five kinds of appropriate longing based loosely on the Vajrayana teaching of the five wisdom energies.
When we sit Zazen, even if we're working with a koan, we do not actively try to achieve insight. But nonetheless, Chan and Zen masters throughout history have exhorted us to awaken to Reality. How does insight happen when you're "just sitting?" How do you awaken to what you have not yet seen without getting caught up in concepts of enlightenment and delusion, before and after? How do you lean into the unknown if you're trying to let go of any kind of doing at all?
There are countless ways in which we can feel inwardly divided or somehow alienated from our true self. Case 35 of the Mumonkan, or Gateless Gate koan collection addresses this matter with a pointed question about Seijo, the character in a traditional Chinese story who ends up living parallel lives. The koan asks, "Which one is the true Seijo?" Naturally, the answer is "Both… and neither."
To keep your Dharma practice lively, it's important to regularly identify the "edge" of your practice. This is your growth point – the current limit of your understanding and your capacity to embody it. Of course, you don't have a single edge; it might be more accurate to say it's important to identify something on your growth "perimeter," or find one of your many edges, so you focus your practice or have a dialogue with a teacher. I discuss what an edge is, what it means to find one, why this is important, and how to go about it.
To keep your Dharma practice lively, it's important to regularly identify the "edge" of your practice. This is your growth point – the current limit of your understanding and your capacity to embody it. Of course, you don't have a single edge; it might be more accurate to say it's important to identify something on your growth "perimeter," or find one of your many edges, so you can focus your practice or have a dialogue with a teacher. I discuss what an edge is, what it means to find one, why this is important, and how to go about it.
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Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.
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