I had
dokusan with Suzuki Roshi
during sesshin. I felt lost and far from home
at that point in my life, and I asked him
if big mind was lost in the
dark, too.
He said,
“No, not lost in the dark,
working in the dark!” and he moved
his arms about, demonstrating. He said it was like
the many-armed statue of Avaloki-teshvara,
and he made the statue come to life
for a moment.
To Shine One Corner of the World
If you’ve
melted your desires in
the river of time, choose to be a
recluse, or choose a family,
the village job.
If you know
that pure Lord within
you, you’ll be That,
wherever.
grass and trees have buddha nature
Other than the birds,
Who watches over you?
Lordly peaks, your neighbors.
White head held pillowed on a stone.
Grey robe ragged, but not soiled
Chestnuts pile up on your path.
Monkeys circle where you sit.
If you ever set up another zendo,
I swear I’ll be the one who
sweeps the floors.
In the springtime,
thousands of different kinds of flowers
bloom. Your heart can also bloom. You can let your
heart open up to the world. Love is possible — do not be afraid
of it. Love is indispensable to life, and if in the past you
have suffered because of love, you can
learn to love again.
All Buddhas preach emptiness.
Why? Because they wish to crush the concrete ideas
of the students. If a student even clings to an idea of emptiness,
he betrays all Buddhas. One clings to life although there is nothing to be
called life; another clings to death although there is nothing to be
called death. In reality there is nothing to be born,
consequently, there is nothing
to perish.