Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 02/26/2023 - One of the stories of Bodhidharma (the founder of the Zen Lineage) goes this way: that he sat in his cave facing the wall for 9 years. We emulate this during our daily zazen practice. We also say that we're on the Bodhisattva path, actively practicing the way of the Bodhisattva in our daily lives. So what does sitting facing the wall have to do with the activity of the Bodhisattva? What is the "activity of facing the wall?" Shugen Roshi talks about the ways in which we take up this fundamental practice, and asks: What is it to "study the self" as Dogen says? How are we facing our fears? How do we go "beyond the fear of differences?"