“There is not a moment when you can’t practice.” – Koshin

Many of us are busy. We often share with one another just how busy our lives feel. Can we slow down, pause, and experience each moment? Koshin Sensei reminds us that “Zazen teaches us how to find a stillpoint in the midst of movement.” 

In this recent dharma talk from the first days of 2025, Koshin begins his talk with a description of a ritual of gratitude for his teacher and continues his series on Keizan Jokin Zenji’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. We listen as Koshin reads the next few lines. “Do nothing at all. The six senses produce nothing.” In our zazen practice, we are encouraged not to get caught up and involved with all these senses. What would it be like not to mindlessly follow the sights, sounds, and smells of the world? Could this become the beginning steps of not creating a world that is our exact same shape? “Stop making up things.” says Koshin. When we allow the expansiveness of the world to open us up something happens. “What is this?” Keizan Zenji asks. “Its name is unknown. It cannot be called ‘body’, it cannot be called ‘mind’. Trying to think of it, the thought vanishes. Trying to speak of it, words die. It is like a fool, an idiot.” The aspiration is boundlessness not perfection. And this is the practice. We do this together, Koshin reminds us, because becoming foolish is about living in truth. Like the Baba Yaga of mythic folklore, life is imploring us to authentically show up and not succumb to the devouring forces that hide us from ourselves and one another.  May we set down our demand for perfection and open ourselves up to the spaciousness that is available in every moment. 

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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The post Boundlessness Not Perfection | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.