“Completing the ordinary things we do every day, one by one, with all of our heart—this is enlightenment itself.”

At the end of January, 120 members of the NYZC sangha gathered for a five-day retreat, together cultivating an ever-deepening sense of community practice, responsiveness, and connection.

This remarkable sesshin concluded with a joyous ceremony (with dharma combat!) honoring the completion of Shishin Falk’s training period as shuso, or senior student.

This week’s featured dharma talk is thus Koshin Sensei’s opening talk from the retreat as well as the opening talk for our winter Commit to Sit. The guiding inspiration for both are the teachings and practices of our dharma ancestors from Shakyamuni Buddha to Dogen Zenji and Keizan Jokin Zenji to those we learn from today.

Upon seeing the morning star, these words attributed to Shakymuni ignite the way of awakening: “I and the great earth, and all beings, simultaneously achieve the way.”  An astonishingly ordinary moment, Koshin reminds us. To actual be where you are and see what there is to see there. A star. That tree. This body. Your face. “From the time you got of bed this morning, have you allowed yourself to be amazed by what is right in front of you?” Fully receiving reality just as it comes, however it comes in each moment, means waking up to amazement.

Koshin encourages us to get away from our “cranky rumination” about the way we want things to be and embrace the work and ease of staying in relationship to what is within and around you. Practicing together draws us out from our little, lonely heads and places us into new realms of surprise and joy; heartbreak and intimacy.

Photo: Nic Neves

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 Entering the City of Reality | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.