“The world will always need compassion and wisdom. In our lifetime and after our lifetime.” – Koshin

The interconnectedness of everything is not an idea or a belief. No separation is a truth to experience. How can we allow the thorough, inherent relatedness of all things to inform how we think, feel, and act today? Openness and receptivity is a place a practice.  

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei encourages us to widen our perspective and move beyond the usual preoccupations with our ‘small’ concerns. How can we courageously allow a view of the whole to come alive through us in everyday moments? This is the meaningful shift from relative to absolute bodhichitta that the awakening way calls us to practice together.  As Koshin teaches, the exceedingly spacious view – which is all of reality – “…is the container within which our practice can actually be free.” Continuing with his series of reflections on Keizan Jokin Zenji’s “Zazen-Yojinki,” Koshin takes time in this talk to focus on the next few lines of this text. Listen to how Keizan Zenji speaks to the expansive view of the whole. “Without peak of depths, its brilliance is unthinkable, its shows itself silently. Between sky and earth, only this whole body is seen.”  How can we open ourselves up to see this whole body? How can this enliven our practice and ground our service in the world? For Koshin, the qualities of equanimity, compassion, and wisdom are key. In our lifetime, how can we embody these qualities in our relationships? Can all of our heart-minds manifest equanimity, compassion, and wisdom as medicine for a world perpetually struggling with fires, floods, and violence? May our clear and loving actions, in this moment, reverberate outward for the sake of all beings who will be here long after we are gone.   

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 Seeing This Whole Body | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.