Whatever shows up, don’t shift it to something else. Be responsible for anything that arises in your mind stream. The ability to respond means that you will consider everything that’s in your milieu to see what this is fundamentally.

https://youtu.be/AqPVTWzfar4

What was it that set the foundation for the lineage we call Zen? Chiezan talks about the beginnings of our tradition of direct transmission of the mind.

https://youtu.be/V3RcVdrqrGU

We quite often hear about of empty of self, that there is no one here. It’s also empty of other. Another way of addressing this is non-duality, or advaita. There is nothing observed and there is no one observing. Bluntly stated, it is the illusion of consciousness showing up as this or that individual. There’s just observing, or consciousness only.

https://youtu.be/C29LvAWWcd0

I’m looking at confusion all the time. My teachers have helped me see that you don’t have to get rid of anything. It will not particularly be comfortable, and it doesn’t mean you don’t feel the confusion and distress, because consciousness always finds whatever form that it needs. Look at the leading edge of everything.

https://youtu.be/8YNRI6WJFng

Suddenly something just starts to get hold of us and draws our attention away from what we were intending to do. Just feel it, receive it, be it, and don’t accept it, reject it or ignore it; that’s the path. Just keep returning and observing. When the emotions get stirred up, just receive that.

https://youtu.be/lFiT4mbcTTI

There’s a natural boundary between any two things. There are the boundaries we set up to protect our property, and boundaries based on fear. It is about being aware of them, not about believing, judging or concluding. This is why we sit down and gaze at the wall, to see the delusions that are the walls of the mind.

https://youtu.be/Qx7KND0tv_M

It’s hard to come up with a standard that will fit each person - it can be situational. The standard is the discipline, the structure. It’s very definite, and it’s very necessary to have strong forms. Once you decide to conform to this discipline, then it’s necessary to use the forms that are showing up.

https://youtu.be/s__d-8Spf58

We constantly tell ourselves stories about what we should and shouldn’t do. The motivation is the ego trying to protect itself. We don’t want anybody, including ourselves, to see who we are. It’s about getting caught in the story trap, not trying to correct it. See the way you do this.

https://youtu.be/qM52lZynx08

The first wake up is to see how you are being controlled by everything; your beliefs, your culture, your ideas. The second wake up is to the possibly of seeing who you really are and what all this is.

https://youtu.be/TDNg86mcpa4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwptYUgsKEQ