In some sense your life shows up around your karma. That is, everything is arising in your mind. The reason here for talking in riddles or backward logic is to encourage you to relax a little bit. Release your grip. Have a little bit of a sense of humor around that very, very serious part of the mind that wants something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQXaycXPCD4&t=1s

“What” questions. It’s an interesting area. What is this? What am I? What are you? Ask and don’t settle. The why question can be helpful and sometimes that’s the only question that works, but the “why?” gives you a “because.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGmpLqcp1A

Sokuzan responds to these and other questions from students about their meditation practice: What’s the difference between intuition and feelings? How can we examine an area where shame shows up when it feels very painful? What is it that is aware? How can we relax in the seemingly hard-wired grip of self-reference?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGsVsCtQ_68&t=1s

You are not going to be able to help people if you overcome your emotional difficulty as some kind of person who is better than the rest of humanity that is suffering intensely through passion, aggression and ignorance. You don’t need to keep it either. Just be aware of it so that that which is aware is beginning to transcend the physical attachment and the lockdown on emotions. You need that intense negativity in order to save all beings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCC1DDJcMmo&t=1s

Sokuzan responds to questions about meditation practice from an online audience as sangha gathers virtually during the Covid 19 pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Vf2qizmv0

Sokuzan responds to questions about meditation and spiritual practice on this Easter Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axY8D2NWIiI&t=2s

This title is inspired by the King of Samadhi Sutra (Samadhi Raja Sutra). These words are attributed to the Buddha: “Existence and non-existence are both extremes. Pure and Impure are the same. Therefore, abandoning all extremes, the wise do not even abide in the middle.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgme4pDSTp0

This happens and it’s ignored but that happens and it resonates. Some kind of connection. Is this dependent origination? Is this pratityasamutpada? If not, then what is it when this happens, that occurs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oksPiIbXQY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g4y2m7DO5E&t=1s

Sokuzan talks about grasping or “upadana” in Sanskrit. It is the ninth link on the chain of dependent origination or “pratityasamutpada”. It is a way of talking about what happens in consciousness that causes us to continue to confuse ourselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28_L1MQ6C3c