Heaven and earth collapsed and were reduced to dust. All my karmic sins were extinguished as if in a bolt of lightning.  —Yamada Koun, poem upon his awakening.

Description: Henry continues exploring Hakuin Zenji’s Song of Zazen. We look at suffering as portrayed in the “six realms” of existence. Henry asks, What makes us take a step toward a better way to be human?  The first ox-herding picture represents this first step, where we begin to seek our own mind, our original nature, which is incomparable to anything we normally experience. The Song of Zazen encourges us to cultivate the six perfections, including dana (generosity), sila (ethical conduct), kshanti (patience) and virya (energy). Keep sitting and practicing, zazen encompasses the whole universe!

Post Image: Row of Six Jizo Bosatsu, by Paul Trafford, CC BY 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: #zazen, by toufeeq hussain, CC BY-SA 2.0.