Most of the stories of the Buddha’s life are told in a very different manner. Speaking in the first person here brings a freshness to his journey, and starting at the beginning is sometimes just right for the beginning of the year.

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We can really see in this concluding piece the essence of volumes from So Sahn’s own practice, quite an aspiration to bring to life.  Each chapter/paragraph delivers a clarity that deserves contemplation.  

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These two selections seem to stretch the boundaries a bit. They almost seem to contradict each other, but such is the flavor of different teachers. In reality, they are talking about the same phenomenon, something so natural to who we are and how we function when we don’t complicate things, it is easy to overlook it. And, in fact, is a challenge for us.

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Being students of the Way, naturally, we seek places to begin and signposts of which way to continue. There may be teachers we study with for years; we may have years of disillusionment, and then there may be years we are on our own. 

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Since there are sutras too numerous to count, Yanshou is taking the gems from many of them to help essentialize the heart of Buddhism.

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This excerpt is scratching the surface of a work consisting of 100 fasicles; the above being only part of the first fasicle and the only one in translation at this point. Even in this brief glimpse, one can get a sense of the intention behind the work.

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his classic story from the history of Zen is an excellent example of the lengths some have taken to explore meditation, the results that can happen when someone goes too far in overzealous attempts, and the commitment it takes to extricate oneself and return to a more middle way of practice. 

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How much of what we know has been discovered firsthand by us? If you are honest, most of what we know has been handed down by others and rarely questioned. Even the traditional teacher/student relationship often engenders passivity; like baby birds with beaks open, we wait for the next tidbit of understanding to arrive. 

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There is a point in training where we feel like we are living in two separate worlds – the conventional reality or culture and our world of practice. In the beginning, we establish our meditation practice routine and strive for continuity. As we mature in practice we realize we need to take that calm and centered experience off the cushion and into daily life.

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It takes a while to begin to feel comfortable with “nothing to hang onto” as some refer to the subtleties of practice. Practice is bursting with paradox, and Zen masters seem to have mastered the art of communicating the Way in a manner that often does serve to stop the mind.

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