Zen Wisdom for Your Everyday Life

Send us Fan Mail

So much of the struggle, upset, anger and difficulty we experience comes when life presents something we did not expect. Of course this happens many times a day. How could this be happening? we ask, as a sense of failure or great disappointment arises.  We may blame others, or life itself. Sometimes these feelings become so intense, we lose trust and meaning and feel that life itself is a sham.  Unfortunately, we do not stop to turn around and look instead at the expectations we have been carrying around. Where did they come from?  Who said life has to go this way, or that our expectations are even valuable?  When our personal expectations don't run the show and derail us, life is clear and simple. And each day is perfect as it is, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We all have pre set visions of how our lives are supposed to turn out, where we're headed and what we're supposed to achieve.  Much of our upset in life is due to the fact that the reality of how things go, do not match our images. Again and again we judge ourselves, discard activities and people that were important, sink into a sense of futility. Rather than  focus upon what is actually here, rather than our images, we keep trying to get somewhere we imagine we have to go. Zen practice asks us to stop all that. As we sit still and dwell in the moment, we realize that what is precious and important is not some imagined outcome or destination, but where we are and who we are right now.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Many of us feel stuck in our lives these days, unable to move on and take the next steps. Then we become restless, frustrated or depressed. But in truth, it is impossible to be stuck. An experience is being given to us that is for our benefit, whether we realize it or not. Where we are at the moment is exactly where we belong. Believe it or not, it's the perfect place for us. Nothing in this world is out of place, or happens at the wrong time. When high tide comes, no matter how much we love low tide, the waves must expand. It is foolishness to think we know how we got where we are at the moment, or when the next moment will come. A larger energy arranges everything. It digests our food, heals our wounds, and laughs at us for complaining.

Fully welcome, taste and embody the place you are in right now. Discover what it is saying to you and what it wants from you, as well.

Come listen to the podcast.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

When we go to visit and knock on someone's door, we often call out, "Is Anyone Home?" 
How badly we want someone to be there, greet us, offer a  smile, hug, a real connection. Not many want to walk into an empty house. Yet, how many are truly home, present and available? It may seem that we are, but so often our greetings and words are automatic, and our true mind and heart are elsewhere. 
The same is true when troubles begin in a relationship. We become furious with someone, or some condition, yell at them to change their ways, do something better or listen to us. But, as the story in this podcast of the empty boat tells us, most of the time, there's no one there.  They're on automatic. They can't hear. 
Zen practice shows us new ways of handling this, both in our lives and as we may come into collisions with others. It's a simple matter not to get angry, but to take right away and be fully present.
Come listen to the podcast.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Many of us are swimming in a sea of confusion, not knowing what to believe, what is right or wrong. Or, how to move on. The ground beneath us is shaking and we fear that wherever we put our foot down will turn into quicksand. In Zen practice we learn how to walk along even quicksand becomes steady and firm. When we see through delusion and imaginary happiness, nothing can shake our lives again. Then we appreciate right where we are and whatever seems to be happening. Wes take each step firmly. In fact, nothing can deceive us, when we stop chasing that which is unreal. The clarity and balance and joy that appears then, is more than we could ever imagine.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We all want things to work out "perfectly", exactly as we hope and imagine. Much of our energy and attention goes to trying to control events, changing them, and exerting force to have outcomes meet our demands.  We can become some obsessed with the "right" outcome, that we entirely miss the day. We can go on like this forever, and miss our relationships and lives as well. What we do not see is that every outcome is the "perfect outcome". An outcome lasts a moment, and then the next moment appears. If we do not cling to the former moment. If we allow each moment to arise as it will, another will come that is totally different. Not only is it totally different, but we can begin to see that all moments were needed. All were perfect in their time and way.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We are all so upset at the prospect of making a mistake. We'll do anything to hide it up and pretend it never happened. Or punish ourselves or others for it endlessly. But mistakes are inevitable, the are natural and come to teach us how to live, what's important and what is not. Dogen Zenji goes even further, he says that "life is one continuous mistake".  Rather than seeing what is right before us, most are caught in the grip of illusion, of memories, beliefs and demands that we cannot control. When we allow that to rule our lives, our natural wisdom is gone. We lose our way easily.
Zen practice is the simple road back home, to where we started from. It's a way to regain clarity and direction, and also to truly enjoy and relish our precious life.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We all want to know how to live a life that is right  and true. All through the centuries the question comes, "Where the Way is and how do I enter it. This question has been echoed in many forms, including what do I do now? How in the world can I proceed?   Practices of all kinds have been established to answer that question and  point to the way to live. Many of these practices reject life as we know it. Or they seek to transcend  life or alter it radically to match a preconceived idea. But a different answer arises as well. In scripture it is stated to "Enter Through The Days." Enter each day as it comes to you, do not negate it, transcend it, or run away from it. Each day, each person and each experience as it arises, is the way to find true meaning and fulfillment.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

It's so easy to get lost in the whirl of confusing messages, thoughts, and beliefs. There's no end to the different ways we get stuck or lost not knowing what is or isn't so. However, Zen practice comes to put an end to this. As we stay with the simple facts of our lives, pay attention to them,  and live them, we leave the ever twirling pitfalls of the thinking mind.  When Buddha was enlightened, he could walk through mud without being disturbed. He realized Mud was Just Mud. He wasn't embedded in ideas, beliefs of fears about it, just experiencing the simple reality under his feet.. 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

A great deal of our sorrow and disappointment are due to the false promises of Samsara, how we live for them, grip them, and are so shocked when they don't fulfill our needs. However, a deeper Zen teaching tells us that Samsara IS Nirvana, the joy and fulfillment we constantly seek. This podcast explores how to make every moment beautiful as it is.

Support the show