“You’re again confusing issues. Solace, haven, fear, love, all of them are moods that you have learned without ever questioning their value. As one can see, the black magicians have already engaged all your allegiance.”

Our minds are in a permanent state of action, always racing around erratically, constantly begging you to stimulate it, to think something, to do something, despite all our attempts to truly center ourselves, to meditate and to be content with zero activity.

Zazen, a form of seated meditation is at the very heart of Zen practice. To be enlightened by the ten thousand things is to recognize the unity of the self and all things. The Buddha sat in meditation to realize his enlightenment, for 2,500 years this meditation tradition has continued, passed down to us from generation to generation. The essential aspects of zazen are fairly easy to communicate.

Zazen meditation can be used at any time when you feel the need to 'unplug' yourself from the world and focus on self-care and inner harmony, taking you to a place of pure relaxation and tranquility and allowing you to experience a time of absolute calm and peace. It is also extremely beneficial to overall mental health, and can be used to completely relax your mind before you sleep.

A disciple said to his master one day. "Master I am confused, because some say that there are many Gods and others say that there is only one God".

Walking meditation is something you can do indoors or outdoors, you can even practice Kinhin during your next nature hike for a big serenity boost, as it will enhance your entire experience as you hike. Zen walking meditation begins with the mudra or hand posture. There is more than one hand posture that is traditionally used, and we're going to start with the mudra that seems most popular.

Zazen is considered the heart of Japanese Zen Buddhist practice. The aim of zazen is just sitting, that is, suspending all judgmental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them. This Zen technique is a mindfulness meditation that emphasizes the harmonization of the mind, body and breath.

The minute we try to understand the idea of the “sound of one hand clapping” we limit our thinking, box ourselves in and miss the entire objective of this teaching experience.

Zen means doing anything in perfect harmony, even making perfect mistakes, being defeated perfectly and succeeding perfectly. It means that one is mindful of their full action, you detach from the emotion of the moment and become aware or mindful of your actions. Zen is also about letting go, but letting go in perfection, if you know you are going to fail then fail perfectly.

Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a fluttering butterfly. What fun he had, doing as he pleased! He did not know he was Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and found himself to be Zhou. He did not know whether Zhou had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly had dreamed he was Zhou. Between Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction.

Dust hides that which once was new and shiny, and gives us the illusion we need something new, because we so often choose to replace something based on what we see or want, instead of what we truly need. “No Attachment to Dust” shows the notice the value of letting go of wants and needs, and need to detachments from things, and in the letting go of things you also release the disappointment of attachment.

Hara character is common to Chinese and Japanese. Abdomen should not be translated as "stomach" to avoid confusing it with the organ. In the Japanese medical tradition and in Japanese martial arts traditions, the word Hara is used as a technical term for a specific area or energy field of the body. An alternative Japanese reading of the character is Hufu, the Chinese reading is Fu.