This week’s topic for reflection is Bodhidharmas' response. Bodhidharma was the first teacher of Zen in China. When he was very old he asked his senior students to each compose a poem. In response to these poems he told one student, “You are my skin.” To another he said, “You are my flesh.” To another he said, “You are my bone.” To another he said, “You are my marrow.” My teachers have told me that some people think “You are my skin” is not as good as “You are my flesh” etc.

This week’s topic for reflection is gratitude. Please pause and remember your good friends. Consider how your life has been enriched by them. Notice the natural world around you. The air, the beautiful sunset, flowing clear streams, birds singing, the day turning into night. There is a grocery store near here with all kinds of things to eat and I have plenty of money to purchase whatever I need. Our water heater died yesterday and I was able to replace it with a new one and

This week’s topic for reflection is dealing with change. Some change is desirable like a pleasant vacation. Some changes are not desirable like the death of a loved one or loosing a job. Many changes come at us and we don’t have a choice about it even though we desire control and a sense of certainty. Since change is a fact of existence, let’s reflect on how to deal with it. The first step is to try to see how things actually are. What is the situation? This includes you. Wh

This week’s topic for reflection is subtraction. What do we need to do less for our life to go better? It might be letting go of an expectation that’s not realistic. Or something that is being put off or procrastinated over. A negative or down attitude. Somethings are done out of habit and they’re not worth it anymore. Take a few minutes to reflect and inventory what’s in the way or is a hinderance that could be subtracted. Subtracting unnecessary things can reveal opportunit

This week’s topic for reflection is patience and trust. Thinking feels to me like grabbing hold of and figuring something out where patience and trust opens us up and allows for new possibilities and discoveries. To be patient is simply to be present and open, holding the issue as if it's on your open hand allowing the answer to arrive on its own when it wants to. To trust is not knowing when it will arrive and being okay with that. Trust also involves not needing to know how

This week’s topic for reflection is responsibility. For me responsibility comes down to doing what is needed for things to move in an orderly and beneficial way and not doing things according to what I want in the moment with no concern for the consequences. Being responsible is recognizing how we are in the world makes a difference. Yesterday Senkei and I went to Jerry’s, our neighborhood hardware store. On the way out the woman at the register was friendly, happy and said

This week’s topic for reflection is loss. Loss is one of the most emotionally painful experiences we can have. Loss of a child or spouse is sometimes never gotten over. We can loose a job or career that we expected to last a lifetime. I think of refugees fleeing with nothing, from the country they have always known for an uncertain and difficult future. We long for certainty, security and a way forward. How does significant loss feel? Perhaps like a tearing in the chest. A d

This week’s topic for reflection is alone. Feeling alone, not noticed and that no-one cares is heart breaking. The other day, driving up Interstate Five we pulled over and stopped at a rest stop. Off to one side sat a woman with a sign reading, “Anything will help.” Senkei asked if I was going to give her anything and I said, “Yes.” Bending over to give her a dollar bill, she looked up. Reaching up to take the dollar she said, “Thank you.” I was surprised to see how completel

This week’s topic for refection is your voice. Utilizing our voices we express what we think and what is in our heart. Our voice functions with the breath. The breath makes it possible for the voice to be real and create change in the world. This voice is open, in the moment, confident and humble. What we say can be helpful or harmful, honest or deceitful. What we say reveals where we are coming from. Our personal morality or ethics. Are we humble and respectful or arrogant

This week’s topic for reflection is “I need you to breathe.” About half way through the thirty minute cataract surgery to replace the lens in my eye, the surgeon said, “I need you to breathe.” I hadn’t noticed I wasn’t breathing so I started to slowly breathe again. This helped with my anxiety during the fully conscious procedure with my eye wide open. All I needed to do was not move, relax and breathe. Also to trust my doctor and the team supporting her. My sight and eyes a

This week’s topic for reflection is transition. In the past few weeks I had cataract surgery on both of my eyes replacing both lenses with new artificial clear ones. This morning, looking across the kitchen, my sight is remarkably clear and vivid. It’s also springtime and everything seems to be in transition and in bloom with explosive growth. There are a few short months available between the cold dormant winter and the hot dry summer to build nests and have offspring and fo

This week’s topic for reflection is letting go. Letting go involves being open to letting in. Letting go may not be possible sometimes and may not even be a good idea. It might be easier to allow the space to be open to what is hard to take in or experience than letting go. Let it in and then let go of the position you usually take. This might mean letting go of being right or being in control. You might need to model this for awhile before others get the idea. Letting go al

This week’s topic for reflection is meeting heart to heart. Meeting heart to heart is different from meeting to have a discussion. The heart is not intellectual or necessarily rational. The heart naturally cares and is at times, passionate. The heart is usually honest with us when we care to listen. We say the heart is intuitive because it doesn’t rely on rational thinking and observation to notice what is often not apparent. In this sense "meeting" is a connection where hear

This week’s topic for reflection is a continuation of showing up with intention with an addition at the end. There are two requirements for success. The first is you have to show up. The second is you need to be clear about your intention. Let’s look at showing up first. Being human we have the potential and opportunity to do something but first we have to show up. Showing up is about choosing what you want to do and then showing up to do it. This sometimes means being coura

This week’s topic for reflection is showing up with intention. There are two requirements for success. The first is you have to show up. The second is you need to be clear about your intention. Let’s look at showing up first. Being human we have the potential and opportunity to do something but first we have to show up. Showing up is about choosing what you want to do and then showing up to do it. This sometimes means being courageous or determined. Yes, really show up . Gre

This week’s topic for reflection is less is more. In our society there is a constant need and desire to have and get more. Somehow we believe if we have more money or a bigger house or a more important job we will be happier. For Zen teachers sometimes there is an unspoken desire that to be more successful means having more students, more programs, more successors etc. I’m not so sure this is true for Zen teachers or actually for anyone else. When we die we loose everything

Joyfulness is this week’s topic for reflection. Please give yourself permission to be joyful this week. Joy has a close friend, appreciation. If something gives you joy say, “Thank you.” I truly appreciate that it is spring. The birds are returning and almost everything is growing again. Afternoons are warm enough to not wear layers. I am warmed with joy to see the colors and growth of all the new life coming out and returning. I find allowing a small smile on my face prepa

Quiet stillness is this week’s topic for reflection. If there is a goal, this would be the goal of zazen meditation. Allow the mind to become quiet and the body to become still. Sitting upright in a balanced posture, being aware of or relaxing into natural breathing is a good way of becoming still. One way to quiet the mind is to patiently observe the breath, in and out. With practice the fascination with thinking calms and recedes, allowing a return to quiet openness. This s

This week’s topic for reflection is this moment. For a little while, be present in this moment. Right now. Relax and patiently just be present. Without needing to accomplish anything, just be present. Don’t hurry this. Did you learn anything about this moment? Did you learn anything about yourself? Is it easy or difficult to simply be present in this moment. How do you distract yourself from being present? Try to not be in this moment. Try to hold onto this moment or find th

This week let’s continue the reflection on the topic of beliefs. Beliefs are thoughts that we hold as true or necessary. If a belief is not a thought, what is it? Do you have any beliefs that were true at one time that may not be true any more? How did you acquire your beliefs? In your view of the world around you, what role do beliefs play? Here a few a my thoughts on beliefs. Beliefs add certainty to our life. I believe when I see a red signal light I should always stop. I