clearstreamzendo

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. Even though it is...

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 install it with...

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. Where are you...