Category: Zen Practice

Zen And the 2nd Amendment

The U.S. air force is unconstitutional because the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise an army and a navy. Thus, Congress has no power to raise an air force. That’s a joke, of course, but it demonstrates that the Constitution is a living document, not something etched in stone in 1776. But when airplanes were… Continue reading Zen And the 2nd Amendment

Zen Drops Off Body And Mind

What could be easier than just letting go? If we had nothing to hold on to, nothing to reach for, nothing to drop, what would that be like? What about dropping opinions about politics? Sports? Religion? A Zen master once famously shouted as he saw a monk dozing in a zendo:  ZAZEN MEANS DROPPING OFF BOTH BODY AND… Continue reading Zen Drops Off Body And Mind

No Zen Practice, No Life?

Consider two people, one screaming his or her head off out of excitement over a football game on TV and another sitting in a meditation hall with a sore back. Some will say that the smart one is the one enjoying the game and some will say that the smart one is the one engaged… Continue reading No Zen Practice, No Life?

Zen, Clear Water And Muddy Water

My law partner walked into my office a few years ago and announced that he had just had an amazing conversation. You won’t believe this, he began, but I just spoke to a guy who said he has no cell phone, no computer, and no idea what the Internet is, and this guy was bragging.  Well, my clientele… Continue reading Zen, Clear Water And Muddy Water

Are Zen Buddhists Vegetarians?

I know self-proclaimed Buddhists who brag that they eat meat because they have transcended all notions of right and wrong and are no longer concerned about trivial issues such as eating veggies or the dead bodies of slaughtered animals. They proclaim that only the unenlightened care about such a non-issue. “Grow up,” they tell me. “It’s… Continue reading Are Zen Buddhists Vegetarians?

Zen And Dreams Within Dreams

We can all agree that nothing happens in a dream. Most dreams are classified as anxiety dreams – we dream about what we worry about. More than once we have all awakened and realized with a sense of relief that we have been dreaming and all those worrisome thoughts were about something that wasn’t real. Any hack can… Continue reading Zen And Dreams Within Dreams

Follow NASCAR or practice Zen?

  A client who had invented a very clever way to keep track of NASCAR driver standings (we applied for and obtained a patent for it) explained to me that getting kids involved with NASCAR would solve the problems of the world. The drivers, he advised me, were the ultimate role models. Keeping track of… Continue reading Follow NASCAR or practice Zen?

Zen Practice: Arousing the Mind

Rinzai Zen teachers assign koans to students in order to arouse the mind of the student. So we apply logic in order to answer the koan, as if it were a riddle, and the teacher tells us we are getting colder, not warmer. So we switch to non-logic and start giving Zen-like answers to the… Continue reading Zen Practice: Arousing the Mind

Prostrations As A Zen Practice

I don’t recall any Buddhist sutra or sutta that mentions prostrations as a Buddhist practice. I don’t know the history of how prostrations became a part of Buddhist practice. It may even come from the repulsive practice of bowing down to a king or some other authoritarian bully who commands it. But a voluntary prostration practice having nothing to do… Continue reading Prostrations As A Zen Practice