Zen Buddhist Teachings from Rev. Koji Acquaviva Koji Acquaviva

Many spiritual teachings we encounter convey to us that individualism has limited usefulness on the spiritual path, yet in contemplative traditions we can often be left feeling that meditation is an endeavor to overcome or conquer aspects of ourselves. 

In this talk Koji will expound on an approach to Zen practice where we don’t strive to overcome or improve anything about ourselves, but rather we sit easefully in the recognition of our own wholeness. This is a particularly helpful way of practice for those who have grown weary of trying to transform themselves into something “better” and want to open to the awe and satisfaction of simply being alive.


Given at the Nebraska Zen Center on April 14, 2024

Dharma talk from day 4 of Rohatsu Sesshin at Clouds in Water Zen Center. December 5, 2023. Presentation of Couplets 12-22 of the Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi (Hōkyō Zanmai 宝鏡三昧).

如臨寶鏡 It is like facing a jewel mirror;

形影相覩 form and image behold each other -

汝不是渠 you are not it,

渠正是汝 in truth it is you.

如世嬰児 Like a babe in the world,

五相完具 in five aspects complete;

不去不來 it does not go or come,

不起不住 nor rise nor stand.

婆婆和和 “Baba wawa”-

有句無句 is there anything said or not?

終不得物 Ultimately it does not apprehend anything

語未正故 because its speech is not yet correct.

重離六爻 It is like the six lines of the illumination hexagram:

偏正回互 relative and ultimate interact -

疊而為三 piled up, they make three,

變盡成五 the complete transformation makes five.

如荎草味 It is like the taste of the five-flavored herb,

如金剛杵 like a diamond thunderbolt.

正中妙挾 Subtly included within the true,

敲唱雙舉 inquiry and response come up together.

通宗通塗 Communing with the source, travel the pathways,

挾帶挾路 embrace the territory, and treasure the road.

A Dharma Talk given on October 1, 2023 at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN

A talk on integrating South Asian devotional practices and Zen.

Given at the Austin Zen Center on July 16, 2022.

Koji speaks on first the physicality of Zen meditation and then on the ultimate purpose of Zen practice.

A Dharma Talk given on February 20, 2022 at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN