THZ 231 - Mindfulness, Concentration and Superman

We may not be able to let go of our preferences, but we can learn to let go.

What are we capable of offering? Everything. And it starts now, where you are.

Jizo can go anywhere—including to hell. Where can we go? Where are we afraid to go?

The Buddha started with a question. Dogen started with a question. What's yours?

A re-examination of the fourth bodhisattva vow: "The awakened way is unsurpassable; I vow to embody it.".

A re-examination of the third bodhisattva vow: "Dharma gates are infinite; I vow to enter them."

A re-examination of the second bodhisattva vow: "Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them."

A re-examination of the first bodhisattva vow: "Beings are countless; I vow to free them all."

In the face of injustice, don't let compassion be an endpoint. Don't let not-knowing be an endpoint. Move, somehow—that's what a bodhisattva does.

On Shantideva's Prayer, and what it means to commit to something—to really commit—forever.

Those who are staying at home right now may find themselves falling into little rituals meant to make things feel regular, and safe; in this practice, ritual is something else.

Does Covid-19 have buddhanature? Do you? Why do we even ask things like that?

Dogen likened the spiritual life to the experience of falling off a horse. Can you feel it happening?

It can feel like it's all too much, too much to hold. We need to look at that.

On the tenth precept, "Not defiling the three treasures." The three treasures are just fine, but still, we forget who we are in relationship to them.

Freedom—the freedom we want (perhaps especially in the age of social distancing), and the freedom we already have.

Fearlessness is one of the four types of generosity. Why? And how do we get there?

A simple act of refraining, like not touching your face in a pandemic, can be both a practice of mindfulness and an act of generosity.

Buddhism offers what looks like two contradictory ways of meeting our mind in each moment. But maybe we can hold both.

If you knew you were dying, how would that change how you see others? Because you are.

On Precept 9 (not indulging in anger)—it doesn't say there aren't good reasons to feel anger, just that we should learn not to be seduced by it.

On Precept 8 (not withholding dharma assets), clinging vs. letting go, and realizing what you're capable of giving.