“If we are going to maintain our practice carefully, we have to pay careful attention to what we think is not welcome.” – Koshin Paley Ellison

Our lives are complicated. Full of love and light; anger and judgment. Can we resist deciding too quickly what should and should not be welcomed in? 

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei shares teachings from Dogen Zenji about the precepts. “The great precepts of the Buddha are maintained carefully.” and “Receiving the precepts we are beyond the three times.” These gems are explored by Koshin as he offers his remarks directly after returning from a retreat with participants in the New York Zen Center’s Contemplative Medicine Fellowship. The Fellows, as medical professionals, have committed to living the bodhisattva vow to help others. But, like all of us, how they think, talk to themselves, and function in the world gets chunky and gunky. The heart-mind needs to be regularly swept clean. We should be carefully maintaining our practice by looking directly, and without flinching, at everything coming up within ourselves and happening in our relationships. “We are sure that what we think is true, and then we meet other people,” Koshin reminds us. Are we able to welcome all others as important teachers?  Shakyamuni Buddha, the great stories tell us, actually welcomed Mara in. We are encouraged to learn and understand what all of life has to teach us, perhaps especially from those we despise or find disgusting. Anyone who gets under our skin may be the best spiritual friend. They show you where the limits of your compassion are. May we practice being direct and unflinching with what our lives are showing us and be open to constantly learning together how to be more spacious and connected.  

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

MUSIC

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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