“We need enthusiasm for practice to meet this opportunity, to show up to our life, right now.” – Koshin

Can you bring increased vigor and enthusiasm to your relationships, to your life? The pāramitā of virya is active and connecting. It does not have to appear or sound a certain way, but being vigorous has everything to do with how we show up. As Koshin Sensei observes, “You can feel when someone is completely with you.”   

In this dharma talk, from NYZC’s recent Contemplative Care Retreat, Koshin leans further into the theme of The Nobility of Imperfection by exploring virya, often translated as vigor or enthusiasm. While the six pāramitās are certainly interconnected, Koshin turns his full attention to virya in this challenging and spirited talk. Actually being of service to others requires that we be wholehearted. No maybes or we’ll sees. An enthusiasm for practice and an enthusiasm for caring go hand-in-hand for Koshin. To think otherwise is delusion. Drawing on his teacher/student relationship as an exemplar, Koshin emphasizes his vow to say ‘Yes’ to what is being asked of him at the bedside, in sangha, in life. We are invited to closely at our lives and to reflect deeply on what we do. What is holding you back?   

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.

NYZC PUBLICATIONS

• Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book


• Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t


• Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL

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