Open Path Sangha

21/11/2025

We are always awakening from delusion with every breath.

18/12/2024

When you think “I am here,” you’re not.

02/04/2024

What song do you sing?

28/12/2023

Today's koan in Zen Master Seung Sahn's book of 365 koans is, "Where is Bodhidharma?" A monk meets Bodhidharma on the path, they greet each other, and the monk heads toward the temple where Bodhidharma had died and Bodhidharma walks to India. When the monks at the temple open Bodhidharma's tomb, they find the body missing.

When I first met Zen Master Seung Sahn, he was walking on the path around Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. I was walking in the opposite direction. He nodded to me, I nodded to him, and we walked on our separate ways. When I went back to look for him, he had disappeared. A few months later, I went to the Cambridge Zen Centre for the first time and saw his photo on the wall. When I mentioned I'd seen him at Walden Pond, I was told that he was either in Korea or touring in Europe and Russia during that time. This was in 1988. Zen Master Seung Sahn has since passed away.

Where is Zen Master Seung Sahn now?

05/07/2023

Low tide at Scarness, Queensland. Low tide, high tide — which do you prefer? Can you see the trap beneath you?

21/04/2023

This is essential teaching.

"Be very careful about wanting enlightenment." Quote by Zen Master Seung Sahn. See more quotes: https://bit.ly/3N6BxVw

19/04/2023

Nothingness is a refuge for those of us who have lived in chaos. It is still and quiet. It is also a trap.

16/04/2023

Stop being clever.
Be honest.

31/12/2022

Happy Rohatsu/Buddha’s Enlightenment season. May all beings be free from suffering and experience great joy and true love, and compassion, kindness and balance. And may yours a joyful transition to 2023!

11/12/2022

The Avatamsaka Sutra says, "If you want to understand the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, then you should view the nature of the whole universe as being created by mind alone."
We all understand what this sutra is talking about on some level. If we are happy and active, then the whole world around us becomes joyous. But, when we are sad or depressed, then even the clouds look sad and the rain turns into the teardrops of the world. Everything becomes a problem, and we are passive spectators in a world not of our making.
Stick, kasa, robes, scriptures, sutras, masters, Buddha, religions: all these are actually only placebos. But as long as we have mind, we need them. And even if we keep no mind, become completely free, we still need them. If even one being is still entangled in their difficulties and suffering, then we must put on our robe and practice Zen together with them. Because that’s what we are all about: become a fellow-being, help each other. —Zen Master Ji Kwang

09/12/2022

Clear mind = How can I help?
This is True Love