One Mind Zen Collective

10/04/2026

In some kongans (koans), it helps to become a participant in it. Part of the cast, you could say. Kongans are used to break us out of our conceptual habits in our thoughts in order to break through its gate.

Everyday life is an unanswerable question that defies all logical thought, all conceptual thought, and may require every bit of intuitive, before-thought we can muster. (Some days more than others, like this one).

Eunsahn gave the dharma talk.
https://youtu.be/H2IjagXzrIA

10/02/2026

Korean Ancestor Bojo Jinul taught sudden awakening/gradual cultivation. The Hwaom (Huayan/Avatamsaka) Sutra speaks of the 52 stages of the Bodhisattva path. Seung Sahn said "Try, try, try for 10,000 years, become enlightened and save all beings."
Are you in this very moment embodying one of the stages, and is that your gradual cultivation?

Min'Ui Maitri gave the Dharma talk.

Korean Ancestor Bojo Jinul taught sudden awakening/gradual cultivat...

10/01/2026

Fazang, Empress Wu, a gatha, and a golden lion!
H/T Barbara O'Brien from whom I stole some of the history bits.

The lion is characterized by emptiness. The hairs are also. Without...

09/25/2026

The arrow has already been shot. It can't be un-shot. Neither where it landed be changed. Move on!

The arrow has already been shot. It can't be un-shot, neither can w...

08/19/2026

Many Zen Sanghas have the word "Mind" in their names--Original Mind, Ordinary Mind, Open Mind, and this one, One Mind. But "Mind" seems to have taken on a Kleenex-like aura so ubiquitous that is has become generic term for a thing without having any meaning left.

There are some non-generic, con-conceptual approaches to "Mind"--even some that don't begin with the letter "O." A "Free Mind" is one that is unencumbered, where hindrances are gone, where there is the ability to express our true original Buddha nature without regard to any consequences, opinions, or baggage. So work on that! Apply your practice so that there is only practice in all forms, from moment to moment, with a clear mind.

Eunsahn gave the Dharma talk.

Many Zen Sanghas have the word "Mind" in their names--Original Mind...

07/19/2026

"Suddenly, while at the very depths, it struck me like a thunderbolt that I had never been born, and that my birthlessness could settle any and every matter. This seemed to be my satori…. the birthless Buddha-mind can cut any and every knot . . . to live in a state of non-birth is to attain Buddhahood . . . from the moment you have begun to realize this fact, you are a living Buddha. . . .

~Bankei~

"Suddenly, while at the very depths, it struck me like a thunderbol...

07/14/2026

“It is extremely difficult to get a human body, so don’t waste the opportunity to practice hard. Once you miss this chance it will be very difficult to get it again.
If you don’t attain strength in your practice, only your karma will remain when you die.
Time is of the utmost importance for a Zen practitioner – don’t waste even one moment.
If you have one mind, even at that time you can get enlightenment”. �
The Teachings of Zen Master Man Gong,

“One day, the Layman, musing on life and practice, uttered these words of wisdom: "Oh, difficult, difficult, difficult! It's like trying to scatter ten thousand sesame seeds over a tree." The wife right away retorted, "Oh, easy, easy, easy! It's like touching your feet to the ground when you get off the bed." The daughter was not to be outdone. Immediately she commented, "Not difficult, not easy! On the tips of ten thousand grasses, the patriarchs' meaning," What kind of patriarchs' meaning can we find on the tips of grass? If you find that, you will get the true dharma eye”.

The Sayings of Layman Pang

So will you make it hard on yourself, or practice hard?

"It is extremely difficult to get a human body, so don’t waste the ...

07/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D2MGaJmGo/

Go back to when you entered a meditation room for the first time. I...

06/26/2026

"Everything happens for a reason." Well, yes, but not in some great cosmic "It was meant to be" sort of way. Everything is subject to causes and conditions. That's the nature of everything--no self-nature. Nothing just springs out of nothing, so to speak.

It's called karma. But while I may be "heir to my actions," you could be heir to me actions too. Nothing I, or you, or anyone else does happens in a vacuum where no one else feels the ripples of the action. And if you look at the Mahayana aspect of interconnectedness, it becomes even more obvious.
Save one being, you've saved 'em all.

Eunsahn gave the Dharma talk

"Everything happens for a reason." Well, yes, but not in some great...

04/19/2026

Eunsahn's Dharma talk

We all have days when things are a bit "off." A little past "Meh." Even the Buddha and the Ancestors had days like this. If he work up with a headache, he'd ...