Northern Light Zen Center

07/24/2026

"What I have been trying to learn is to take each moment as it appears." Quote by Zen Master Soeng Hyang. See more quotes: https://bit.ly/3OdHcPZ

07/24/2026

"We don't practice to get good things and avoid the bad things." Quote by Zen Master Dae B**g. See more quotes: https://bit.ly/3NXwbC7

07/24/2026

07/24/2026

"Here there is aim, but no target. So we just sit in the midst of this contradiction."

New Podcast Episode: Zazen Is Not Meditation, by Sensei Dharma-Joy Reichert.

We tend to file zazen (seated meditation) alongside every other technique for feeling calmer or thinking more clearly. Sensei Dharma-Joy gently takes that apart. Zazen, he says, is not contemplating, not problem-solving, not meditating on anything, because the moment we make the practice about getting somewhere, we've split ourselves off from where we already are.

"We're just letting go," he says. "And in letting go, we can just be completely present, and that's what we call being free. To really reconnect with our natural original freedom."

He brings in Dogen Zenji, Keizan Zenji, Kodo Sawaki Roshi, and Reverend Issho Fujita. He points, in particular, to Keizan's Zazen Yōjinki, an important and often overlooked manual on how to sit, written by one of the two founders of the Soto school.

Music for the episode is by Leopold Genzan Hackman.

It's a talk about doing less, not more. If you've ever wondered what actually happens when we sit or feel like you are doing it "wrong”, this one is for you.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (link in the comments).

And we're curious: what do you reach for when you sit down to practice? What are you quietly trying to get? Tell us below.

— Zen Center of Los Angeles · Great Dragon Mountain / Buddha Essence Temple · Koreatown

07/06/2026

"Zen meditation is not limited to a formal exercise done in a sitting position." Quote by Zen Master Wu Kwang. -inquiry See more quotes: https://bit.ly/4dgqdqp

07/05/2026

"So when we talk about 'don’t know' mind..."

07/02/2026

Everybody says, "I am." But where is this "I"? Quote by Zen Master Seung Sahn. See more quotes: https://kwanumzen.org/zen-quotes-collection

07/02/2026

Just Now
By Rebecca Otte, JDPSN

Leo Tolstoy wrote a short story about a king who wanted to govern more wisely. He asked his wise men three questions: What is the best time to begin something? Who are the more important people? What is the most important thing to do? None of his wise men at court could answer these questions so the king decided to visit a hermit that was considered to be wise. When the king got there, the hermit was digging in his garden. The king begged him to answer these three questions, but the hermit just kept digging. The king saw that the hermit was old and tired and offered to dig his garden for a while. The hermit was grateful and the king dug up quite a bit of garden. As the king and the hermit were finishing up, a man staggered into the garden with a bloody wound to his abdomen. The king helped the man into the hermit’s hut and dressed his wound, gave him something to drink and then laid him down on the bed. The man fell asleep. The king was so tired, he laid down on the threshold of the hut and fell asleep as well. When he awoke the next morning, the wounded man was awake and dressed. He thanked the king profusely and told him, “I was your enemy. You executed my brother and I was so angry. I was going to kill you, but as I got closer your bodyguards saw me and wounded me. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have died. Please accept my apologies. From now on, I and all my descendants will serve you.” The king was happy that a sworn enemy was now a friend.

As he made ready to go back to the palace, he turned to the hermit and asked, “Why didn’t you answer any of my questions.?” The hermit replied, “ The events of yesterday already answered all your questions!.” The king looked confused. “ If you had not helped me dig my garden bed, but had gone away, the man would have attacked you. So the most important time was when you were digging and I was the most important man and to do me good was the most important business. When the wounded man came to us, the most important time was when you were caring for his wound, for if you hadn’t done that, he would have died without making peace with you. So he was the most important man and your kindness to him was the most important business. The hermit went on, “ Now is the only time you have and whoever you are with is the most important person and the most important business is kindness.”

The practice of Zen meditation helps us to learn the art of being present in each moment. We learn to trust the wisdom of our “don’t know” mind, bringing forth our own natural kindness. So what is the most important time, the most important person and the most important thing to do? Look up from your computer screen and you’ll find the answer to those questions right in front of you!
prairyerthzen.org

01/11/2026

Question: How do you become a good Buddhist?
Zen Master Dae Kwang Sunim: Everybody wants to know that, “how to become a good Buddhist.” The best way to become a good Buddhist is not to become a Buddhist. In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha says, “I have no teaching to give.” Actually, the Buddha said that, “If you say I have a teaching to give, you teach against me." More important than Buddhism, or Zen, or anything, is waking up. The Buddha was not a Buddhist. He was a “wake up” person and what he woke up to is something everybody already has. Buddhism is not going to help you. But waking up is going to help the whole world.
We say, “How can I become a good Buddhist?” That has three mistakes. First of all, it has “I.” That is the biggest mistake. Then it has “become,” that means, "I want something." That is the source of suffering. Three mistakes. I. Want. Something. Trouble. Trouble. Trouble. That is the source of suffering. Don’t want to become a Buddhist, don’t want to become a Zen student. Wake up.
KATZ!
There. Everybody is a Buddhist.

12/31/2025

"Zen isn’t concerned very much about form. It’s not really concerned very much about ritual..."