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The mountain trees plunder themselves, the grease over a fire fries itself. Cinnamon can be eaten, therefore the trees that yield it are chopped down. Varnish can be used, therefore the trees that produce it are hacked. Everybody realizes the utility of usefulness, but nobody realizes the utility of uselessness – The Zhuangzi

Don’t resist what is. Remain curious and change freely. Find what is a good fit for all involved.

Yunyan asked Daowu, “What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion do with so many hands and eyes?” Daowu said, “It’s like someone reaching back for the pillow at night.” Yunyan said, “I understand.” Daowu said, “How do you understand.” Yunyan said, “All over the body is hands and eyes.” Daowu said, “You said a lot…

Dog walks are often a big part of cultivation for me. Below are some observations around what a perfect walk can look like. Some of these may not apply to some dogs on some days, you may wish to just use them as explorations.

What am “I”? I keep waiting, To catch a glimpse, Of what drags this corpse around. Searching here, looking there, I don’t know. And so I wait… What am “I”?

One day, a man came into Hwa Gye Sah Temple outside Seoul. He was very anxious, and shouting, “I want to die! I want to die! I want to die!” A monk approached him and asked, “What is wrong?” “I want to die!” “Just a moment,” the monk said, “What’s wrong? Why do you want…

Our thinking, our solutions, our problems, our plans. On a fundamental level we cannot operate in an awakened fashion because the feeling and identification as ‘me’ is a mistaken conception rooted in ignorance. Moment to moment, we are being born, and we die. Outflows, uninvited reactions and opinions, hindrances and fetters, these things all attach…

One evening, Nasrudin was out near a sidewalk,looking through the grass and bushes under the light of a lamp post. A friend of his walked by and asked what Nasrudin was up to.“I’m searching for my house keys,” said Nasrudin. The friend offered to help, and the two spent a considerable amount of timecontinuing to…

How often do we really need to generate thoughts and opinions? What happens if we don’t, and instead we just see what thoughts and ideas come up uninvited? When we simply pick from these, is it possible to live life well? How useful are MY thoughts in comparison to those that come up when I…

Don’t do anything. Completely set down this bag of meat and bone. Let the body operate itself. Absent of effort, see how noticing continues to happen? Sensations arising out of the stillness and falling back into it. See how pleasant and unpleasant are decided on their own? Feelings and mind states appear. Changing like weather…