ninh binh, vietnam, august 2023 An idea dear to Zen Master Dogen that he speaks with emphasis about as an essential part of his expounding of the dharma is : shushō-ittō. In Japanese, shu means practice, and shō means realization or verification. And ittō means equality or oneness. Translated into English, that would mean practice and realization are one. They are not two separate and distinct phenomena. This view turns the traditional Buddhist approach of a linear path, the

sky is getting thicker to shelter trees night reaches closer  rest given to everything tiles on star-lit roofs nettles cobbles on the pathway ei-tai ji temple alpes-de-haute-provence

talk on 2 december, 2025 erring cloud sangha     Summary: This Dharma talk on December 2, 2025, led by Hamid, explores Master Dogen’s Genjo Koan ("Actualizing the Fundamental Point"), using the metaphor of fanning oneself to illustrate that while Buddha nature is inherent—like the wind—practice is the necessary action of "hoisting the sail" to actualize it in the present moment.   Hamid: As you may have seen from the group post yesterday, we're going to talk about the end

' learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate your self.' fukenzazengi / eihei dogen light does it enter does go out does it ever leave the dark take the light and turn it inward we heard the master say moving inward the outer moving outward the inner is this movement is movement another name we give to what we can not grasp inscrutable for incessable turning it in is what returns you to emergence of light where inward and outward inflow   this is th

we can say it with silence our native tongue - w.s.merwin * things falling away arrayed yet ungraspable slowly the hand opens the mind stillness is * the heart realm of all paths the home crossings here and there movement incessant closures none * in its fullness just empty space knows no hurdles the heart * whose heart whispers here in this mountain heat bracing for winds unflinching * everything opens up is laid bare before the rocks before the sky becomes breath * ni

ZAZOOM erring cloud sangha 25th of November 2025 Carl: Today's talk, I would like to return again to the topic of silence. We could call it an echo of silence, as it is a reaction, a response to the lecture from two weeks ago, which was about silence and the main question, "What is silence ?" At that time, two weeks ago, I read a text by John Millington Synge , Gerry wrote me that I spelled the name right, but Gerry, you never heard it, because you just read it in the scri

only now starting to view umbrellas differently it took this long as in younger years i looked at you with some disdain thinking thinking umbrellas you are a mere diversion from exposure to the inclementies of the skies in nine years of living dans une chaumière en haute normandie où les pluies sont reines not once did i take a look at you refreshing mea culpa to let go the dilluded view that keeping humans dry is your higher purpose sound box to nimbus dome of timeless music

it measures all things itself cannot be measured to silence no entry or exit gate enter or leave it you cannot in the midst of noise it doesn't leaves you it is what carries you carries everything along wherever unnoticed unheard in the midst of silence we are forgetful of it lest we listen to raindrops pattering on the roof to a crow’s cawing as it flies over treetops on hillside slopes forgetful of it though it indwells the deepest we can never leave it as we cannot leave s

Carl: So, where is my talk? I'll need a moment to find my talk. Where is it? It's funny. Please patient. There it is. Okay. So now I see only Hamid. Good. Okay. So, my friends, this talk is a kind of . . . it's about silence. It is an echo of silence from our last retreat in Karuna. In the last talk on Saturday afternoon, Hamid spoke about silence. This talk should be different. It should be a talk where the audience, we who were sitting around, could also take part answering

Walls, floors, and windows eaten by time. Photo credit: Jorge Zamora What an experience it was to have the opportunity to sit, share meals, laugh, and listen to Master Tokuda. I honestly didn’t know what to expect; I was simply thrilled to meet Hamid and his teacher. Witnessing the way they interacted and how the teacher carries himself through life was something very special. A lot happened during the retreat, but I won’t recount everything here — those are stories for the

One week has passed since the end of our sesshin  (a week of intensive meditation practice) with Zen master Ryotan Tokuda, a Japanese monk who has been a missionary in Brazil and France for more than half a century. I don’t understand what brought us there, and where it’ll lead us to. But it is always through the unexpected that the path weaves itself, and one just walks, step by step, into the unknown, as countless others have walked and paved... just for you to walk.   Abru

ei-tai ji monastery, le rocher de la baume, septembre 2025 twenty-five years on retreating at ei-tai ji who i really am eternal truths ... morning mist covers the valley full circle comes back the beginning is that was that another's lifetime you you erring on mountain trails leaf fall cold water mossy rocks murmuring

June 10th, 2025     Hamid’s talk: Today I would like to talk about what came up in the presentation Carl gave about this notion of...

za-zoom chat: May 23, 2025 summary of discussion: This za-zoom session, led by Hamid, delved into the relationship between Zen practice,...

zazen as a godless and objectively meditation practice.

" Everyday is a journey and the journey itself is home." - Matsudo Basho To those of you who are joining or contemplating joining us on...

no matter in what state the old buddha’s mind i’ve always been here sitting in the palm of his hand heart flooding with grieving and love a poem i wrote many years ago and posted here on this blog before. i can’t find any other words to add to these at the moment. are you grieving this world of ours as well right now? is the grieving deepening the love that you feel, the love that you are, that we all are? how can we know how to love if we have not grieved? how can we grieve

wonderful! marvelous! the teachings of the insentient are inconceivable. ( chan master dongshan, 9th c.) " the ceremony of innocence is...

starting a silent retreat here in bali. ‘just this’, what is it? we practice to find out what is here, what has always been here even if it's looking for what is there that brings us here to practice. here, what is closest while we are far, lost in thought. lost in thought is also just this. whatever we may think this is, wherever we think it may be or not be, it is always ‘just this.’ ______________________________________ early morning lush greenery look outside bejewelled

What a truly magical experience. This retreat was a holiday for my brain and my soul. I had no idea that there was so much healing in...