a website worth checking out

I remembered my old friends at the Pacific Zen Institute today, and went to see how their website has evolved. It has some of the most literate and accessible dharma available today; here's a sample--

www.pacificzen.org/you-dont-have-to-know...cle-by-john-tarrant/

You Don’t Have to Know: Our Dark Materials

The whole of the ancient, master teachings on suffering come down to this: Suffering is the notion ‘This isn’t it.’

Freedom, waking up and fearlessness come down to the simplicity of, ‘Wait a minute, what if this is it?’

Kate Gowen wrote: The whole of the ancient, master teachings on suffering come down to this: Suffering is the notion ‘This isn’t it.’

Freedom, waking up and fearlessness come down to the simplicity of, ‘Wait a minute, what if this is it?’

Amazing.

So often I've seen the advice, "Look around you. This is it!"

But I've not seen the flip side of that.

So simple, but what a profound addition. Man! I think I'm going to have to write that down and come back to it often.

Hey Kate,

I was thinking of checking out their "koan small group" here in Seattle, as their approach of open discussion sounds interesting. Anything I should know before contacting them?

If they're the same as a decade ago, prepare for joy!

He is unfailingly encouraging...

"Koans don’t really explain things. Instead, they show you something by opening a gate. You walk through, and you take the ride. Before anything is explained, there is the sky, the earth, redwood forests, pelicans, rivers, rats, the city of San Francisco. And you are part of all that. We’re all part of that. In the land of koans, you see that everything that happens in your life is for you. There is no one else it can be for. Your life counts."

from this recent article in Lion's Roar: www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-zen-koans/

The post 15363 , what precedes and what follows.

post moved to my practice thread....