Zazen 11 a.m.
The Buddha’s teaching asks us not to remain at the level of appearances, not to remain on the surface of things, in the foam of phenomena—that is, not to be carried away by rumours, by hearsay, by what we hear or read.
Shakyamuni Buddha said:
This truth that I have acquired is profound and difficult to understand; it is hidden, peaceful, subtle, accessible only to the wise. On the other hand, it is difficult for those who take refuge in objects of desire, difficult for those who are blinded by attraction and repulsion. Therefore, it is not words that enable human beings to understand. One must first become a true human being, freed from all illusions, in order to experience reality as it is.
He continues:
I wondered if I feared the happiness of inconceivable freedom, so different from the happiness of satisfying countless desires. I saw that I had no fear of this happiness linked to inconceivable freedom.
You are sitting here in zazen. Your head is above your shoulders, your back is straight, your breathing is free, letting everything appear in your mind, letting everything disappear, thus tasting pure existence.
You are in the same position as that man, Shakyamuni Buddha. Are you interested in a happiness that depends on nothing, that is free from the satisfaction of desire, like the one we taste here and now?
Taiun JP Faure, February 2026
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