Be True
When the Buddhas address us, they say: "Good men and women, be true. Don't tell yourself stories, don't tell others stories. Good men and women: there's no flattery, it's just that your true nature is good. As you are, you are Buddha: this is…
A World of Dream
A sutra relates the story of a king who made the following dream: he was a poor man living in absolute destitution who was trying to meet the king of the country to ask him for some help. He was told that the king was over there, so he rushed…
The right way to think
Not follow thoughts, not avoid thoughts, just don't worry about it: this is what we do in Zazen. To say that Zen is against thinking is to be a bit hasty. Buddhism is concerned that we use our mind, in all of its forms, in the right way: consciousness,…
The Way of the Heart
or how to become a true human being
Our social life is governed by codes: codes of good behaviour, codes of decency, codes of politeness… The important thing is to live out these codes with a sincere, open, pure heart. The form must be in…
Careful!
When the disciple asks the master:
- How could you describe Zen practice in a few words?
The master replies:
- Careful!
- Please, explain a little better!
- Careful!
- Couldn’t you say a little more?
- Careful!
Here…
Before the words arise
Nature is continuously teaching but we don’t always hear its teaching. The song of the cuckoo reminds us to return urgently to our true nature, to our true home.
We are the children of ultimate reality, the children of the universe.…
What am I really? What do I do with what I am?
Life feeds on life, life offers itself to life. Each form of life receives its life from all the other forms. That is reality. As long as we don’t conform to this reality, our practice is meaningless. As long as we don’t understand the meaning…
Faith: non-two
Some people tell me: “I have faith in the future.” Others tell me: “I don’t have faith in the future.” What do we know about the future?
During the FIFA World Cup, some people said to me:
– I have faith in the French team,…
To Forgive
Rather than letting your thoughts wander, rather than giving free rein to your madness, please bring your mind back to the body. Come back to the normal condition where thoughts glide without clinging to the mirror. Some people tell me: “Is…
Truth takes its course, no matter what you may think
You may think what you want. You may believe what you want. You have the impression that things are like this, or like that… You may believe that truth can be caught with words, that truth can be locked up in words; but truth takes its course,…