The 12th winter ango went well in Kanshoji. During this training period, the monk Mokusho Eric Hadjadj, from the Limoges Zen Centre, took on the role of shuso, the first of the monks, guiding the other five participants by his example. Throughout the three months, members of the Sangha came – for a few […]
There are those who want to change the world by asking others to change, and those who want to change the world by looking inside themselves. These two standpoints are mutually exclusive. If we look at other people too much, we can’t see ourselves. This is what this very important precept tells us: don’t criticize, […]
In an attempt to define Zen, one could say that it is to place the world of Being at the heart of our lives. To place the world of Being, rather than the world of Having, at the heart of our lives. Before having any thoughts, we are, we exist. For instance, in zazen, we […]
We hope for a brighter future. We hope that tomorrow will be better than today. We think: Tomorrow, if I have more money, I’ll be happier. If I have more comfort, I’ll be happier… We are in the pursuit of happiness. And the more you pursue happiness, the more it escapes; this is because true happiness […]
Our posture should not be closed up. Our posture should spread in all directions, in the numberless directions, it should open indefinitely. The infinity of forms is nothing but non-form. It could be said that forms come from non-form and return to non-form. More poetically, we could say: The white cloud is born of the […]
If you look at zazen from the outside, you don’t understand. People sometimes tell me: “But you are loosing your time, sitting there doing nothing…” To practice zazen is to practice the normal condition of the mind. The opposite of the normal condition is madness. Nowhere are we being taught what to do with negative […]
There is a mountain of which the summit stands higher than the other mountains, a mountain of which the summit is hidden from the human eye, a summit wrapped in pure air, free from any pollution, always covered with sparkling snow. This mountain is the mountain of zazen. It is sometimes called the Mountain […]
For the great elephant* who got bogged down, who went too far in the morass of opinions, there is no other way out than to step back, to find the strength by himself; no-one can do it for him, he will have to put all his faculties into it. The great elephant who got bogged […]
Sotoshu :
Ecole zen Sôtô
UBF :
Union Bouddhiste de France