What is Sincere Practice?
...Dogen Zenji was a monk who wanted to be a sincere disciple of the Buddha. That's all. He already had given up the scholarly study of Buddhism, so his problem was how to be a good disciple from the bottom of his heart and mind. To have this spirit if the most important point. Since he was such a sincere student, he could not accept teachers who were not as sincere as he was...he wanted to meet a monk who was really practicing Zen in its true sense. So when he saw Nyojo Zenji, he accepted him as a teacher, and when Nyojo Zenji saw him, he acknowledged Dogen's sincerity.
What is sincere practice? When you are not so sincere it is difficult to know, but when you are sincere you cannot accept what is superficial. Only when you become very sincere will you know what it is.
-Shunryu Suzuki Roshi from 'Not Always So'
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Our ZHS on-line schedule
- Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
- Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
- Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study
- For more information: www.zenheartsangha.org)
Special bows for today:
- Please offer bows for Ofelia mendez, Jorge Luis Mendez, Lazara and her mother, relatives of Lilliana Mendez-Soto who have contracted COVID
- Please offer bows for John Lewis, civil rights leader, who died on July 17th
- Please offer bows for Gail Boreman Bird, Stephen' Boremans sister, who died on June 27th at age 75
- Please offer bows for Harada Sekkei Roshi who died on June 20th at age 93
- Please offer bows for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and others who have died from police brutality
- Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
- Sherril Miller, Shannon's aunt, who has a broken humerus
- Brent DeNardo, Aaron's brother, who has contracted COVID
- Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
- Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
- From our dharma friends, Diane and Wing: Dismantling the master's house: https://www.lionsroar.com/dismantling-the-masters-house/amp/
- From our dharma sister, Misha: incredible graphics and information about COVID-19 https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/
- From our dharma brother, Bill: Buddhism in women's prisons: https://tricycle.org/magazine/buddhism-in-womens-prisons/
- From our dharma sister, Nancy: Spirituality and interconnectedness through time https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/04/19/lynn-margulis-talking-on-the-water/
- From our dharma sister, Camille: an important commentary on race, riots and society to help us understand from Trevor Noah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c
Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.
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