05
May
My pyramid has a base and a top, and yours does not probably have any?
01
Apr
What is the "correct" breathing?
I do not understand "proper breathing." Should I just breathe naturally in zazen, or should I force my stomache out during the exhalation?
23
Jul
Freewill and destiny?
Since I was a little boy, I have always been intrigued by the metaphysical problem of freewill and destiny and have after a very long reading process realised that Western philosophy can never help me understand the truth to this most fundamental paradox. Many people believe in absolute freewill and yet others say we have no freewill whatsoever,...
14
Dec
Duration of the meetings of zazen.
Hello, One often intends to say, in the groups of practice, or the sesshins, that the duration of the meetings of zazen practised alone, at the house, do not have to exceed 20 min.Why? Personally, my group meets once per week and I everyday approximately an hour. I do not have the impression that that creates a problem or degenerates my ...
14
Dec
State of mind in the everyday life.
I’ve been practising zazen for some time nowAnd I feel the need to be in the same state of mind in the everyday life as the one I am when I practise zazen, because I have the impression that it belongs to me.Only at the time of zazen this state is natural, in everyday life it can come all alone sometimes, but most of the time I force myself ...
07
Apr
But what's an authentic disciple? (continuation)
Thank you for your answer about the state of mind of the disciple in the Master-disciple relation, which was: "But what's an authentic disciple?"
19
Nov
...when they finished their job the Masters go away.
You answer on this subject that when they finished their job the Masters go away. Why according to you don't they remain benefit from this terrestrial life in a state of awakening? Can't this life be lived fully in the conscience of the unit without dying any more? Is there another stage at a certain point of awakening of this life to be ...
01
Apr
How do you consider sex in the context of Zen?
Sex is not a social reference, but a part of the self, and very important. How you deal with this within the zen concept?
14
Dec
Mastery and developing of oneself.
Hello, After a lifetime of mastery and developing of oneself and respect of life; it has been more than twenty years now that I do not have any more sexual intercourse without feeling a little frustration, on the contrary, a serene plenitude, one year that I do not masturbate any more the sex of my flesh, and a year also, that I feel a permanent...
01
Apr
What is the teaching of Master Deshimaru lineage on intoxicant consumption ?
What is the teaching of Master Deshimaru lineage on intoxicant consumption ?
11
Sep
09/11
40 years after the overthrow of the democratically elected Salvador Allende government by Pinochet and his supporters who killed and tortured innocent people, particularly poor people. . . Today we still believe in "don't forgive and don't forget". . . We, twenty-first century monks and bodhisattvas who daily live in society, ...
26
Jun
Breathing.
My Zen teacher, a former student of Master Deshimuru, tells me to have long slow exhalations and short quick inhalations, but I have read other zazen "manuals", inluding one by Temple Antaiji, that you should just let the breath be natural. What is the difference between letting the breath be as it is and forcing the breath to breath long ...
01
Apr
Zen and Yoga
Hello Master, I practise yoga, the Iyengar method, very hard and demanding, but I do not know if it is my way. But anyway, it is very clear to me that the body is the base of the spiritual progress, and I believe that Zen do not pay enough attention to this aspect. Do you believe, yourself, that Zen can guarantee a healthy body, so that it does ...
24
Dec
The anger of a Master.
In what way the anger of a Master is extraordinary? Can there be anger without attachment?..
01
Apr
I would like to know what is the relation between Zen and martial arts ?
Some japanese martial arts include the word `do' in their name (karate-do,ken-do). I would like to know what is the relation between Zen and martial arts, who were initialy a means to fight. All the masters of martial arts that I know are not interested in the `do' side of this arts, but only inits technical aspect, `jitsu '. How am I to ...
01
Apr
What is your point of view on the questioning of Taisen Deshimaru in different websites?
Hello, What is your point of view on the questioning of Taisen Deshimaru and his education on the one hand, but also his filiation with Kodo Sawaki on the other hand, which we find in the site http: // www.butsudo.net / AZI or still in the forum of the excellent site http: // www.chez.com / Buddhism? Thank you in advance for your ...
01
Apr
Translation of Sutras
HelloAs the patriarchs imported Buddhism (and thus the Chan / Zen) in China and in Japan, they translated the language of sutras in the local language. Why those who established and establish sanghas of Zen practice in the West, where the spoken languages are English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish do recite sutras in Sino - Japanese instead of ...
06
Dec
I do not know what to do with my existence.
Please Mr Kosen, I need assistance... I do not know if it is or it has been, all my life for these last years is a perpetual escape forward. I do not know what to do with my, existence, I set off on ways which will not take me anywhere, I get completely discouraged and that ends up feeding my bitterness, my melancholy, my despair and especially ...
01
Apr
How to learn how to practice, if there is no place for it close where I live ?
How to learn how to practice, if there is no place for it close where I live ?
01
Apr
How to make the difference between "letting things go by" and supporting anything?
Hello, This is Marine from Paris. How to make the difference between "letting things go by" and supporting anything, like a dish mop?
01
Apr
Your opinion on psychoanalysis ?
Your opinion on psychoanalysis ? on analysis ?on the free association of ideas ? on the unconscious ?
01
Apr
What definition for mushin ?
Good morning Stephane, happy to have found you back! Sempai to the monk Kosen sensei. What definition for mushin ? How to practice shin jin datsu raku ? Gassho! Jean Pierre Bignon.JpbBign
01
Apr
I still feel a way, but sometimes I am asking myself: one more illusion ?
I am practicing the martial arts, people there talk about meditation with egos like cathedrals. I am studying philosophy and I only meet professors without inspiration, theorists without flesh, people eaten by their career and dressed in their prestigious minds. Outside, people are lost, closed up, aggressive or submissive. Inside myself, sex, ...
01
Apr
What is Zen? I am not able to stop thinking what I must or mustn't do.
Hello, I found Zen and I heard about what that is, but I do not understand. At first, I understood that it was a practice. Then I read that it was to follow or to count the breathings with your back straight. Then I understood that it was nothing special, then something very special. Now I would like to have read anything at all. We would not ...
12
Oct
I would like to sleep well what can I do?
I would like to sleep well what can I do? please help me
01
Apr
I would like to somehow get started in learning and studing Zen
Dear sir:I live in Las Cruces NM and have been interested in Zen for some time, but because I live in such a small city I have no access to groups teaching Zen. I would like to somehow get started in learning and studing Zen, but at this time all I have to go by are books...and of course e-mail.I hope I'm not misusing your on line question home ...
01
Apr
Zen and paragliding
How does one overcome lethargy to develop the practice of daily meditation ?
04
Jul
How to tackle the wavering of my spirit?
How to tackle the wavering of my spirit? Today I make a thing and tomorrow I make another different one and am thus not consequent at all
11
May
How can we stay zen at work?
How can we stay zen at work, mostly with our collegues, when we have the impression that they make you guilty for something you don’t know, that they criticise everybody behind their backs, and when we have the impression that one of them was your girlfriend, that you have confined yourself in and who is just using what she knows about you to ...
14
Dec
A sudden comprehension of the awakening.
Tozan had a sudden comprehension of the awakening, innate. He had a sudden realization. After him, Sosan developed the theory of the degrees, Go I. Your book tackles this subject and brings it up to date, in a way, for those who need it, to give some reference marks. In the sudden way, there is no more reference mark, all the directions have ...