Dharma Talks

Even if you are devoted to zazen, it is good to take a break from sitting. Every so often, forget you practice Zen. Just go about your life and see what happens. It is a great learning opportunity. We notice what happens in our life naturally, how we’ve been changed by the practice, and what we experience when we don’t sit. Putting down the forms also allows us to see our big ideas about Zen, and put those down, too.

Seido reflects on Rohatsu sesshin by exploring the ocean as a metaphor for suchness or thusness. We are part of the ocean—whether riding the surface waves when we are tossed around by life or walking on the ocean floor when we rest in samadhi. Dogen’s insight is that we are already people of suchness. What we seek is what we already are. We are the ocean.

Dharma talks from Rohatsu session 2025, with "Innmo" by Dogen as the central text. December 2, 2025 December 3, 2025 December 4, 2025 December 5, 2025

The fifth season invites us to be disillusioned in the most beautiful way. We realize there is nothing special, and yet everything is sacred. To use the bicycle image, here’s where the bicycle is put down; we know how to use it and can ride it again. We’ve come full circle, with no attachment to any insight. As we sit in zazen, we explore the edges of emptiness. How many things are burned up in a lifetime of practice?

As soon as we have some sort of insight or opening—small or large—we risk disappointment with the imperfection and messiness of the world of the particular. The states of mind that open the heart and feel so life-changing don’t necessarily become traits of character. These require long and slow cultivation. If you come to see the beauty of this fourth season, you’ll taste true freedom. No need to dodge when blades are crossed.