by Mushin Crisman | Jun 21, 2023 | Dharma Discourse
America in 2023 is struggling with the reality of privilege in the face of its aspirations for diversity, equity, and inclusion. For many, these questions of social and economic justice have condensed into one word, “woke”. Being woke is a badge of honor to some, an...
by Mushin Crisman | Jun 14, 2023 | Dharma Discourse
In the 21st century West one of the socio-political ‘hot topics’ is gender identity. For the first time in modern history, what it is to be female, male, or non-binary, is being openly discussed, clarified, and hopefully, accepted. From a Zen perspective this is...
by Mushin Crisman | Jun 7, 2023 | Dharma Discourse
Remember those big questions: “Who am I?”, “Why am I here?”, “What’s the meaning of life?” Questions unanswerable in words. Here’s an easy one: “What am I?” Provisionally speaking, “I” am a collection of things. Early Buddhist thinkers were reductionists. Like their...
by Mushin Crisman | May 31, 2023 | Dharma Discourse
Joseph Campbell once said something like, “ritual is the embodiment of myth”. In Zen, the myth is the enlightenment of Shakyamuni Buddha, our practice is the ritual. A Zen student asks, “What is Zen ritual?”. A Zen teacher answers, “Everything”. In the Buddha’s time...
by Mushin Crisman | May 24, 2023 | Dharma Discourse
The 6th Ancestor in the Ch’an lineage, Dajian Huineng, once stood in a courtyard listening to novice monastics looking up at a flag flapping in the wind. One monastic said, “The flag is moving.” The other said, “The wind is moving.” Huineng said, “The mind is moving.”...
by Mushin Crisman | May 17, 2023 | Dharma Discourse
A joke: A person exits a bar and sees an other frantically looking for something under the streetlight. They offer help, saying, “What did you lose?”. The increasingly desperate person says, “My keys!” “Where did you lose them?” “Over there, in the dark!” “Why are you...
