If you remember nothing else, always remember this one great secret of spiritual practice: we don’t have to feel any particular way. We don’t have to have special experiences, nor do we have to be any particular way. With whatever arises, whether it’s pleasing or not, try to remember that all we can do is experience and work with whatever our life is right now. No matter what life is and no matter how we feel about it, all that matters in practice is whether we can honestly acknowledge what is going on, and then stay present with the physical experience of that moment.
– Ezra Bayda
Practice Meetings
Tuesday Nov 13, 8:30am
Friday Nov 16, 7:00pm
This Week’s Reading
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 20, “The Deer”.
This Week’s Koan
Gateless Gate #4: “A Beardless Foreigner”
Wakun complained when he saw a picture of the bearded Bodhidharma:
“Why hasn’t that fellow a beard?”
Mumon’s Verse
One should not discuss a dream In front of a simpleton. Why has Bodhidharma no beard? What an absurd question!