The Personal, Part 1
I only met Roshi Suzuki, the Zen Master who helped found Tassajara, once, but was deeply impressed. It was a difficult drive up to Tassajara in the winter and I had an old car. After speaking with me for a while in Japanese, under [...]
Justin Stone Speaks: Track 4
Usually, I like to devote half of any lecture to a question-and-answer period. So, that I can know what the audience is thinking and what it is interested in knowing. I’m going to follow that custom now and ask for questions. That lady over [...]
Further Exploration: A Cornucopia
The three things that are universal according to Indian Buddhism are impermanence, suffering, and delusion. When I was expressing the three universals, Roshi Sazaki stopped me and said, "Just suffering, enough. Just suffering, enough.” My friend said, "What’s wrong if he builds a bridge for [...]
Important Points on Moving Correctly in T’ai Chi Chih
For the beginning student the most important aspect is to learn how to move. It is of utmost importance that T’ai Chi Chih be practiced correctly in accordance with the principles of yin-yang so that results will be maximized. Knowing where to place the arms [...]
Spiritual Stories of the East: Compassionate Nasreddin & a Pompous Scholar
Volume 1, Track 2 When another Zen master was asked, “If I do good all my life, what will my reward be,” his surprising answer was, “Oh, you'll probably go to some hovel called heaven.” This sublime goal of the Bodhisattva (the Buddhist saint, [...]
Justin Stone Speaks: Track 5
It is true that in meditation and in T’ai Chi practice we are building habits, and they are constructive ones. The Vasanas, the habit energies, contribute to our lives. When these habit energies, may they be constructive or destructive become overly strong they develop [...]
Sound
In India the people speak of “vibration before sound,” the catalyst for the beginning of creation. This probably has the same meaning as, “In the beginning was the Word.” Almost all beliefs agree that sound is the matrix of creation. The fanciful phrase “music of [...]
The Silent Sadhu
The lengthening twilight seemed almost interminable as the old car plowed along the dismal roads east of Baroda. Indian sunsets are particularly spectacular where there is flat country and few trees or buildings to break the magnificent vista of pink, orange, and purple sky. These [...]
Spiritual Stories of the East: Hakuin’s Enlightenment & Final Thoughts at Death
Volume 1, Track 4 Overjoyed at his experience, which he later classified as a great Satori, or enlightenment experience, Hakuin turned and ran back up the hill to tell his master. But as he did so, Shōju, his teacher, came running out of the [...]