Sokukoji Buddhist Temple Monastery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pzP9FJrwSE

https://youtu.be/DMHSdHNPFp8

What appears is not what it actually is. No matter what you do, you can’t really cover up what is. If you try to cover up what is, it will create problems for you and for others. It is important to observe whatever shows up in front of you as it is. You may need to look through your projections to see fundamentally what is showing up. Initially fixation, fear or a need to be in control causes us to grasp, reject or shut down as a way to find temporary, artificial, and conditional security. The practice of sitting meditation is about seeing through this attempt at security by training your mind. Watch what continues to appear until you see that what you have been looking at is your projection based on fear. https://youtu.be/U4Lq9jnAKDI

Watch what arises in your mind stream without adding your personal little stamp of approval, disapproval or disregard. Don’t meddle with anything that shows up in the mind stream. Be fully responsible, cognizant and aware of how much you add on. Sit down, hold still and watch the movement. Don’t add to it, don’t subtract from it, don’t judge it and don’t distract yourself from it. Watch the movement. Whatever arises has a dependently arisen right to be there. How do you know that? It shows up. It is relative truth and it is partially true. We like to trap it into cause and effect and ignore where it actually came from. What needs to be seen is not what needs to be controlled. Commit yourself to see the truth for yourself. https://youtu.be/1e4Lsw_3T3c

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“We know nothing until we know everything” is a line from a poem by 14th century Christian mystic St. Catherine of Sienna. When we realize this all questions go away and you know deeply what ‘this’ is all about. It is possible to approach this realization directly by looking deeply into our mind stream through the sitting practice of shikantaza. Give into the fundamental nature in front of you by looking at how you want something else. https://youtu.be/oS80EKYcjo0

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The ego, the self-centered aspect of the mind, is very intelligent at defending itself. It uses this intelligence to confirm or reify someone who knows everything, someone who understands. Hold still and watch the constant propaganda of the mind. You don’t need to stop or control anything. What’s happening is totally appropriate; it’s utterly, completely perfect because it’s happening out of dependent origination. Who you are transcends personality. https://youtu.be/yssHUNqZcpM

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Chogyam Trungpa’s very direct way of saying this is, “The best relationship is no relationship.” When I say relationships don’t work, I mean we have expectations, transactions, and agreements. We think there is someone here in relation to someone over there. We even have little relationships with ourselves called conflicting emotions. It’s painful. Find out who you are so that going into relationship there is no confusion about anything. If you are a true student, you are no longer evaluating your life or your relationship based on how you feel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkqUfppg2Nc

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Craving, desire, or greed for otherness is just a basic way of saying we want something else. This constant inner chatter about ourselves and who we are is substantiating and validating a “someone” who’s doing something. When it ramps up it fuels the believability in the separation and the promise that you can actually get your heart’s desire. Just observe the clutching action of the mind without correcting it. Nothing is broken. The ancient practice of shikantaza is a way observing whatever is arising in your mind as dependent origination. Start now. https://youtu.be/rH3vw9_nTQo

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“Whatever is seen with the eyes is vividly unreal in emptiness, yet there is still form.” This line is from the Sadhana of Mahamudra, which we chant at every new moon. If you see this, you will see that what’s fundamentally important is not threatened. This is a dream. How do we bring this about in our life stream? The more difficult this gets, the more it is incumbent upon us to practice; instead of trying to fix the confusion, just be with whatever arises in the mind stream. https://youtu.be/mQLMI1UoUuE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQAvei5oWaA

The world reminds us that we’re not important all the time. You can make use of this understanding by looking at the self-centeredness that we continually fluff up while ignoring the complete spaciousness of our minds as they are. When any kind of fear or sensitivity that hasn’t been looked into gets triggered, we go to war with it or try to blame somebody. This creates the illusion that we are important. It could even show up as humility. Just look at this, without looking for credentials. https://youtu.be/vu9O8QIjllA