. The classical pianist, Arthur Rubinstein, was once approached on a New York street near the grand concert hall, Carnegie Hall, and asked, “Pardon me sir, but how do I get to Carnegie Hall?“ Rubinstein replied, “Practice, practice, practice.“ Therefore, we do not discuss intelligence as superior and stupidity as inferior. Let us not choose…

.In our Zen Practice … … to be intelligent is a hindrance, if we are overly analytical, philosophical, lost in words … … while being simple is a ‘natural zen’, if we are accepting, present, open to life. Yet to be intelligent is a benefit, for we can study the philosophy of Buddhism, learning from…

.Monks are on the march in Burma. Should Buddhists engage in protests? Is it in keeping with our Precepts? In fact, should we hold political views at all, knowing that all such views, and human opinions, are ultimately illusion? And if so, which political views are Buddhist ‘Right’ views? Can we hold views and drop…

Master Dogen, and all other Zen Teachers, speak of our experiencing this world before labeling sights and sounds, without thought and opinions, through the Practice of Zazen. … But is such a strange experience of the world ‘Real’?. Recent neurological research indicates that our experiences of timeliness, self-lessness, oneness and the like during Zazen may…

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