June 2010, Issue 40

Editorial

The following is an excerpt from this issue:

Good evening everyone and welcome. This is fourth or fifth time I have been invited to speak at these winter talks at KEBI.

Each time I speak here I receive some topic suggestions from Traleg Rinpoche. This time he suggested I talk on the Shobogenzo, a core text of the Soto Zen school in Japan. Now I’m not sure this is such an exciting topic.

When I was a young monk in Japan, shortly after my first ordination, my teacher gave me this text and asked me to study it. He said I couldn’t progress the way I wanted just by reading alone. This comes only with study and practice, that is, meditation. He told me not to worry if understanding didn’t come immediately, to take my time and persist.

In 1976 I was a newly ordained young monk, eager to learn, and I studied a lot! I read to deepen my understanding, and I listened to my teachers talks. Wherever he went…

Read this Myoju (file on Google Drive)