Opening of sesshin, reflecting on what drives people to practice
Something deep within your mind brought you here, more complicated than "way-seeking mind." It may be a bundle of questions, an urgent need to be filled, an urgent thing to express, in each person.
Connecting ancestral effort to present-day practice
It may seem that we came to sit together almost as an accident, but it was the innumerable efforts of your own direct ancestors, their seeking of the way, which is your own inner dynamic, which brought you to the practice.
Reflecting on the unknowability of both Buddha and self
We know as little about the historical Buddha as we know about ourselves. This may be the closest way to approach him, since, as far as we know, sitting originated from his experience.
First day of sesshin, describing internal struggle
Along with this questioning, there is hope, and the endless desire to live, no matter what. It is just like the centuries of battles between nations, revenge after revenge. It's happening in your own self.
Teaching on basic ignorance (avidya)
Even when we are walking, driving, still this avidya is with us. It means we do not know exactly what we are, what our essence of life is.
Distinguishing lived experience from conceptual knowledge
Life has to be freed and lived, instead of being known. Knowing never satisfies, although knowing is one of our major intellectual functions.
Introducing Buddha nature as intuitive basic sanity
All of us have, deep inside, basic sanity, an intuitive understanding of how to find the safest spot from which one can see in every direction.
Trust in Buddha nature as prerequisite for practice
Trusting your whole presence as Buddha nature is the first step to walk in the Buddha's way. Before you take that step, even if you have precise knowledge about the world, that is just a blink of knowledge.
Teaching on the nature and purpose of sesshin silence
Holy silence is the space where your psyche can be totally free, without hindrance. It is like clean air with no dust. Mind is captured by matter but when matter is not there, the mind recovers its nature, which is time and space itself.
Describing how silence transforms communication
Usually, conversation goes horizontally, to another, but when it comes back, it's vertical, going deep inside you. This is the deep nature of silent conversation.
Explaining Buddha's rejection of ascetic dualism
The basic idea of tapas was dualistic, the separation of body and mind. It was believed that the spirit dwells in a transient body, so the purpose was to release the spirit from this limited, dense, sometimes filthy and chaotic, body.
Buddha's realization after tapas practice
In the end, what Buddha found was that body and mind are inseparable, an inseparable entity. They differ from each other, but without one, the other cannot exist.
Kobun's personal statement of faith in Buddha nature
In spite of living in this suffering world I continue to believe that nothing can stain the purity of each existence. That is my understanding. That is how I feel when I say all things have Buddha nature, equally.