Article by Zuisei Goddard — Articles by Zuisei Goddard

When we pair the three doors of body, speech, and mind with the three sila factors: right speech, right action, right livelihood, we have instructions for good and ethical living

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardJune 24, 2024s1, three doors, sila, eightfold path, rights peech, right action, right livelihood, karma, kammadvara, AI, Annie Dillard

The Practice of Right Relationship

The practice of right relationship rests on the acknowledgment of our interdependence

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardMarch 4, 2024right relationship, Eightfold Path, right view, blind men and elephant, s1

Working with Craving

We suffer because we have what we don't want, we want what we don't have, or we have what we can't keep

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardOctober 3, 2023craving, desire, avoidance, grasping, enjoyment, s1

The World Between Breaths: Mu and Buddha Nature

The practice of contemplating the koan Mu as the vehicle for the realization of our buddha nature

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardSeptember 23, 2023Mu, master switch, buddha nature, koans, Gateless Gate, free diving, s1

Life Is And

Despite our insistence in finding fault everywhere, life is not but. Intrinsically, life is and

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardSeptember 7, 2023s1, life is and, ampersand, Lost and Found, Schulz, Philip Roth

Emptiness Brimming with Love

Emptiness isn’t a void; it’s a container brimming over with possibilities

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardAugust 20, 2023s1, emptiness, Heart Sutra, Chogyam Trungpa, love, wisdom

The Four Bodhisattva Vows: An Impossible Dream

The four bodhisattva vows are impossible—and it’s in this impossibility that their power lies

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardAugust 5, 2023s1, four vows, bodhisattva, impossible dream, vow, Thich Nhat Hanh

How To Choose What Helps, Not What Harms

Stop, soothe, shift: three steps that help us do what helps, not what harms

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardAugust 4, 2023s1, stop, soothe, shift, Dhammapada, Thich Nhat Hanh, avoid harm, practice good, master the mind, Sallekha Sutta

Noble Friends

The Buddha said that having noble friends is the prerequisite for awakening

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardFebruary 28, 2023s1, friendship, noble friends, kalyanamitta, admirable friendship

Syzygy: Indra's Diamond Net

Syzygy is the alignment of celestial bodies. In Buddhism, it’s Indra’s Diamond Net

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardJanuary 25, 2023s1, syzygy, Net of Indra, alignment, yoke, Flower Ornament Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, butterfly effect, refuge

Baucis and Philemon: The Oak and the Linden

Perhaps to be silent is to know that true intimacy can only be reached in silence

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardDecember 31, 2022s1, Octavio Paz, Coda, Zeus, indivisible, silence

One-Eyed Turtle and the Floating Log

It’s incredibly rare to have been born human, to have encountered the dharma, and to be able to practice it

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardAugust 22, 2022s1, one-eyed turtle, oryoki, ocean, just the right amount, DutiyachiggaḷayugasuttaComment

This Is Not Mine, This Is Not Myself

What did the Buddha mean when he taught: “This is not me, this is not mine, this is not myself”?

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardJuly 17, 2022s1, Akkosa Sutta, Buddha, Cunda, this is not me, precepts, jukai

Authentic Self in Buddhist Practice

We all want to know that we are fundamentally okay, independently of others opinions and judgments

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardJune 1, 2022s1, four immeasurables, loving-kindness, Hakuin, Galway Kinnell, Saint Francis and the Sow, self-blessing, loveliness

When Women Practice Anger

A bodhisattva needs to be both tender and fierce in order to use anger as a pure form of care

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardMarch 20, 2022s1, fierceness, tenderness, Masai, Wintering, Katherine May, anger

Interdependence, Entanglement and Possibility

Interdependence is not unlike the entanglement of particles that “know” one another’s actions

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardMarch 15, 2022s1, entaglement, possibility, bodhisattva, karma, quantum mechanics, Schrodinger's cat, spooky action, interdependence, dependent origination

On Fatigue and Illness in Buddhist Practice

Ilness can teach us to accept and even embrace what is

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardMarch 4, 2022s1, illness, Virginia Woolf, turtle, Sisyphus, Salattha Sutta, dart, Faith Mind Poem, fatigue, gentling

Buddhist Practice: Just Love Them

What if emptiness isn’t really empty but filled with love?

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardSeptember 21, 2021Zen, zazen, meditation, loving-kindness, Karaniya Metta Sutta, s1

Taking Refuge in Zazen

We sit zazen, not to change the world, but so that the world, with is confusion and conflict, won’t change us

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardJuly 21, 2021s1, A.J. Muste, Vietnam War, refuge, zazen, candle

What Is a Sacred Space and How do I Create One?

Sacred space is the place where, leaving safety behind, we create the unimagined.

Article by Zuisei GoddardZuisei GoddardJuly 21, 2020s1, sacred space, Margaret Gibson, Mircea Eliade, Abraham Joshua Heschel, sabbath, infinite circle, hierophany, Sri Pada, liturgy