
Zen Mind
Studying the Mind Through the Senses (Part 3)
One week after the Open Sky weekend, this talk was given at the Boulder Zen Center and turns that earlier study of the senses toward a question asked after morning meditation: How do we live well? Two answers our culture commonly offers are laid out and found wanting. "Following the rules" leaves you permanently behind an internal "should" you can never satisfy, and "following your own desires" rests on an inner authority that turns out to be hard to locate. Against both, the talk sets what Zen calls "responding to the situation," and tests it on something ordinary: driving. Nobody on the highway drives the speed limit, and moving with the flow of traffic is neither following the rules nor following your desires. It is a case of letting the situation rather than the self set the terms. Continuing the study of mind begun in the first two parts of this series, the talk then asks why this is so hard to do. The mind takes behavior and, through repetition, hardens it into identity, so that following the rules makes you a law-abiding citizen and breaking them makes you a rebel, and neither is free. But identity is less fixed than we typically think. It is like a landscape shaped by the water running through it. How can we transform it? The talk highlights the importance of patience and steadiness. Rather than will, it is the continuous exposure to teaching and community that does the gradual work of reshaping the ground we act from. Welcome to Zen Mind! Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Consider becoming a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/ The self-paced course, Uji – Being-Time , taught by Zenki Dillo Roshi, is available for purchase! Through a line-by-line commentary on Dogen's Uji (Being-Time) —one of the most profound texts in the Zen tradition—Zenki Roshi brings these teachings into everyday life with clear guidance and practical suggestions for practice. The course includes an introductory talk, nine modules of commentary, practice suggestions, a concluding talk on daily-life practice, text translations, video and audio recordings, written study materials, lifetime access, and a free practice meeting with Zenki Roshi. Learn more and enroll here: https://www.boulderzen.org/being-time-self-paced-course If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review! See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org . Email us at office@boulderzen.org. Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

