Uchiyama Roshi begins with a powerful line that stops us right at the very beginning of this reading. To live the reality of true fluidity existing between ourselves and the world is a profound experience in anyone’s life and practice.

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This collection of letters written to teachers, students, and lay people reveals a side of Yuanwu that is personable and easily understood. He is better known as the author of the famous Blue Cliff Record, which offers challenges to students at all levels of practice.

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We live in very different times from those in Japan in the 1300s, but the search for a true teacher or master beckons to students in every century. Bassui’s quest began the way it does in any person strong enough to question for themselves.

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Perhaps we should begin at the beginning, where Buddhadhasa starts with the fundamental principles in the first chapter of this teaching, because in the above piece, he alludes to the handful of teachings that are all we need, but what are they?

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There is something for everyone in this profound teaching. We don’t know who the questioner is, but really it is us. Who hasn’t asked these questions in their own time? And how many have had the Fourth Patriarch to hang out with and ask questions to?

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Nothing much to grab onto here, not even instructions to meditate! However, we realize that a Zen master is teaching meditation; how else does one learn to turn the light around and look inside?

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Each journal presents a way into a larger perspective, and each piece speaks to us uniquely. There are teachers we easily connect with, and others that demand more of a stretch to understand their style.

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It is rare to hear in Zen anyone state exactly what meditation is; there are a lot of questions asked, and a little technique discussed, but originally, students just sat and found out for themselves.

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