“If the practice is going well, no one is becoming like anyone else.”

In this dharma talk, Koshin Sensei invites us to experience what happens when we wholeheartedly practice. What changes within ourselves? What blooms between one another?

Genyu Kojima Roshi asks his sangha to consider what ‘bad’ religion is. It can happen when everyone is told they must become the same thing. There is another way, a community where everyone commits to being who they actually already are. There is liberation in becoming who we are and no one else. Koshin invites into this possibility by beautifully interconnecting his teacher’s words, teachings by Kodo Sawaki and writings from Dogen Zenji with intimate stories from those near the end of their life. “Before a step is taken you have already arrived. Before a word is spoken the truth has been expressed fully.” (300 Koan Shobogenzo, Case #201, capping verses) 

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

• Untangled: https://bit.ly/untangled-book
  
• Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t
  
• Awake At The Bedside: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL
  

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The post The Liberation in Becoming Who We Are | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.