“How open am I? Who and what do I not welcome in?” – Koshin

Providing safe harbor and true welcome to all others is deeply courageous. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the bodhisattva vow to exclude nothing and no one from our care and compassion. “How many of us are that open?”

In this dharma talk, Koshin Sensei reflects on a recent visit to Liberty Island. He is moved to imagine what his own sojourning ancestors must have felt seeing this ‘mother of exiles,’ as Emma Lazarus refers to Lady Liberty, for the first time. The statue, an enormous beacon to our highest ideals as a nation, strikes an active pose. Her heel is raised, about to take another step forward, communicating the provocative truth that real welcome is an active, ongoing process. How often do we get complacent and sit back to passively stand by while the challenging surges of life assail us? Can we be moved to practice courageous welcome as an active, open, and curious response to all others? This is the bodhisattva vow. For Koshin, it brings to mind Dogen’s central question: If the “…way is basically perfect and all-pervading…”then  “[w]hat is the use of going off here and there to practice?” When we decide that only some things and some beings matter, we divide what is originally and perfectly whole and “the mind is lost in confusion.” May we practice being open together and learn to include more and more of ourselves and others. “Constantly perform in such a manner,” Dogen teaches, “and you are assured of being a person.”       

ZENTALK NOTES

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.

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