The Way Less Travelled

 

The Way of Zen is a Way Less Travelled

This morning Shukke and I sat together sipping espresso coffee, exchanging stories about our night, enjoying our two Shih Tzus, exploring the words of today, and laughing.  She is now in Retreat, and I am writing to you. Before we each retired, such mornings were uncommon.  We would dress for work, eat a hurried breakfast and leave home, not unlike the rest of the world of people our age.  Yet there was something different about us.

                We were both on so-called “spiritual” paths. We took time to meditate. We took time to reflect, look deeply inwardly, and take risks. The risk of doing something different than most, the risk of leaving a secure job, moving to a different state, and building new lives. Such risk taking is not uncommon in the world of Zen.  We are an independent lot.

                When someone joins us for a Zen service, I tell them they are free to recite the vows, chant the sutra, or not. I simply ask them to sit quietly in the posture taught by Master Dogen Zenji. Zazen is our practice. After tea and dharma talk each is offered an opportunity to ask questions, challenge the teaching, offer an alternative, etc. For religious practice this is uncommon, but I believe it is healthy for the establishment of something that will deepen a participant as they continue along their way.

                There are risks in such practice. There is no way to predict what will come up in the heart and mind of someone beginning to take on Zen. A long-ago trauma may arise, feelings of being harmed, being vulnerability.  On the other hand, a beginner may become completely bored, find the teachings irrelevant in their lives and after a few weeks, leave the practice. Some few may actually take on the practice in earnest, engage the teacher and others, and more importantly, take the risk of a deep dive into themselves.  This will be their way less travelled. They may find themselves alone as others (including their family) may be unable to relate. There certainly are risks here. My teacher told me early on in my practice with him I would likely divorce as my wife at the time was against me taking up Zen. As it happens, I divorced.

The way less travelled always comes at a cost. Yet the benefits are truly a treasure. Learning to be upright, knowing we will often fail, violate a precept, but get back up again the stronger for it. These are the lessons of being human, the lessons learned along the way.  I invite all to sit Zazen in the morning and evening. I invite all to take the path less traveled and, in the process, become a far more authentic human being.

Be well.

 

Teachings

 

February 1, 2026

With Palms Together,

There are times I wish I weren’t a Zen priest. Today is such a time. I’ve been involved with Zen for around six decades. In that time, I have not known a period within which there has been no fighting within the ranks of teachers. This is a very, very sad situation indeed.

                I can understand such within the ranks of students who have not received priesthood ordination; they are still within training. But fully ordained priests? What is up with that? Is it simply not possible to let our rumors, inuendo, and lineage judgements fall away?  Apparently not. I confess a couple decades ago, I myself got into it with the American Zen Teachers Association over their treatment of my Dharma grandfather Matsuoka Roshi. Petty, petty squabbles are irrelevant to the practice of Zen. I let that all fall away and focused my attention on my practice and that of my students.  I believe this is where our attention should focus and not on whether we believe some teacher is a quack, from a discredited lineage, or other such things.

                At nearly eighty years old, I am certain Zen will survive and hopefully flourish. That is my hope anyway. If there is a test, let that test be in our practice and frankly, in my opinion, that is enough.

Daiho

 

February 3, 2026

With Palms Together,

Today is Tuesday. This morning, we practiced Zazen at 6:00 AM, and now we are having installed a battery system that runs off our solar panels. We will effectively be off the grid here in Las Cruces, NM.  I teach an Advanced Zen Buddhism class this evening.  Such is my day. 

                My life as a Zen priest has been both rich and rewarding, as well as seriously challenging. Just because one is a priest does not mean one is not still a human being and as such, fraught with all the strengths and weakness associated with it. The thing about both the strengths and weaknesses is they are both teachers: both require humility gained from deep introspection.

                When we approach our everyday lives, such as in my case just now, writing to you, I must be aware of myself, my message, you as reader, and so on. I must choose words you will know and ideas you might relate to. I might use words you don’t know, concepts perhaps alien to you, but with the desire to teach, perhaps awaken, and at bottom, communicate.

                Of course, it is also on you to choose to read after the first few sentences, on you to relate, agree, disagree, challenge, and so on. I trust my skill, but also come to you with humility. Writing and reading are wondrous, ancient means of coming together as people and societies.

                May your day be filled with wonder,

Daiho

               

February 4, 2026

With palms together,

                The morning air was brisk today as I sat outside just before dawn. Sitting outside, as the Buddha did, is a remarkable experience. Silence is thunder, the thunder of direct experience of the world around me.  There is the occasional sound of a car or truck in the distance, but nearby, sleeping households with just myself and the moon and stars. Not even the birds are awake.  Just me, myself and I coalescing together then at some point, falling away.

                This falling away in hindsight seems magical because it is not conscious. There is no attempt to make it happen. Attention on my breath, yes, a release of my muscles of sorts yes, a feeling of joining, perhaps. Something like that.  In any event, the universe is there inseparable, complete, just as it is.

                I suggest sitting outside in the open, practicing Zazen, and welcoming the dawn as it arises in the East.

Be well,

Daiho

                February 15, 2026

                With palms together,

                When the world around us seems to be falling apart and threatening, rather than hiding we must stand upright in the face of it. Standing upright takes courage, it takes character, moral character. Which is to say, the character of our precepts, especially that found in the Four Bodhisattva Vows which we recite each day:

Beings are numberless, I vow to free them

Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them

Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them

The buddha way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.

There are no greater vows than these. They offer us a selfless way to address our world. When we take it upon ourselves to free others, to end our delusions, to enter the Dharma, and to realize our buddha nature, we are upright warriors facing the darkness that surrounds us. Why? Because we are the light in that darkness. Be that light.

Daiho

Who Owns Our Bodies?

 Dear Readers,

For the record, I oppose abortion as a general rule since I support life. I also support the sanctity of privacy, freedom of choice, and a society where government has no business in our bedroom. I this regard, then, I support freedom of choice when it involves itself in our lives.  We do not criminally charge those who attempt suicide, nor do we issue Social Security and Medicaid cards to those not yet born.  So, I wonder of what use is a birth certificate?  Why not issue an embryo certificate instead?

Just a thought.

Daiho

Transparency

There are a few things a Zen priest or teacher ought not do besides the obvious, violating his/her vows, and one of them is hiding behavior.  It's akin to acts of omission, which is to say, lying by not telling the truth when not asked.  I have always believed in transparency. As a priest and Zen teacher believe I have an obligation to be as "up-front" with the public, and in particular, my students and readers, as possible and appropriate.  

As I write this, I worry how it will be read and what the consequences may be for sharing such intimate details about my life choices over the last year. But it will be what it will be.  As Vonnegut used to say, "So it goes."

For the last couple of decades, I have taken a drug called "Mirapex."  It is used to quell leg spasms and restless leg syndrome (RLS). Unfortunately for me, the drug has some rather toxic, if not malicious, side effects I was not made aware of which have deeply disturbed me, my wife and students, and now you, dear readers. There are several challenging side effects, but most relevant are two: a lowering of impulse control and an increase of addictive behaviors; frankly, a match made in hell. 

By writing about this drug, I am in no way excusing my behavior, but offering an explanation for it, as well as a warning to anyone reading this to stay away from Mirapex. It is a dangerous drug, and studies have shown it has caused many people to lose their homes, end their marriages, and otherwise rain down hell upon users.

I apologize for any and all I have harmed.

With deepest bows,

Daiho

Recluse

Readers,

Recently I've taken to being far more reclusive than ever before. I'm no longer on Facebook or other social media, do not keep my device glued to my hip, and am generally not particularly responsive to inquiries. I have found this new position to be quite liberating, although somewhat frustrating as a writer. Writers need readers, you know?

Anyway, the Zen of it is this: practice is key, not an audience. One teaches through one's life, not one's written word. 

So, when the bell is invited to ring, sit. Or practice kinhin. Or practice oryoki. Or practice samu. 

There is nothing more.

Be well.

Creation

Creation

 On the evening

Of the first day

I created myself.

"Self," I said, "Go

Forthwith

Take control

Of yourself

Name yourself

And all living

Things:

Be Kind\

Be Gentle

And Love

Your world."

All these things

I said to myself

And then went

On my way.

Daiho

2/13/2022

This Evening

This Evening 

On this evening

When the clock  

Strikes twelve

I will have lived

Three quarters of a century:

I haven't learned much.

daiho

2/12/22