A talk first delivered at the Empty Moon Zen Saturday sit, September 20, 2025
The Case
A student of the way asked Yunmen, “What is the teaching that Shakyamuni taught throughout his life?” Yunmen replied, “One teaching in response.”
Blue Cliff Record, Case 14
Let’s start with a clarification.
Zen is not about mindfulness as a strategy to feel a little better in this messy world. A good thing that. I’m certainly not criticizing finding ways to cope. And, yes, Zen’s disciplines can be and are adapted for those purposes. But that’s a faint facsimile of what Zen is.