Being ready for enlightenment with Reb & Co (2)

Reb emphasises that one cannot be still by oneself, only together with all sentient beings. We cannot be ourselves by ourselves. All other beings are helping us, only we tend to forget about it. One cannot do anything by oneself. So Reb defines enlightenment as helping others and helping others as enlightenment. (Oneself is included

Being ready for enlightenment with Reb & Co (1)

This is another year Reb Anderson invited us to have a jam session with him at a Zen sesshin on the tiny island of Idöborg in Stockholm archipelago. I suspect Reb developed a strong bond with the island and the cold waters of the Baltic sea as he keeps returning to this place just as

Zen retreat (5): The hardest of them all

During the retreat we had an opportunity to have a personal interview (or even two) with the teacher – formal or informal style – to discuss the practice. The interviews lasted all from 5 minutes to over an hour. The formal interview included bowing to the teacher in gassho and three prostrations (gotai-tochi) upon entering

Zen Retreat (2): Pain, here I Are

“…In an appropriate place for sitting, set out a thick mat and put a round cushion on top of it. Sit either in the full or half-lotus posture. Loosen the robes and arrange them in an orderly way. Then place the right hand palm up on the left foot, and the left hand on the