2026-01-11 | Dharma Activity | Reflecting on Robert Aitken's gathas | Joel Barna

Selected Gathas from Zen Vows for Daily Life, by Robert Aitken Roshi Watching the sky before dawn I vow with all beings to open those flawless eyes that welcomed the Morning Star. __________ Waking up in the morning I vow with all beings to listen to those whom I love, especially to things they don’t say. __________ Preparing to enter the shower I vow with all beings to wash off the last residue of thoughts about being pure. __________ Preparing to enter the shower I vow with all beings to cleanse this body of Buddha and go naked into the world. __________ Turning to use the toilet I vow with all beings to honor my body’s knowledge of what to retain and discard. __________ Lighting a candle for Buddha, I vow with all beings to honor your clear affirmation: “Forget yourself and you’re free.” __________ With the sound of the temple bell I vow with all beings to offer my skull as a bell in the echoing chiliocosms. * __________ When thoughts form an endless procession, I vow with all beings to notice the spaces between them and give the thrushes a chance. __________ Taking my seat in the Zendo I vow with all beings to acknowledge that here is the sacred: this bottom, this body, this breath. __________ When people show anger and malice I vow with all beings to listen for truth in the message, ignoring the way it is said. __________ When I’m worried about my attachments I vow with all beings to remember interdependence: if I weren’t attached I’d be dead. __________ In dealing with questions of sex I vow with all beings to recall the perennial precepts: “Don’t harm, don’t steal, don’t exploit.” __________ Kicking a chair in the dark I vow with all beings to let the pain and surprise slow me down to this step, this step. __________ When everything loses its meaning I vow with all beings to honor this intimate teaching that clears my dependence away. __________ When a car goes by late at night I vow with all beings to remember the lonely bakers who secretly nurture us all. __________ Whenever I’m tempted to judge I vow with all beings to remember we both have two nostrils and the same implacable fate. __________ Watching the stars after midnight I vow with all beings to remember the point of existence has no dimension at all. __________ When roosters crow before dawn I vow with all beings to acknowledge each voice in the chorus, there you are, there you are, friend. * In Buddhist cosmology, a chiliocosm is a “thousandfold world system,” a unit in a hierarchical structure of multiple universes.