Tozan's Three Pounds of Flax - Mumonkan case 18

Can the deepest personal, societal and ecological challenges we face lead our way to the "great bliss"?  If the most vulnerable species and innocent children are being killed every hour, is it okay for us to sit in this great bliss?  In this teisho (Zen talk), Dr. Kritee explores the deep challenge of staying sane in the difficult times using personal anecdotes and stories and myths from ancient China and India. The times we live in are heartbreaking and bewildering, and there is genuine and deep pain that we need to grieve in presence of a living community. We must do trauma healing work to allow us to keep doing actions for societal and ecological healing. But at the same time, Buddhist and other indigenous wisdom traditions hold knowledge that even in the midst of deepest pain and harshest mundane/boring repetitive work, there can be a freshness, aliveness and even a "great bliss".  Sensei Kanko gave this talk during the July 2024 half-day sit (Zazenkai). Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com