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: Is it ok to have satori as a goal?

2025/4/7

The short answer is yes...but not without a caveat. Here is Matsumoto-san's answer, as written in our April newsletter. Someone attending my online zazenkai asked me if it is ok or not to have satori (enlightenment) as a goal. The short answer is, yes, it is fine to have satori as a goal. While sitting in zazen, however, one should not contemplate that goal or imagine what it is and then use some method or means to get closer to it—this is actually unnecessary. I will explain why having a goal is acceptable, though using methods or means to achieve ...

: Zen isn't something you learn

2024/11/20

By Kenichi Matsumoto, translated by Madoka. Knowing what is real doesn’t come from learning. Zen Master Dogen says that zazen is not shuuzen—a practice of understanding a method and then executing it. He says it is not a method that you become able to do after learning it and then mastering it through repeated practice Then what is it? What is it that is not learned? Let’s confirm right now—what is it that is actually real, but not learned. Please put the palm of your hand on your cheek (actually do this as you read). How is it now? With ...

: What’s really happening

2022/3/15

Someone says to you, “you’re so unattractive.” The fact is, after hearing the words, “you’re so unattractive,” the words no longer exist. This means they are not a problem. Cognitive functions make it feel like they are a problem. If cognition creates the understanding that, “they said I was unattractive,” it feels as if a condition of having been told that one is unattractive actually exists. But no matter where one looks, no such fact exists. To try to do something about it is trying to handle something that does not exist. It’s the same with words one might say ...

: Form is Emptiness, and Emptiness is Form

2022/3/1

If you try to understand this part of the Heart Sutra, “form is emptiness, and emptiness is form,” you might feel like you kind of get it, but kind of don’t. Or you may find it difficult to understand at all. This happens when one doesn’t yet know the reality of the way things are in actual fact. Let’s take a look at the actual fact of the way things are. Please try this. Turn your face to the right, and then slowly turn to the left, and confirm how things are. Turn right, and the fact of the way ...

: Emptiness

2022/2/18

The True Meaning of "Emptiness” The word “emptiness” appears in the Heart Sutra, but it does not mean that there is something empty, or a state of emptiness. If that is what it meant, there would be something that exists that is empty, and that would not be true emptiness. What is the true meaning of “emptiness”? When eyes are closed, it is just the way it is with eyes closed, and when eyes are opened, it is just the way it is with eyes open. It is free activity, becoming anything and everything, never stopping. A cat meows. And ...

: What is Zen?

2022/2/7

Zen is not an ideology, philosophy, Eastern culture, conceptual paradigm, or belief. “Zen” is the name given to the way things certainly are now, without self, without center, without intent. What is meant by “the way things certainly are now”? When there is “meow,” then “meow” is the way things certainly are. This is the way it is. No belief is required for “meow.” Conviction and understanding are also unnecessary. Meow So zazen (sitting Zen) is simply sitting, the way things certainly are now. When there is “meow,” there is “meow.” This is Zen. So zazen is not about using ...

: Knowing actual fact is a key to liberation

2022/1/7

Have you ever tried to confirm what actual fact is? It can be done like this: Look to the right. Look to the left. When looking left, there is no right. All there is, is the way it is on the left now, and that is the actual fact. The way it was a moment ago is now gone. In this way, there is no fixed entity that exists. There being no fixed entity means you are already liberated. It may not feel like you are already liberated. The reason for this is because cognition leads people to believe in ...

: The illusion of self and other

2021/12/1

Have you ever questioned reality or who you really are? Did you know that the function of cognition causes this confusion? Cognition is the function that enables us to think that something exists. For example, we might think, “there is a computer.” When thinking “there is a computer,” the computer that is thought to exist becomes an “object,” and it also seems like there is a thinking “I” that exists as a “subject.” This creates the sense of separation between self and other. But “I” is a thought. There is no “I” that exists as an actual entity. With cognition, ...

: The End of Matsumoto-san's Search for Truth

2021/1/7

Matsumoto-san used to feel anxious about the future. The anxiety was not severe, but he felt it every day. One day he thought, “I really don’t like anxiety. I can’t feel completely secure.” So he decided he wanted to get rid of anxiety completely. He tried various therapies and went to workshops. Some were useful and interesting, but he could not eliminate anxiety completely. Then, he realized that fear of death was behind his anxiety. He thought he could resolve his anxiety if he knew the true nature of death, so he started searching for truth. He tried reading about ...