Posted inHeart Sutra, MC Podcasts, Meditations

Teisho: Tokusan and Consciousness

June 8, 2017

We are born into this life, and we can decide that we know certain things about it. We can become convinced that we know enough… and therefore stop noticing that we have absolutely no idea what this is.

Consciousness is Zen’s realm.
    ~ Henry Shukman

consciousness zen

Description: What is this experience called life? What is consciousness?  Henry talks about how these questions form a major scientific quandary. We don’t know what consciousness is or where it is located. We have ample neural activity within our brains that can be monitored and tracked, but consciousness is a subjective experience. It is more than electrical impulses in the brain. Consciousness is Zen’s realm.

Henry turns to the background of ninth century Chinese Master Tokusan, (819-914), major figure in the history of Zen. His iconic life and remarkable students set him apart. Tokusan had numerous successors that carried on his teaching lines that we continue to manifest today. Tokusan started as a Diamond Sutra scholar who was concerned about the southern Zen school in China.  He set out to challenge this Zen group, which was discounting sutra study and ritual in favor of direct experience. This new Zen promoted looking into your own heart/mind in order to discover who/what you actually are, what your consciousness actually is.

Let this teisho help you unpeel a few layers of static knowing and get a bit closer to experiencing yourself as you really are.

Post & Featured Image (edited): Buddha by Nick_H, CCO Public Domain.

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