Merciful Punishment

By sitting in silence, I increase my chances of finally hearing the grace behind the mind that is silent. However, this is not a guarantee of an encounter.The cities that God destroys here and ther…

On the side of joy

This vague sadness that I observe tonight while watching this documentary on Zen…Heaviness, dullnessI don’t know what it is.This is foreign to me, now. I knew it, saw it, heard it,I lis…

Forehead On The Floor

I have underestimated the importance of prostration for so long. I see today from the inside and unexpectedly, in the eyes of others as in my own, — but life is alive, it cannot be otherwise-…

Ropes and Rituals

When you make all the practice-maintaining ropes (i.e., ritual) disappear,The practice disappears: it loses its forms and tends to become shapeless, until there is nothing left.Rituals (however sim…

Remembering God

The practice of remembering God, which is found in Sufism (Dhikr) but also in other forms in the Orthodox Christian tradition (Kyrie Eleison / « Russian Pilgrim » …) is …

The Living Rituals

In Zen, rituals are everywhereAs soon as attention falls onthe object I am holding,the step of my walk,the words of my speech,the living rituals unfold.©FJ OCT 2024Recueils / Participation/ Groupe

What I (don’t) talk about

In the end, this has nothing to do with meand I cannot explain why or how silent sittingcracks open the heart of being,pierces the shell of the world,plants consciousness at the center of existence…

Outstretched Hand

If, of all  outstretched hands, I grasped that of the sitting practice, it is because it brings me, by its great silence, the space to breathe, the space I need. Everywhere else, this silence …

Unique Piece

Surprisingly, to make a Western mind understand what is meant by Dharma, in the sense of ‘cosmic order’, ‘infinite reality’, it is relevant to go through what is called the greatness of God. ‘God i…

Giving Up

Could we see the one who, after tens of millions of hours of silent sitting, after kilometers of prayer, is still there, trying to find solutions through the mind?The one who is still exhausted, co…

Placing Your Consciousness

Placing your consciousness as you would your voice to express yourself.Placing your consciousness deeply enough to live the practices from the core of truth.Whether they are periods of silence, med…

Honouring Practice

I observe in my practice that an important aspect of meditation and prayer to which too little attention is paid is the way in which we put an end to this formal practice of prayer and meditation. …

Silence Takes You Beyond

Although locked, the posture of zazen is a key.It opens the door of your consciousness to the realities that go beyond you.Although motionless, the cushion offers you the journey beyond the partiti…

Attachment to the Framework

A very large part of what we call ‘religion’ actually relates to the mental universe.A very large part of what we call ‘conversion’ actually relates to the substitution of o…

Book of the Body

The Holy Book, in silent sitting practice, is the Book of the Body.Doing zazen :reading the book of the body,The posture is the edition, the binding, the font, the layout,Consciousness runs through…

Bodily Thoughts

When sitting, it is not enough to go through thoughts.In the same way that these are an emanation of the mind,It is necessary to go through « bodily thoughts ». By this term I…

Letting Pray

Dogen and the Zen tradition invite us to let ourselves be taught by the river, the mountain. The simple fact that the term Dharma means teaching and reality of the universe is in itself a clear inv…

Ideas Idols

Ideas are idols.They are idols made of thoughts. To worship idols is to identify with thoughts,It was believed that they have the power to carry us beyond sufferingTo leave this infernal kingdom of…