Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 05/21/2023
How should we regard and love one another? In the Vimalakirti Sutra, Vimalakirti begins by describing to Manjushri about the insubstantiality of beings. What kind of teaching is this? If people are like balls of foam, bubbles of water, and if, as the Buddha and Vimalikirti say, the nature of the self, of all beings are “empty of own-being,” why and how should we love one another? We can jump to a very nihilistic conclusion if we don’t inquire about this. Most of us, like Manjushri, know intuitively that compassion is the essence of life, that not caring cannot be the right understanding. In this talk, Hojin Sensei explores the non dual life of the Bodhisattva and the many forms this can take.
