Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic

Zen Center of New York City, 2/17/2019

Entering via the Buddha’s consistent offering of the noble eightfold path as route to liberation, this talk deepens understandings of helpful view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration by encouraging us to always keep looking and listening, as the universe itself is always teaching truth at any given moment. We have to listen to find practice for ourselves by training in these skillful aspects of morality, concentration and insight. Direct experience is always true, but requires repeatedly verifying such for ourselves, as we don’t know how deep it really goes. How can liberation permeate our lives, settling agitation, and thus seeing clearly?