Mind and Environment
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt. Tremper, New York, Sunday 05/24/2026
From the Book of Serenity, Case 32 – Yangshan’s “Mind and Environment”
Shugen Roshi asks: “When you’re thinking of the thinking mind, what do you find there? And where will you go from there?” At the heart of bodhicitta — the wish to bring suffering to an end — are the questions: What are we contributing? What kind of environment are we creating through our thoughts, words, and actions? Cultivating bodhicitta is how we make our freedom real and, ultimately, what we are able to offer to others.
