The Windhorse Community Library is an ever growing collection of articles and other media, created by our teachers and members of the Windhorse community, containing in-depth material on topics relevent to Zen, and Zen practice. Currently we have an extensive audio collection of Dharma Talks given by Sunya Sensei, and a list of essays can be found to the right. Our latest collection of essays is on the topic of Psychodynamic Zen.
Essays
When we cling to the familiar, to this notion of self that we have welded out of thoughts and memories since time immemorial, then we’re identifying with the wrong master. Zen Master Bassui’s essential question was, "Who is the Master?" Who is the one who hears, feels, sees, and talks? Our task in sesshin and in our lives is to put this true master, this "True self that is no-self," back on the throne. Otherwise all kinds of tricksters and demons break in and take its place. Read more >>>
When we first take up a sitting practice and look into our minds, we may be shocked to discover what’s going on in there. As the inner noise quiets down a bit, we start to see how scattered and unruly the thoughts are—how they race and tumble and repeat themselves, compulsively judging, labeling, dissecting. We begin to feel the cocoon we’ve woven for ourselves out of all this mental turmoil and deadening abstraction, how it isolates us from others and from the rich texture of our lives. What often becomes painfully clear is that as long as this compulsive inner dialogue persists, any true sense of peace, intimacy, and presence is impossible. Read more >>>
Glossary of Dharma Terms
Short explanations of basic terms you can come across in Zen writings.
Short explanations of basic terms you can come across in Zen writings.
Psychodynamic: The interplay of conscious and unconscious mental or emotional processes, especially as they influence personality, behavior, and attitudes. Read more >>>
"If you bring forth that which is within you, it will save you.
If you do not bring forth that which is within you, it will destroy you.” The Gnostic Gospels
A Zen Master once said, “Dharma practice is like the ocean; the farther out you go, the deeper it becomes.” Read more >>>
The first part of this article presented an overview of some of the complexities that can arise as the unconscious is mobilized through Dharma practice. In hopes of offering a broader, and more personal, perspective on this subject, I’ve asked several Zen practitioners who have been through Davanloo’s ISTDP to write about some of their own insights and experiences. Read more >>>
