September 2026
As we have been watching on our news feeds, and now hearing from Sangha members of this community, about the grief sweeping through the Nepalese, Tibetan and Chinese communities following the recent flooding event, we feel a deep sorrow for those whose lives have been affected and we want to do something to appease the grief that we feel so deeply. With our best intentions, we contribute with material support such as donations and/or with spiritual support such as our various faith practices and prayers. Whilst all support is essential for communities and peoples to rebuild,
one needs to carefully consider what are we trying to appease? Who is the appeaser?
As we observe those who are grieving, consider what is being observed and who is the observer. Are we reacting from our personal past experiences of loss, adding our confusion to every world-wide catastrophic event? Can suffering be appeased by viewing grief dualistically as we project our personal feelings and concepts on to others? Are we angrily blaming this government or that government for policy decisions? While there may be some truth to a lapse of governmental oversight, it is not the whole truth. The whole truth needs to be experienced directly from our deep and clear mind.
So many beings suffer and die as a direct result of human greed, anger and ignorance. Whether we are willing to find a way through this tension within ourselves is up to each of us. There is, of course, the inevitability of physical death. But to focus solely on that fact is not where we need to put our energy now. Every time we see or hear of a devasting event, a little bit of us dies as we feel our own pain, our own grief. But we cannot just stay in our personal pain. We have to let it go. All of it has to go – all of our attachments that we believe to be real and as we view them through our personal lens – it all has to go. The lens and that which we believe to be the viewer needs to be let go of too! In that way, we bring our awareness to what that is that creates suffering and who that is who desires to alleviate it. As our Zazen ripens, we die a spiritual death and then are reborn anew.
In that way, the roots of consciousness are severed as are the projections of our suffering onto others.
When the source of our experience is clear then the resultant actions, thoughts, and feelings are clear.
We purify our mirror-like true mind with our tanden energy, not a muddy rag full of preconceived ideas!
To use our tanden energy to continuously clarify the source point is to instantly experience freedom from suffering.
Only then can we truly help others. This is the way of Zazen.
Zen Master Senshin (Soen Sa Nim)
Public Talk at Khacho Yulo Ling Buddhist Centre (excerpt)
4 September 2026
one needs to carefully consider what are we trying to appease? Who is the appeaser?
As we observe those who are grieving, consider what is being observed and who is the observer. Are we reacting from our personal past experiences of loss, adding our confusion to every world-wide catastrophic event? Can suffering be appeased by viewing grief dualistically as we project our personal feelings and concepts on to others? Are we angrily blaming this government or that government for policy decisions? While there may be some truth to a lapse of governmental oversight, it is not the whole truth. The whole truth needs to be experienced directly from our deep and clear mind.
So many beings suffer and die as a direct result of human greed, anger and ignorance. Whether we are willing to find a way through this tension within ourselves is up to each of us. There is, of course, the inevitability of physical death. But to focus solely on that fact is not where we need to put our energy now. Every time we see or hear of a devasting event, a little bit of us dies as we feel our own pain, our own grief. But we cannot just stay in our personal pain. We have to let it go. All of it has to go – all of our attachments that we believe to be real and as we view them through our personal lens – it all has to go. The lens and that which we believe to be the viewer needs to be let go of too! In that way, we bring our awareness to what that is that creates suffering and who that is who desires to alleviate it. As our Zazen ripens, we die a spiritual death and then are reborn anew.
In that way, the roots of consciousness are severed as are the projections of our suffering onto others.
When the source of our experience is clear then the resultant actions, thoughts, and feelings are clear.
We purify our mirror-like true mind with our tanden energy, not a muddy rag full of preconceived ideas!
To use our tanden energy to continuously clarify the source point is to instantly experience freedom from suffering.
Only then can we truly help others. This is the way of Zazen.
Zen Master Senshin (Soen Sa Nim)
Public Talk at Khacho Yulo Ling Buddhist Centre (excerpt)
4 September 2026
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