Unlike early Buddhism, Zen espoused the view that householders as well as monastics could achieve enlightenment in this lifetime. Good thing. I came to Zen with a family and a career. What I found was ambivalence. The monastic ideal of devoting oneself fully to the Dharma was everywhere. Was lay practice really possible? I was fortunate. Although my teacher, Roshi Bernie Glassman, had given up his career in aerospace, he never encouraged me to give up my career in mental he

I have been working with my impatience forever. Slowly, I’m learning to be patient with myself. Sometimes, it seems that it’s taking me even longer to learn patience with others. There’s an old koan, “Hyakujo and the Fox,” that talks to this challenge, although it’s taken me years to begin to appreciate it. Here’s my brief retelling. Hyakujo is the abbot at a mountain temple when he notices a stranger attending his talks. The stranger approaches Hyakujo and reveals that he

I hear the Buddha saying that everyone is perfect, we’re all enlightened just as we are. How can he say that? I look around and see people who are causing immense suffering. Did I hear the Dalai Lama say they’re doing the best they can, that everyone is doing the best they can? My first thought is that they could’ve/should’ve done better. Is it really possible they’re doing the best they can, given who they are? At that moment? That doesn’t mean they might not do better in