Bernd Bender, Dharma talk on November 3rd at Kaisanji, Serifos

Bernd opens his talk with a Zen dialogue between brothers Yunyan and Daowu. As Yunyan is sweeping the yard, Daowu passes by and remarks, “Too busy.” Yunyan replies, “You should know there is always one who is not busy.” Drawing out the implications of this exchange for practice, Bernd presents two fundamental aspects of resting completely. Firstly, we can give direction to our body-minds by learning to rest in the immediate presence of life, surrendering to the impermanence of each moment. Secondly, we can learn to rest in the spaciousness of mind, thereby realizing that each moment is inherently wide and open. The more this spaciousness is sensed, the more it becomes clear that what we are looking at is the other half of ourselves.

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