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Guo Gu, a longtime student of the late Master Sheng Yen, presents an experiential look at the Chan practice of silent illumination.

When people ask what zazen is, I often find myself beginning with what it is not..

"Sometimes in a man or a woman awareness takes place — not very often and always inexplainable. There are no words for it because there is no one ever to tell. This is a secret not kept a secret, but locked in wordlessness."

~ John Steinbeck

Greek thinker Pythagoras

Lovers of Wisdom

You know, power is a most extraordinary thing. Everybody pursues it: the hermit, the general, the scientist, the housewife, the husband. We all want power: the power that money gives, the power to dominate, the power of knowledge, the power of capacity. It gives us a position, a prestige, and that is what we want. And power is evil, whether it is the power of the dictator, the power of the wife over the husband or the husband over the wife. It is evil because it forces others to conform, to adjust; and in that process there is no freedom. And we want it, very subtly or very crudely; and that is why we pursue knowledge. Knowledge is so important to most of us, and we look up to the scholars with their intellectual tricks, because with knowledge goes power.

Please listen, not merely to me, but to your own minds, brains and hearts. Watch it there, and you will see how eagerly most of us want this power. And where there is the search for power there is no learning. Only an innocent mind can learn; only a young, fresh mind delights in learning, not a mind, not a brain burdened with knowledge, with experience. So a religious mind is always learning, and there is no end to learning. Learning is not the accumulation of knowledge. In holding to knowledge and adding to knowledge you are ceasing to learn. Do please follow this to the very end.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Public Talk 9 Paris, France - 24 September 1961

"Wishing your life away" means always focusing on the future and missing out on your present. It’s a common trap—whether counting down the days until a vacation or desperately awaiting retirement—that causes us to gloss over the life we actually have right now.

Ask yourself what exactly you are trying to escape. If it's a specific situation or environment, recognizing the root cause of the wish is the first step toward taking action to change it.

The brain is a survival machine, prioritizing vigilance and the fight-or-flight response to keep us safe. In contrast, the heart serves as our center of intuition, legacy, and connection to the divine. Allowing yourself to think and feel from the heart honors your ancestral roots while protecting your peace.

The Neuroscience vs. The Spiritual Heart

The contrast between these two ways of being highlights how our bodies and spirits process the world:

The Mind (Fight or Flight): Your amygdala acts as an internal alarm system. It scans for threats to ensure physical and emotional survival, often leaving us hyper-vigilant in modern life. It is logical, reactive, and always looking out for danger.

The Heart (Ancient Wisdom): Your heart goes beyond pumping blood. It is often viewed as a vessel of ancestral wisdom and spiritual spark. Thinking from the heart allows for emotional openness and intuitive decision-making, stepping out of survival mode and into presence.

Why Balance Matters

While the brain's survival mechanisms are necessary for navigating danger, staying constantly locked into this state can lead to exhaustion and anxiety. Incorporating practices that calm the nervous system, such as deep breathing, allows you to step back from the brain's alarms and listen to what the heart needs.

***

Everything is perfect as it is. Everything that happens through you is perfect as you are. Nothing is truly done by someone, because no separate doer exists. What exists is the wholeness itself.

Therefore, whatever path appears through you is perfect.

If you take a spiritual path, it is perfect.

If you take a religious path, it is perfect.

If you take a philosophical path, it is perfect.

If you take no path at all, that too is perfect.

If you listen to me or to someone else, it is perfect.

If you do not listen to me or to someone else, it is also perfect.

If you listen to yourself, it is perfect.

If you do not listen to yourself, it is also perfect.

Because in the end, it is life moving as everything

To travel the spiritual path is to awaken to who you truly are. And who you truly are is loving awareness.

Paul Signac, a fellow Post-Impressionist painter, had recently visited Van Gogh at the hospital in Arles while Vincent was recovering from his infamous ear-mutilation breakdown.

Van Gogh wrote: "My word, these anxieties... who can live in modern life without catching his share of them?" He saw modern anxiety as an inescapable weight of his era, rather than a unique personal failing.

To cope with his recurring "inner seizures of despair," Van Gogh noted that the best remedy was "deep friendships". Signac’s visit had deeply moved him and provided a much-needed lifeline of connection.

This timeless reflection on mental health and the pressures of society still resonates profoundly today.

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