A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
However the seed is planted, in that way the fruit is gathered. Good things come from doing good deeds; bad things come from doing bad deeds. (SN 11.10) What is the purpose of a mirror? For the purpose of reflection. So too bodily action is to be done with repeated reflection. (MN 61)
When you have done an action with the body, reflect on that same bodily action thus: "Has this action I have done with the body led to my own affliction?" If, on reflection, you know that it has, then tell someone you trust about it and undertake a commitment not to do it again. If you know it has not, then be content and feel happy about it. (MN 61)
Reflection
While the practice has to do with being present in the moment, we are also encouraged to reflect on past action with the same diligence we apply to present action and intention for future action. If we have done harm in the past, it is healing to bring it out in the open by revealing it to another. Not necessarily a religious figure with the power to forgive—there is no such person in Buddhism—but simply a person you trust.
Daily Practice
Practice having no secrets. Whenever you do something, even a very small thing, that you feel was wrong or hurtful in some way, make a point of "coming clean" about it to someone. Perhaps you apologize to someone you’ve harmed or confess your errors to a trusted friend. With this as an ongoing practice, you may find yourself feeling lighter, unburdened by the things you do that are not quite right.
Tomorrow: Abstaining from Harming Living Beings One week from today: Reflecting upon Verbal Action
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Welcome to week 4 of Meditation Month with Haemin Sunim.
Watch the video and follow the practice prompt below.
WEEK 4 GUIDED VIDEO When the Seeking Stops
In the final video of Meditation Month 2026, Haemin Sunim reviews the koans he’s presented thus far, elaborating on not-knowing and how it is that we’ve already arrived at our destination. He then poses a final koan that points to the realization that the ordinary mind is the awakened mind.
A student asks: "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West?" (What is the essence of Zen?) Master answers: "The pine tree in the courtyard."
Please keep this koan in mind during the week ahead. You can also use one of the previous koans if it leads to the don’t-know mind. Rest in it and let it soak into every cell of your body.
“A finger pointing at the moon” is a classic Zen expression that tells us not to confuse the teachings or texts that guide us toward awakening with awakening itself. Don’t confuse the finger for the moon. There is no substitute for direct experience.
As poet and Zen priest Norman Fischer says, talking or writing about awakening can only get us so far. Language conditions perception. But what to do? We should focus our awareness on the limits of language in meditation, study, and mindfulness in daily life, Fischer says. By repeatedly tuning into our sensations and emotions, and viewing thoughts as incomplete representations of what is, over time we will learn to hold our words and views more lightly. We will discover a freer way of being.
We want to cultivate what Fischer calls “non-view: a spirit of openness, kindness, and flexibility with regard to language, to connect without being caught by—and separated from the world by—language.”
This week’s Three Teachings explores the ways we can work with words to move beyond them.
Pointing out how the Buddha himself saw the limitations of language, poet and Zen priest Norman Fischer contemplates the prison of language, and how we can use it to find freedom. [Words] “always fail, but the point is not to succeed but to make the attempt.”
Scholar and professor Ben Van Overmeire considers the paradox in Zen of valuing literature and poetry, but also of privileging direct experience. Citing historical and contemporary Zen writers, as well as the tradition of koan practice, which uses words to jolt us into awakening, he concludes that attachment to words, like attachment to anything, is the danger. “If we let go of our attachment to words and letters, and instead let them point, amazing things can happen when we read and write.”
Zen teacher and writer Vanessa Zuisei Goddard explains how our words, which can never keep up with the relentless pace of impermanence, impact our relationships. She then offers guidance for deeper connection through our imperfect words.
