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.
Welcome to week 2 of Meditation Month with Haemin Sunim.
Watch the video and follow the practice prompt below.
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WEEK 2 GUIDED VIDEO Boundless Freedom
In this video, the second of four we’ll share this month, Haemin Sunim invites us into the realm of the unknown with the koan, “What is it that is not a thing, not the mind, not the Buddha? What is it?” In embracing the don’t-know mind, instead of surrendering to the mind’s inclination to answer questions, we uncover a state of unconditional freedom.
What is it that is not a thing, not the mind, not the Buddha?
Whatever answer appears, that is not it. Any answer has a boundary and carries the quality of the known; therefore, it becomes an object. The koan invites you into boundless freedom, the state before the split between subject and object. So what is it?
If you can remain in wonder, curiosity, and unconditional openness, you are already touching your true nature. Let the question open a door rather than close one. Do not seek a conceptual landing place. Instead, sense the spaciousness that appears when the mind stops grasping for certainty.
Martine Batchelor introduces Korean Zen koan practice, describing her personal experience and different ways to practice, and offering a guided meditation as well.
What we call “meditation” was natural to us during our evolution, as we sat around a fire in the quiet darkness, or lay on the ground looking up into the stars, or tried to make ourselves disappear so an animal would come near.
Tricycle Meditation Month 2026 Awakening with Zen Koans with Haemin Sunim
Start the new year exploring your true nature through Zen koan meditation with Tricycle’s free 31-day Meditation Month. When you sign up, you’ll get weekly video teachings, daily meditation prompts, and access to an online sangha for community support. Join today to start from day one.
Harsh speech is unhealthy. Refraining from harsh speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning harsh speech, one refrains from harsh speech. One speaks words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and affectionate, words that go to the heart, are courteous, and are agreeable to many. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak harshly, but I shall abstain from harsh speech." (MN 8)
When one says: "All those engaged in the pursuit of the enjoyment of sensual pleasures have entered the wrong way," one thus disparages some. But when one says instead, "The pursuit of the enjoyment of sensual pleasures is a state beset by suffering, and it is the wrong way," then one is not disparaging anyone but simply stating the truth. (MN 139)
Reflection
Right speech does not mean always telling people what they want to hear. Often difficult truths need to be spoken, but there are skillful and unskillful ways of doing this. In this passage we are instructed on the implications of invoking the sense of self. Instead of disparaging others by using an agent noun ("They are such a liar"), simply speak the truth by pointing out their actions (“They have told a lie”) rather than rebuking the self.
Daily Practice
Practice critiquing the words or actions of a person rather than the person. Instead of calling a person rude, point out the rude thing they have said or done. It is a small but important distinction. Whenever people feel attacked, it brings out the tendency to counterattack. When their actions are called out instead, it leaves them room to change their behavior.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Mental Action One week from today: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
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