As a result of my several blogs here regarding Avalokiteshvara, I was lead to offer a Dharma talk to a local Zen Center in the Chicago area, Zen Life and Meditation Center. In this talk I explore the nature of unprompted compassion through the lens of Case 89 of the Blue Cliff Record and the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo.
I draw on personal encounters—from Kosho Uchiyama Roshi’s wartime practice to an emotional moment before a statue of Mary in Rom. This lead me to examine how true compassion is an immediate, bodily response that precedes thought and fear. My discussion highlights how meditation practice can help us notice and drop our internal obstructions, revealing our inherent oneness with Avalokiteshvara in everyday life.
I hope you will find this final examination of this wonderful deity beneficial and interesting. As always, please offer comments.
Soon, I will again be sharing interviews with Zen practitioners, and I will pick up another topic for a deep discussion.
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