Zencare Podcast The Heart of Living the Way | Koshin Paley Ellison
Oct 7, 2025
Reflections on birth and mortality as a prompt to live fully. Simple daily rituals like zazen, sunrise, and care for others as nourishment. Stories of reunion and lineage that highlight tenderness and humility. Exploration of four inclusive practices: accepting injustice, adapting to conditions, seeking nothing, and simply showing up.
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Bodhidharma Chose Dharma Over Jewels
- Koshin recounts Bodhidharma's early clarity: rejecting a jewel's value and naming the Dharma as the only value.
- This anecdote reveals a core lineage insight: true value is found in practice and Dharma, not material or status tokens.
Recognition Doesn't Replace Deep Practice
- Koshin summarizes Bodhidharma's encounter with Emperor Wu where he replies 'nothing' to merit-seeking and then faces the wall for years.
- The story connects humility and ongoing practice: recognition doesn't end the need for deep, solitary practice.
Do Practice Without Seeking Reward
- Do tasks without seeking reward or praise; Koshin says cleaning the zendo isn't for a gold star.
- Practicing 'no merit-seeking' trains you to act because the action itself is the practice, not external recognition.