Now, this buddha nature that we talk about is not something mysterious or arcane. Buddha just means “awake,” “one who is awake.” So we find out how to align ourselves, how to be awake and to align ourselves with our true intention, with our true being, with the wisdom and compassion that is already inherent in each being, including you. You are not the one single exception to the fact that all beings are buddhas. You are not that exceptional.

Zenkei Blanche Hartman

Blanche’s dharma name, Zenkei, means inconceivable joy.

Uit: Seeds for a boundless life, zen teachings from the heart, Zenkei Blanche Hartman, Shambala, Massachusetts, Boston, 2015.
Afbeelding: Personnages aux chevaux,Marcelle Cahn, 1935.

Zenkei Blanche Hartman is an American Zen legend. A teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, she was the first female abbot of an American Zen center. She is greatly revered, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she has lived and taught for many years. This, her long-awaited first book, is a collection of short teachings taken from her talks on the subject of boundlessness—the boundlessness that sees beyond our small, limited self to include all others. To live a boundless life she encourages living the vows prescribed by the Buddha and living life with the curiosity of a child. The short, stand-alone pieces can be dipped into whenever one is in need of inspiration. – Shambala.com