On my way to China, I stopped over in Spain for some meetings. Having a few extra days, I went to Manresa, Spain where we Dominicans have a monastery of nuns. What an incredible experience!

In the archives of a medieval monastery.

This monastery has been open since the 13th century. It is just above the cave where Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, wrote his famous “Spiritual Exercises.” Ignatius used to sit outside the door of this monastery and listen to the prayers of the nuns as they sang their evening office. Their prayers are still quite inspiring, as I can attest.

On the right is a photo of some books in the monastery archives. Top left is a bundle of contracts the monastery entered into in the year 1344. Every contract they have ever signed is still preserved on these shelves. The sense of history is deep, as is…

We at the Missouri Zen Center are frequently invited to talk about Buddhism and Zen at schools and other institutions. This Civil Religion site provides a forum to engage in interfaith dialogue and discussion. While we enjoy and seek out opportunities to have these discussions, we also note the paradox of the situation. An essential characteristic of Zen Buddhism is the recognition that, ultimately, human language is incapable of expressing the truth. Language is like a finger pointing to the moon of truth. By practicing zazen, or meditation, we seek to witness truth by going beyond language and other human creations.

Language is just one of the many things that humans create. We dwell in things – cities, civilizations, castles in the air – and then we hold onto things such as money, matter, and mind. Ultimately, we are shut in and bound by these things, becoming separated (selfish, sinful) and disintegrated…