One River Zen

03/12/2026

APPRECIATE THE LIFE THAT IS PRESENTING ITSELF RIGHT NOW

I’ve said this many times before, but ultimately this practice isn’t something separate. This practice is the very practice of our own life. Zen mastery is the mastery of our own circumstances.

And so we often say, “I’ll make more time for practice when things are going well.” I’ll practice more when I can take a vacation, catch my breath, or get past this deadline.
Not realizing, of course, that catching your breath — or racing toward the deadline — is your practice.

So if we really want to summarize what this practice is about, once we have some degree of realization — once we recognize that practice means placing our attention with intention — then the practice begins to actualize.

And the actualization of this practice is very simple:

Appreciate your life.

Not the life you wish you had.
Not the life you’ll have someday.
Appreciate the life that is presenting itself right now.

Even in the midst of challenges — or maybe especially in the midst of challenges — put a big smile on and walk bravely into them. Really appreciate what is being brought forward.

You won’t always have that opportunity.

Have a wonderful morning!

03/11/2026

SIT WITH WONDER AT YOUR OWN “SCAREDNESS”

If we look carefully at the contours of our karmic landscape — the way things present themselves in our lives — we’ll notice that much of it is defined by fear.

The boundaries between self and other, between this and that, between good and bad, mine and yours — all of it is often created through aversion or fear.

So it makes sense that a big part of our practice is becoming very wise about how we approach fear — this unseen force that is constantly shaping our actions.

Today, when you notice aversion, when you notice the urge to push something away, or when you find yourself scared of something, try something different.
Walk into it.

Approach your fear with curiosity. Sit with wonder at your own “scaredness.”

That’s the only way you’re going to master the dialectic that is constantly trying to control your life and your ability to engage freely.

You may find that when you examine fear closely — when you draw near to the very thing that scares you — the boundaries between yourself and other begin to soften. The things that once seemed insurmountable begin to appear much more clear.

But it requires doing the opposite of what you’re inclined to do.

Instead of turning away, draw close.

Have a wonderful morning!

03/11/2026

🌅 Emerging Light Zen Retreat — March 20–22

Feeling overwhelmed, scattered, or exhausted by the pace of life?
Take a weekend to reset!

Join us at One River Zen in Ottawa for a three-day meditation retreat designed to help you slow down, reconnect, and return to clarity.

During the retreat you will experience:
• Guided Zen meditation
• Dharma teachings
• Supportive community practice
• Deep rest from the noise of daily life

No meditation experience is required. Beginners are welcome.

Spring is the season of beginning again. Give yourself the space to breathe.

⚠️ Space is limited.
Reserve your place:
https://oneriverzen.org/emerging-light

Explore transformative meditation retreats at One River Zen. Join us for guidance and practice, available online and in-person.

03/05/2026

YOU CAN PUT ALL THAT DOWN

It’s easy for us, when we’re caught in the discursive mind — the goal-seeking mind — to feel like we’ve lost our way. We keep repeating to ourselves: I’ll be okay when. I’ll be okay when things at work are going better. I’ll be okay when my partner finally sees the light and the relationship changes.

When we feel like we’ve lost our way, we often try to retrace our steps and see where we went wrong.

But more often than not, we just wind up going around in circles, seeing the same sights again and again, and never quite arriving.

Today, just realize you can put all that down.

You’re already standing precisely where you need to be.

There’s no need to retrace your steps. There’s no need to go looking somewhere else. The practice you’ve been called to is the practice that’s right before you.
And you’re already okay.

In fact, you’re more than okay.

So put your hands to work with what’s presenting itself. You’ll see that even the suffering in front of you can be transformed into nourishment for everything and everyone you encounter.

Just stop wandering off and going in circles.

Have a wonderful morning!

03/04/2026

THAT OTHER LIFETIME IS RIGHT NOW

If we’re honest with ourselves and we look at our practice, we’ll see that a lot gets left undone simply because it seems hard.

Sometimes we won’t even set intentions that reflect how we really want to show up in this world, because when we look at them they seem daunting. We tell ourselves we don’t have the resources. When we become attached to outcomes, things can appear too complex.

But instead, recognize this and dream audaciously. Look carefully at how you want to manifest. Look closely at what your intentions are in this moment, in this life.

If you stay persistent in your practice — steady and consistent — and you approach what is coming up in your life right now with those intentions in mind, you will slowly wear away the divisions. You’ll find yourself standing exactly where your intentions have pointed.
Even if it looks difficult.

All it takes is putting one foot in front of the other.

So don’t wait for another lifetime to show up the way you know you need to show up.
That other lifetime is right now.

Have a wonderful morning!

03/03/2026

STOP WAITING FOR THE APPLAUSE

Today I want you to take time to notice where your practice gets stuck. Throughout your day, as you’re engaged in activity, there will be an occasional pause — an attempt to collect yourself and wait for the applause to come. To wait for recognition. To wait for someone to see you and the correctness or goodness of the activity you’re engaged in.

But when we do this, people don’t actually recognize the activity. They recognize our need for recognition.

In that pause, we’re trying to make something substantial. We’re trying to reinforce our opinion of ourselves, which is a created construct rather than fully immersing ourselves in the activity of wisdom.

It’s just as important for us to recognize when we do this. That’s enough. That’s a kenshō– a seeing through to our true nature. We witness this need to step back, collect together this notion of self, and seek recognition.

It’s not something to be judged. But when you see it, throw your whole self into whatever you’re engaged in.

That’s the only way you’ll witness your true face, as well as obtain the recognition you’ve always been longing for. But that recognition doesn’t come from lip service. It comes when the circumstances you’re engaged in are transformed.

And that only comes when we stop taking that pause for recognition and instead burn our whole selves up in our practice.

Have a wonderful morning!

nonself practiceinlife oneriverzen

02/26/2026

BEFORE YOU FIX IT–LOOK AT WHAT’S NOT BROKEN

Today, as you go about your day, you’re going to notice a lot of things that look like they need fixing — and perhaps they even do.

But before you set yourself to the task of repair, take a look at what’s not broken.
It’s important that we understand the full context of our lived experience. Sometimes we bracket things in such a way that all we see is the scarcity, the fragility, or the inadequacy of one part. And we fail to see how that part relates to the whole.

Ultimately, if we step back far enough and take a good hard look, we may recognize that everything is perfect just as it is.

That’s not to say it couldn’t use a little improvement, too! But before you set your hands to work fixing, make sure your heart sees the whole picture. Make sure you look at what’s not broken as well.

Have a wonderful morning!

02/25/2026

WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING

In our practice — in the practice of our life — it’s important to watch where we’re going.

When we sit in the morning, that great cosmic list of to-dos often presents itself. We begin to see our lives as a linear progression of decisions, tasks, and action items.
And when we do that, those action items become estranged from the fabric of our lived experience. We lose the richness of being embodied and present in this world. We miss the opportunities to manifest as compassion because we lack the wisdom to see what the circumstances are actually presenting.

So today, before you get started, set an intention to truly be present. Bear witness to the suffering that arises, and to the joy.

In this way, you can watch where you’re going while remaining firmly grounded in your intention and in your practice.

Have a wonderful morning!

sotozen oneriverzen

02/22/2026

WELCOMING OUR NEWEST BODHISATTVA AT ONE RIVER ZEN

Today we celebrate Seijō’s Jukai — their vow to live a life grounded in wisdom and compassion meeting each moment with steadiness, clarity, and care.

Before the gathered Sangha, she received the precepts and the Dharma name Seijō (静定) — Established in Stillness — a name that reflects the grounded presence she embodies through her practice.

Seijō offers strength without hardness and practices from a place of warmth and dedication. Her steadiness is a gift to all who practice alongside her.

Congratulations, Seijō! May your vow continue to root deeply and nurture all those whose lives you touch.

🙏

02/18/2026

SPEND ALL OF YOUR JOY TODAY

Many of us spend our whole lives learning and internalizing the basic accounting principles of the small self. We believe that if we give too much away, eventually we’ll become depleted. If we’re too generous, we’ll have nothing left. So there’s a way we begin to hoard. We hoard experiences. We hoard memories. We hoard our valued and cherished opinions about ourselves. And somehow, no matter how much we store up, the bank never seems to fill.

So today, I want you to experiment a little with what I would call Dharma accounting.
Look deeply within yourself and find the joy you have locked up there. You have memories, past events, things that bring you a real sense of joy and abundance. Take them, and give them away today.

When you encounter gaps, when you see difference, when you notice someone or something not experiencing joy, give yours. Make sure that joy circulates. Make sure it spreads.

And then at the end of the day, take a good, honest look at what’s left.
This is an important lesson, but it’s not something to think through. It’s something to experience directly.

So get to spending that joy today, and see where your account balance stands at the end of the day.

Have a wonderful morning!

oneriverzen

02/17/2026

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

One of the most dangerous things on the spiritual path is blaming causes and conditions — or blaming other people — for our inability to practice. For our inability to function freely in our own lives.

We have to mind our own business.

The distinction between inside and outside is constructed. There isn’t something “out there” stopping you, and there isn’t something “in here” that’s broken. Everything you encounter is a reflection of your true nature. Which means it’s always about cultivating wisdom and practicing skillfully — working with causes and conditions to manifest compassion and bring suffering to an end.

But the second you say, I can’t because of this — or I can’t because of them — you step down off the throne of your original nature and collapse into the idyll of the small self.
That’s the move.

So today, look carefully at what you’ve labeled impossible.
What you take for granted.
What you’ve decided you’re stuck in because of something outside yourself.

Take it in.
Practice with it.
Transform it.

Have a wonderful morning!

02/13/2026

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE

When I was a little boy, if I did something that didn’t align with my mom’s idea of how I should behave, she would say, “Who do you think you are?”

Over time, many of us receive that same message in different forms. When we push against expectations — even our own — we begin to retreat. We start to carry a subtle sense of insufficiency. A feeling that we are somehow lacking.

But today, I want you to revisit that question:
Who do you think you are?

Because you have real power.
You have the power to uplift or to push down.
To bring happiness, confidence, and joy — or to bring despair.

The world is waiting for you to show up and affirm that it is enough. That the circumstances of this life, exactly as they are, can be worked with skillfully. That suffering can be transformed into wisdom. That difficulty can give way to joy.

But that takes knowing who you are.

It takes recognizing that you are capable of being the medicine that is needed.

So today, stand firmly in that.
Who do you think you are?

Have a wonderful morning.

confidence wisdom transformations practiceinlife oneriverzen