Dear Sangha,
As I sit at my desk at Tassajara—a place beloved by myself and so many others—and watch the evening light cast flickering shadows across the tatami floor of the Abbot’s cabin, I feel deeply grateful to be right here. From this seat, I am in harmony with the ancient oaks, the sound of the creek and canyon wrens, the call of the bell, and a community of diligent seekers of peace, truth, and sanity amid a rapidly changing and often frightening world.
I find myself reflecting on our deepest Bodhisattva vow: to live for the benefit of all beings. It is natural to wonder whether spending one’s days in such a sanctuary makes it easier to tune out the cries of the world. It’s a question often asked by students who long to do something, who feel called to be actively engaged. This question—whether taking time to deepen our practice serves or turns away from the world—feels especially pressing now, as we sense the ground beneath our collective lives shifting in ways that call for our clearest seeing and most compassionate response.
We are living through a time when many of us feel that something is profoundly wrong, yet find ourselves caught in a kind of spiritual paralysis: aware but frozen, seeing clearly but unsure how to move. I’ve heard this described as a time of hyper-normalization: the disorienting sense that while systems are breaking down, daily life continues, at least for some, as if nothing were wrong. Many describe the unsettling experience of scrolling past images of cruelty and collapse, then turning to pack lunches or pay bills.
To feel this disconnection is not a failure of practice; it is exactly where our practice must deepen. The Buddha’s teaching is about awakening from delusion, and delusion often wears the mask of normalcy. When violence and injustice become normalized, it takes profound awareness, not reactivity, to stay awake.
Our Zen training calls for a different kind of courage: not just the courage of resistance or reaction, but the courage of complete presence. When we sit zazen, we practice meeting whatever arises without turning away, without collapsing into familiar patterns of numbness or reactivity. This quality of presence is exactly what our world so desperately needs.
This is not about forcing ourselves into spiritual heroics. It is about allowing the natural response of an awakened heart to emerge—the response that flows when we stop protecting or numbing ourselves from the full reality of this moment. When we cultivate the stillness of zazen, discernment has the chance to arise. And from that ground, wise and skillful action becomes possible.
So as we walk through this time of upheaval and uncertainty, let us support each other in practice, in community, and in our intention to act with wisdom and compassion. From that place of mutual support, let us do all we can, no matter how big or how small, to see clearly and bring forth the awakened nature of all living beings.
Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel
July 3, 2025
City Center