Bodhidharma faced the wall.  The Second Ancestor stood in the snow, cut off his arm and said, ‘Your disciple’s mind has no peace as yet. I beg you, Master, please put it to rest.’ Mumonkan Case 41:  Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind

The words, life and control, cancel each other out – life is just this!   Moment by moment, beyond our control and so without peace – yet how we yearn for it.  And though we may never be in control of our minds – or our thoughts – or our lives, it is possible, with regular Zen practice, to see the mind more clearly and be less impressed, less overwhelmed, and experience the anxious mind as one small element in the vastness, one small dharma gate.

This teisho was given by Gillian Coote, roshi at Spring sesshin 2024