In “Sympathy is As the Sea” Rev. Clairissa concludes our exploration of the Four Wisdoms from the Shushōgi chapter “Awakening to the Mind of the Bodhisattva.” She reflects on ways to cultivate our natural sympathetic connection with others in our daily life and practice, and on the meaning of this expression of the Buddha Nature inherent within all of us.

Fourth in a series of four talks by Rev. Clairissa on the Four Wisdoms: charity, tenderness, benevolence, and sympathy.

From the Shushōgi: “If one can identify oneself with that which is not oneself, one can understand the true meaning of sympathy…There are times when the self is infinite and times when this is true of others: sympathy is as the sea in that it never refuses water from whatsoever source it may come; all waters may gather and form only one sea.”

The Shushōgi (What is Truly Meant by Training and Enlightenment) is the distillation of the essential teachings of Dōgen and the Sōtō Zen tradition, compiled in the late 1800s in Japan. The text in English can be found in the book Zen is Eternal Life by Rōshi P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett (Shasta Abbey Press, 1999).