The Eight Winds

In this talk, we examine the true nature of “bearing witness”. This is not some sort of detached, impervious position found “outside” our circumstances, but a willing capacity to “bear with” whatever comes. To explore this more deeply, we wake up the old Chinese formulation of "The eight winds", which are traditionally parsed as gain, loss, defamation, grief, praise, slander, pain and joy. The full gamut of human experience, you might say! So how do we face our winds? What do the ancestors have to say about meeting them completely? This talk was given as part of Zen Open Circle’s Taking Part in the Gathering Term 2 of practice. Note that the first few minutes of this talk were not recorded.

The Eight Winds