Dharma Assortments
Stories Retold
Sep 19, 2020

Stories from the Life of Master Daiyu Myokyo (Myokyo-ni)

A collection of teaching stories from the life of a contemporary Zen Master.

Daiyu Myokyo Zenji (1921-2007) was born in Austria, moved to the U.K. and then trained in Daitokuji monastery in Kyoto from 1960-72. She received inka from Kannun Sojun Roshi, returned to the U.K. and spent the rest of her life teaching the Zen Way. She often used anecdotes from her own life to illustrate her teachings. Here are a selection of those stories.

Noori waterfall is located in between the two villages of Tial and Jabbri of district Haripur on the banks of river Haro in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan

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A Torrent from the Mountain Peak

Remembering Daiyu Myokyo Zenji
A collection of stories told by Ven. Myokyo-ni from her own life which she used to illustrate various teaching points. This article was originally published in Zen Traces, the journal of the London Zen Group in 2007, shortly after her death.

Everything Teaches Zen

Stories from the life of Zen Master Daiyu Myokyo (Myokyo-ni)
Myokyo-ni said that she had several 'Zen' teachers in her life before her formal training began in Japan. If we are open-minded then the world itself can point the way.

"Something Will Have to Give Way"

Stories from the life of Zen Master Daiyu Myokyo
Myokyo-ni always said that a spiritual training that did not involve the emotional household would effect no lasting transformation. We continue our series of life-stories that illustrate this point

Noor Inayat Khan: Princess, Spy & Author of a book on the Jataka Tales

The British Spy who published the Buddhist Jataka Tales for English Readers who died fighting fascism and of whom you've probably never heard.

The Liberation of Having No Options

Stories from the life of Zen Master Daiyu Myokyo
More choice is often peddled as always being better, more freeing, however it brings with it attachment and paralysis, even despair. Not having an option can be liberating and ceases to split desire pitting one against the other.

Just Look At The Place Where Your Own Feet Stand!

Stories from the life of Zen Master Daiyu Myokyo
Underneath our distractions is a desire to avoid an unpleasant truth, underneath that desire is fear! Plus: "The Heart rolls with the 10,000 things, this rolling is truly mysterious!"

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Further reading

Verses from The Dhammapada 68

Pursuing goals at all costs can often leave a trail of destruction and suffering.

Verses from The Dhammapada 133

While it may feel like anger works in the short term, when left unchecked it can quickly lead to a race towards the bottom.

Verses from The Dhammapada 168

The Buddha once said, “Let a man rouse himself and follow the path of righteousness”. Without discipline and effort, the practice will never fully develop but being too rigid will break our resolve.

The Buddhas of the Ten Directions

The Way of Devotion
The interconnected nature of consciousness means that we can have a more fluid relationship with reality, even calling on it for help if we need it.