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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wikipedia.commons

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
A lack of freedom can be liberating when it comes to spiritual training.

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 132

As ‘I’ am gradually emptied out, the beauty of the world begins to fill the heart.

The Foundations of dissatisfaction and suffering.

The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha said that the cause of suffering is attachment but why does attachment arise in the first place?

The Cause of Dissatisfaction and Suffering

The Four Noble Truths
If we know the cause of our suffering it becomes far easier to let go of. Dr. Alan Sidi does a deep dive into the theory behind the Second Noble Truth.

Verses from the Dhammapada 154

Having become enlightened the Buddha said, “Now I have found you O Builder and never again shall you build this house. Your rafters are broken and the ridge pole is shattered. My mind has reached Nirvana and the end of craving.”