Everything Is the Teaching

Chapter 33 of the Tao Te Ching turns our attention away from accumulating knowledge about the world and back toward knowing ourselves:

“To understand oneself is to be illumined.” — Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33, Arthur Waley translation
Perhaps this is why the teachings become simpler with time.
Eventually, the boundary between practice and life begins to disappear.

Fusatsu, three Mountains sangha, shared responsibility , zen, Community Fusatsu Apriel JessupSearcyAugust 29, 2026Buddhism, Taoism, Teachings

A Renewed Aspiration

We've been told the American Dream is about having more.

A bigger house. A nicer car. More money. More success. More things.

Too often, it has become a life financed by debt and measured by possessions. We spend years working to pay for a lifestyle that leaves us with little time to enjoy the life we were trying to build.

Perhaps it is time to ask a different question.

buddhism, Buddhism , Collective action,, Community , Fusatsu, Kwanzaa, shared responsibility , three Mountains sanghaFusatsu Apriel JessupSearcyAugust 21, 2026Buddhism, spiritual, ethics

The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

I was challenged, by Zen Buddhist Practitioner Fusatsu, to study the Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas. I’m a spirituality nerd so I was all in.

Generally speaking, I did one a day whereby I read it out loud in the morning, again in the evening and I thought about it in between. When I got to the fifth one, I had to stop. It was too important to not give it my complete attention.

Buddhism , Rev John Karn, Apriel Jessup-Searcy, FusatsuRev. John Karn, D.D.July 19, 2026Buddhism, Zen, oneness, unity, metaphysical studies

The Freedom We Carry

We remember those whose names were never written in history books, yet whose courage lives in us.

Those who endured. Those who resisted. Those who prayed. Those who dreamed of a day they might never see, yet believed would come.

Juneteenth is their story.

And it is ours.

Apriel JessupSearcy, Buddhism , Collective action,, Community , Fusatsu, shared responsibility , three Mountains sanghaFusatsu Apriel JessupSearcyJune 19, 2026Juneteenth, Freedom, Ancestors, Buddhism, Community

The Practice of Liberation

"Freedom is not a destination. It is a practice."

Juneteenth commemorates liberation.

It marks June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved African Americans in Texas were informed of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued. It is a day of remembrance, reflection, resilience, and celebration.

Buddhism , Collective action,, Community , shared responsibility Fusatsu Apriel JessupSearcyJune 13, 2026Juneteenth, Liberation, Freedom, Practice, Buddhism, African American, Experience, Ancestors

Rooted in the Practice

To be rooted is to be firmly planted, established, nourished from below, and able to stand through shifting conditions. In the natural world, roots are rarely visible, yet they determine the strength, resilience, and longevity of what grows above the surface. In our lives, rootedness functions in much the same way. It is not loud or performative. It is quiet stability — the unseen foundation from which our actions, choices, and presence arise.

Buddhism , Collective action,, Community , shared responsibility , three Mountains sangha, Fusatsu, Apriel JessupSearcyFusatsu Apriel JessupSearcyMarch 1, 2026roots, Buddhism, Kwanzaa, Taoism, practice, meditaiton

How We Choose, Is How We Practice

In behavioral science, choice architecture describes how environments shape our decisions—often more powerfully than intention or willpower. What is visible, convenient, and repeated quietly becomes the default. Over time, our lives begin choosing for us.

My spiritual practice has taught me something similar:

We do not live our values once; we live them through the choices our lives make easy.

blog, Buddhism , Community , shared responsibility , three Mountains sanghaFusatsu Apriel JessupSearcyFebruary 1, 2026Buddhism, Three Mountains Sangha, Fusatsu, Apriel Jessup Searcu, meditation, Taoism, Kwanza