Podcasts by Auckland Zen Centre: Weekly Podcasts
In this podcast you can find all the talks given at the Auckland Zen Centre, back to 2016. Most talks are by Sensei Amala Wrightson, but there are also talks from Richard von Sturmer and senior students too.
Further podcasts by Auckland Zen Centre
Podcast on the topic Buddhismus
All episodes
2022-01-25 H86 Ummon's "Everyone has their own light" from 2022-01-26T20:23:35
Ummon presents our human predicament: We each have our own light but when we try to see it everything is dark. What is this light, and what is the darkness? How do we find our way?
Source(s): T...
2022-01-14 H89 The Hands and Eyes of Kanzeon from 2022-01-19T07:54:15
H:89 The Hands and Eyes of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/hFqPDZEkMk6QJXpipmyiSzDY9cU
How do we act with wisdom and compassion? Is it possib...
2022-01-13 M:23 Think Neither Good Nor Evil from 2022-01-19T07:52:05
Myo, an ex-general, is stopped in his tracks by the 6th Ancestor, Huineng. What does he realise?
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/sIqPid-iOweSisAHiAKCbuNB0hc
2022-01-12 The Life and Teachings of Harada Tangen-roshi 5 from 2022-01-19T07:51:54
The inner critic and its disappearance in the face of unconditional love.
Sources: Zen Bow article by Wes Borden, Summer 2018, The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski
Automated transcript
2022-01-11 The Life and Teachings of Harada Tangen-roshi 4 from 2022-01-19T07:48:55
Tangen-roshi's vow to become like a chair.
Sources: Awaken to the True Self, www.zencentrum.nl/awaken.html.
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/Eena83iPhtMxX51ZvDDuNUF_wZw
2022-01-10 The Life and Teachings of Harada Tangen-roshi 3 from 2022-01-19T07:48:45
Karma is not a predetermined mold, "rather, by virtue of one's own efforts, it is possible to move, even just a step, closer to one's aim."
Sources: Awaken to the True Self, www.zencentrum.nl/a...
2022-01-09 The Life and Teachings of Harada Tangen-roshi 2 from 2022-01-19T07:40:46
Training at Bukkoku-ji and the emphasis on inner discipline.
Sources: Zen Bow article by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, Summer 2018
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/xg5fXejE74VUxln2KXBgm...
2022-01-08 The Life and Teachings of Harada Tangen-roshi 1 from 2022-01-19T07:38:26
Tangen-roshi's close calls with death reinforce his sense of being held and protected by a benevolent universe.
Sources: Zen Bow article by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, Summer 2018
Automated tran...
2021-11-23Cultivating Right Attitudes for Practice and Life2 from 2021-11-24T06:09:05
Huineng's three antidotes to grasping; no thought, no form, and non-abiding.
Main Text: Silent Illumination by Guo Gu.
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/50dLN5y5B-i48kyIbbIzV0baELs
2021-11-09 Cultivating right attitudes for practice and lif from 2021-11-11T21:43:36
Contentment, usually rather dryly called "non-grasping" in Zen, is an essential attitude in our practice life; an antidote to restlessness and a middle way between attachment and aversion.
Main...
2021-10-19 The power of chanting and bowing from 2021-10-20T19:50:45
Wholehearted chanting can be a bridge that connects us with loved ones and with more-than-human realms. It can also take us into a present which contains both past and future, the living and the de...
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2021-10-03 Arrogance from 2021-10-10T08:16:15
Exploring how the self-centred emotion of arrogance (or pride) causes pain in ourselves and others, plus a glimpse of what it feels like to be on the other end of arrogance.
Automated tran...
2021-09-28 Information and Misinformation from 2021-10-10T07:58:55
Who do we trust for our information? How open-minded are we? Can we see beyond the views of the people we disagree with and stay connected?
Automated transcript https://otter.ai/u/XzTeGS3N0GbY_...
21-09-14 Learning from Te Ao M?ori from 2021-09-17T04:17:17
Talk given in recognition of M?ori Language Week (Te Wiki o te Reo M?ori). Some background on our 4 vows translation, Ko ng? Oati e Wh?. Beginning to explore key concepts of the Ma?ri worldview, wi...
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2021-08-31 Working with our suffering from 2021-09-01T21:29:44
In lockdown again, many of the ways that we "get a break from ourselves" are no longer possible. So how do we work with painful habits of thinking and feeling?
Automated transcript
https://...
2021-08-17 H46 Kyosei's Sound of the Raindrops from 2021-08-21T01:38:54
How can we engage in our lives without falling into subject/object dualism? How can we hold onto nothing in the very midst of using all our senses?
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/4...
2021-08-06 Yu Uses Her Full Strength from 2021-08-11T09:20:34
When Yu realises master Linji's "true person of no rank" she leaps beyond convention and societal norms.
Text(s): The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, ed.Flore...
2021-08-05 The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams 6 from 2021-08-11T09:18:34
The space around our thoughts.
Text(s): Not I, Not Other than I, The Life and Teachings of Russel Wlliams ed. Steve Taylor O-Books 2015
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/5Wio99bNC...
2021-08-04 The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams 5 from 2021-08-11T09:11:44
"You are not the conditions that make you do things."
Text(s): Not I, Not Other than I, The Life and Teachings of Russel Wlliams ed. Steve Taylor O-Books 2015
Automated transcript
https...
2021-08-03 The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams 4 from 2021-08-11T09:09:24
Self-preoccupation and the three conceits.
Text(s): Not I, Not Other than I, The Life and Teachings of Russel Wlliams ed. Steve Taylor O-Books 2015
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai...
2021-08-02 The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams 3 from 2021-08-11T09:05:54
The Manchester Buddhist Society and starting to teach. Non-returner and Bodhisattva paths.
Text(s): Not I, Not Other than I, The Life and Teachings of Russel Wlliams ed. Steve Taylor O-Books 20...
2021-08-01 The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams 2 from 2021-08-11T09:03:04
Working with horses and people
Text(s): Not I, Not Other than I, The Life and Teachings of Russel Wlliams ed. Steve Taylor O-Books 2015
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/oJLpNH5Pa...
2021-07-31 The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams 1 from 2021-08-11T09:00:23
Early life and awakening
Text(s): Not I, Not Other than I, The Life and Teachings of Russel Wlliams ed. Steve Taylor O-Books 2015
Automated transcript
https://otter.ai/u/tnt2nc8uvzTunQm...
2021-06-29 Precepts 3 - discussion from 2021-07-03T02:22:04
Discussion following teisho Precepts 3.
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2021-06-29 Precepts 3 from 2021-07-02T05:00
Comments on precepts 3, 5 and 9 (sex, intoxicants and anger).
Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/tAjKCqb9J5WQIYSW8xi6tORmm8g
2021-06-15 Precepts 2 - discussion from 2021-06-20T14:52:24
A discussion following the talk Precepts 2.
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2021-06-15 Precepts 2 from 2021-06-20T05:00
This talk covers precepts 2 and 8, which have to do with greed -- wanting stuff we don't have and clinging to stuff we already have, as well as precepts 4,6 and 7 which are to do with different asp...
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2021-06-09 M10 Sozan and Poor Seizei from 2021-06-15T05:58:04
Working with spiritual poverty.
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2021-06-08 An Experience of Enlightenment 4 from 2021-06-15T05:46:54
Arrival, loss and return -- the universe changes on its axis, but how to share this amazing experience with others? Searching for a context for 20 years and finally finding one.
Text: An Experi...
2021-06-07 An Experience of Enlightenment 3 from 2021-06-15T05:42:53
A turning point -- no need to look further than the mind itself.
Text: An Experience of Enlightenment by Flora Curtois Quest Books 1986
2121-06-06 An Experience of Enlightenment 2 from 2021-06-15T05:35:54
Flora Curtois' search for Reality, or the ground of being.
Text: An Experience of Enlightenment by Flora Curtois Quest Books 1986
2021-06-05 An Experience of Enlightenment 1 from 2021-06-15T05:23:33
Introduction to the text by Yasutani-roshi
Text: An Experience of Enlightenment by Flora Curtois Quest Books 1986
2021-06-01 Precepts Part 1 - discussion from 2021-06-06T05:00
Discussion following the teisho on precepts (part 1)
Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/TzR5AgJe8tXU1xqsnAIJoxaEYkg
2021-06-01 Precepts Part 1 from 2021-06-06T05:00
The 10 Precepts are at the core of the Great Way and have their origins in the 8-fold Path. The version that we say can be found in the Brahma Net Sutra, translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in th...
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2021-03-30 Grass and Weeds from 2021-06-04T22:53:53
The teaching and poetry of grass and weeds, from Zen to Walt Whitman.
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2021-04-20 Teachings of Jodo Shinshu 3 from 2021-04-25T22:19:14
All is a circle -- an exploration of some of the circles to be found in nature and in Mind.
Main Texts: River of Fire, River of Water: An Introduction to the Pure Land Tradition of Shin Buddhis...
2021-04-13 Teachings of Jodo Shinshu 2 from 2021-04-17T06:55:54
Learning from spiritual friends, practising humility.
Main text: River of Fire, River of Water by Taitetsu Unno
2021-03-21 Teachings of Jodo Shinshu 1 from 2021-04-03T04:00:03
What we can learn from the Japanese Pure Land tradition
Main Text: River of Fire, River of Water: An introduction to The Pure Land tradition of Shin Buddhism by Taitetsu Unno
2021-02-16 Vows, Faith, Compassion and Renunciation 2 from 2021-02-19T00:30:13
More on how and why our sitting practice is woven with vows. Examples of other formulations of vows within the Mahayana tradition.
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2019-07-23 End of Life Choice Bill from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Hastening our death: do we need to legalise assisted suicide, and why do so many people feel so strongly about this issue? Main text quoted: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
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2019-06-11 Moon by the Window from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Text used: Moon by the Window: The Calligraphy and Zen Insights of Shodo Harada.
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2019-05-21 Buddhanandi and Vasumitra from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Koan number 9 from Denkoroku.
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2019-01-10 Principles of Zen 1 from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
What is Zen? Reviewing some basics. Main Text(s) quoted: The Principles of Zen by Martine Batchelor
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2018-05-11 S23 Luzu Faces the Wall from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Luzu's plain and simple teaching is evidence of his deep faith in our potential to awaken. Main Text(s) quoted: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Fergusson
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2017-10-01 Review of the basics of zen practice from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Spring sesshin 2017 Day 1: Review of the basics of zen practice.
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2017-08-01 Opening our Heart to ourselves and the world from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
A guided meditation "Opening our Heart to ourselves and the world around us" by Hanya Gallagher.
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2016-12-13 Buddha and Politics from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Dharma talk by Kathryn Argetsinger. A look at the Cakkavattisihanada sutta (Sutta on the Lion's Roar of the Wheel-Turning Monarch), as well as at the impending era of Donald Trump.
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2021-01-26 Vows, Faith, Compassion and Renunciation from 2021-01-28T06:21:14
A look at four essential ingredients of our practice of the Buddhadharma, (besides zazen), and an introduction to Ko Ng? Oati e Wh? (the four great vows in te reo).
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2021-01-15 H18 The National Teacher's Seamless Monument from 2021-01-21T01:01:53
The Emperor of China doesn't understand the National Teacher's request for him to build a 'seamless monument'. After he dies, his heir Tangen recites a poem to answer the Emperor's query, saying, "...
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2021-01-14 H17 Kyorin's Sitting Long and Getting Tired from 2021-01-21T01:00:24
What is the meaning of Zen? What is the meaning of life?
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2021-01-13 Teachings of Zen Master Dahui 5 from 2021-01-21T00:58:43
How we cling to the self-identities we create, even when they are painful.
Main Source(s): Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui Translated by Christopher Cleary
2021-01-12 Teachings of Zen Master Dahui 4 from 2021-01-21T00:57:05
Renunciation is not an outward but an inward action, a gradual transformation of our attitude toward the world around us.
Main Source(s): Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Mast...
2021-01-11 Teachings of Zen Master Dahui 3 from 2021-01-21T00:57:04
Who or what is in the way of our waking up? How do we get out of the way?
Main Source(s): Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui Translated by Christopher Cleary
2021-01-10 Teachings of Zen Master Dahui 2 from 2021-01-21T00:56:53
How subjective emotional consciousness distorts our experience.
Main Source(s): Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui Translated by Christopher Cleary
2021-01-09 Teachings of Zen Master Dahui 1 from 2021-01-21T00:55:13
Some historical background on Master Dahui and his championing of koan practice.
Source(s): Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui Translated by Christopher Cleary, an...
2020-11-24 Chiyono's "No Water, No Moon" from 2020-11-28T05:00
Chiyono experiences enlightenment when the bottom falls out of her water bucket. How do we break out of fixed ways of seeing ourselves and framing the world? Absorption in a koan is a tried and tes...
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2020-11-10 "These Mountains, They Are in Pain" from 2020-11-17T02:02:33
A meeting between a Buddhist monk and a people in Colombia who understand that they are part of the living world, not separate from it.
Main Text: Running Toward Mystery; The Adventure of an Un...
2020-07-31 Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field 4 from 2020-11-02T22:16:53
"With total trust, roam and play in samadhi".
Main Text: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu, North Point Press San ...
2020-07-30 Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field 3 from 2020-11-02T22:00:05
"You must be broadminded, whole, without relying on others."
Main Text: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu, North P...
2020-07-29 Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field 2 from 2020-11-02T21:59:54
The bright, boundless field -- what is it? "Degrading situations" and how to avoid pursuing them.
Main Text: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi by Taige...
2020-07-28 Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field 1 from 2020-11-02T21:43:14
The life of Master Hongzhi
Main Text: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu, North Point Press San Francisco 1991
2020-10-25 Navigating by the stars from 2020-10-27T19:51:14
Words from two wise women -- Anne Salmond and Susan Murphy -- for Jacinda Ardern (and all of us) as many challenges loom.
Texts: Newsroom article, 18 October, 2020 Navigating by the stars ...
2020-10-20 Coming to the Path - Sally from 2020-10-27T19:47:33
Sally's Coming to the Path talk
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2020-09-26 Questions Raised by the Cannabis Legalisation Ref from 2020-10-08T22:00:44
How does cannabis legalisation relate to the precept of not taking intoxicants or causing others to do so? What legal framework will improve health and equity while reducing harm?
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2020-09-26 Term Intensive Introduction from 2020-10-08T21:54:44
Introduction to the Spring Term Intensive
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20-09-15 End Of Life Choice Referendum from 2020-09-22T01:34:54
The first precept is "Not to Kill, but to cherish all life." How does this guidance play into how we might vote on the proposed euthanasia legislation? How will the legalisation of assisted suiside...
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2020-07-30 Day Three 4-day Online Sesshin from 2020-09-10T05:00
Comments on Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field, 3: The Practice of True Reality
Main Source(s): Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translate...
2010-08-26 M 9 Daitsu Chisho Buddha from 2020-09-08T21:33:54
Why does Great Penetration Supreme Wisdom Buddha sit for 10 eons and not attain buddhahood?
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2020-08-25 Masters Dahui and Sheng Yen on Koan Practice 4 from 2020-09-08T21:31:03
What is the point of practice if so few experience deep awakening? Practice as a process of tenderising. St Francis and the wolf of Gubbio.
Main source: Shattering the Great Doubt: the Chan Pra...
2020-08-24 Masters Dahui and Sheng Yen on Koan Practice 3 from 2020-09-08T21:30:54
Pushing on an unlocked door that opens towards us -- getting beyond the self/other split
Main source: Shattering the Great Doubt: the Chan Practice of Huado by Chan Master Sheng Yen
2020-08-23 Masters Dahui and Sheng Yen on Koan Practice 2 from 2020-09-08T21:24:04
Some of the different forms our doubt may take.
Main source: Shattering the Great Doubt: the Chan Practice of Huado by Chan Master Sheng Yen
2020-08-22 Masters Dahui and Sheng Yen on Koan Practice 1 from 2020-09-08T21:20:33
The nature of Great Doubt and its origin in our sense of alienation
Main source: Shattering the Great Doubt: the Chan Practice of Huado by Chan Master Sheng Yen
2020-07-31 Day Four 4-day Online Sesshin from 2020-08-10T04:56:23
Comments on Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field, 4: With Total Trust Roam and Play in Samadhi
Main Source(s): Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzh...
2020-07-29 Day Two 4-day Online Sesshin from 2020-08-10T04:52:34
Comments on Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field, 2: The Bright, Boundless Field
Main Source(s): Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated ...
2020-07-28 Day One 4-day Online Sesshin from 2020-08-10T04:52:24
Comments on Master Hongzhi's Cultivating the Empty Field, 1: Biography of Master Hongzhi
Main Source(s): Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated ...
2020-07-28 Cultivating Delight from 2020-08-10T04:41:53
Comments on an interview with leading American poet Ross Gay where he describes how we can cultivate joy, delight and gratitude.
Main source(s): https://onbeing.org/programs/ross-gay-tendi...
2020-07-07 Matariki Jukai from 2020-07-14T03:45:23
Jukai : why and how we receive the 16 precepts, and do it more than once, plus some notes on understanding the 10 cardinal precepts in the light of the 3 resolutions -- to do no harm, to do good, a...
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2020-07-05 Dharma class Heart Sutra 4 from 2020-07-08T02:32:14
The fourth and last of the pre-Jukai Dharma classes on the Heart Sutra
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2020-06-28 Dharma Class - Heart Sutra 3 from 2020-06-29T23:36:43
The third in the series of dharma classes on the Heart Sutra
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2020-06-21 Dharma Class Heart Sutra 2 from 2020-06-28T20:04:13
The second class in the Heart Sutra series.
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2020-06-16 Black Lives Matter from 2020-06-21T03:33:04
Sometimes silence, so valued by us as students of Zen, is not enough. Of course all lives matter, but we need to affirm aloud that black and brown lives matter, as they are often devalued, disregar...
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2020-06-14 Dharma Class Heart Sutra 1 from 2020-06-16T20:38:23
The first in the series of classes on the Heart Sutra
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2020-06-02 Optimism, Pessimism, Realism from 2020-06-02T05:00
Bodhicitta (the intelligent heart, or aspiration to awaken for the sake of all) as a way of engaging with this time of great peril and great opportunity.
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2020-05-19 Lenses for Lock-down from 2020-05-25T01:21:06
Some of the ways the pandemic lock-down is being understood and how we might respond to this global upheaval in our own lives.
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2020-04-21 S:83 Daowu Tending the Sick from 2020-04-25T22:13:05
The Buddha said whoever would tend me should tend the sick. With what attitude should we tend the sick?
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2020-04-07 S94 Dongshan is Sick from 2020-04-15T01:08:10
Master Wansong comments on this story, "When the ancients were about to go, they frolicked in the realm of old age, sickness and death." How do you frolic in old age, sickness and death? Watch Mast...
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2020-03-24 H:87 Ummon's 'Medicine and sickness' from 2020-04-02T05:06:05
What is the nature of illness? What Is medicine? Ummon says that the whole earth is medicine, and asks what, then, is the self? How do things change when we approach the circumstances of our life f...
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2020-03-10 H3 Baso's 'Sun-faced Buddha, Moon-faced Buddha' from 2020-04-02T05:01:48
Zen teachings on sickness, death and healing.
Quoted text: In Love with the World by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
2020-02-09 Zen and Marriage - panel discussion from 2020-02-09T22:25:34
A panel discussion on zen and marriage with Hogen Green-sensei and his wife Cindy Eiho Green, of the Mountains and Rivers Order and Amala Sensei (Auckland Zen Centre) and her husband Richard v. Stu...
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2019-11-12 Coming to the Path - Hamish Bartle from 2020-02-09T22:16:57
Coming to the Path talk by Hamish Bartle
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2020-01-10 Master Chinul's "Straight Talk on the True Mind 6 from 2020-01-19T03:21:12
People often come to the Dharma because they want to transcend birth and death, sickness and old age, but masters of the past and present all grow old, get sick and die. How can we leave behind bir...
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2020-01-11 The Old Woman, Zhaozhou, and the Tiger from 2020-01-19T03:21:12
How do we deal with frightening things when they confront us, and how do we deal fear itself and the vicious cycles of anxiety?
Main Text: The Hidden Lamp, Stories fromTwenty-Five Centuries of ...
2020-01-09 Master Chinul's "Straight Talk on the True Mind 5 from 2020-01-19T03:16:55
True Mind is like "a jewel hidden in the mountain of form". It exists but is not perceived. "Ordinary people are those who are enlightened all day long without ever knowing it." Even amid the trou...
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2020-01-08 Master Chinul's "Straight Talk on the True Mind 4 from 2020-01-19T03:16:47
Chinul responds to the question "What is the essence of True Mind?", describes its functioning, and explores the similarities and differences between True Mind's essence and function.
Main Text...
2020-01-07 Master Chinul's "Straight Talk on the True Mind 3 from 2020-01-19T03:04:42
The importance of faith in the practice of the Path and the myriad names for True Mind in the Sutras and in Son (Zen).
Main Text: The Collected Works of Chinul, translated and with an introduc...
2020-01-06 Master Chinul's "Straight Talk on the True Mind 2 from 2020-01-19T03:04:31
Conclusion of biographical material and introduction to Chinul's teaching on True Mind.
Main Text: The Collected Works of Chinul, translated and with an introduction by Robert E. Buswell Jr., U...
2020-01-05 Master Chinul's "Straight Talk on the True Mind 1 from 2020-01-19T02:56:35
Biography of Twelfth Century Korean Master Chinul. One of the most important figures in Korean Buddhism, Chinul sought to unify the teachings of the sutras with those of Son (Zen in Japanese), the ...
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2019-11-27 Yashodhara's Path from 2020-01-19T02:51:58
An alternative story of the Buddha's home-leaving from the Sarvastivadin literature, and the parallel practice undertaken at home by his wife, Yashodhara, provide us with a model for lay practice....
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22019-10-08 Entangling vines (RvS) from 2019-10-22T20:20:24
A dharma talk by Richard von Sturmer.
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2019-09-10 Dogen sets the record straight 2 from 2019-10-22T20:19:52
Text used: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon
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2019-08-20 Dogen sets the record straight 1 from 2019-10-22T20:17:10
Text used: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon
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2019-08-06 Two stories from 2019-10-22T20:11:11
Text used: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon
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2019-07-05 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 7 from 2019-07-16T04:44:24
Entry through practice -- (4) practicing in accord with Dharma -- giving
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi S...
2019-07-04 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 6 from 2019-07-16T04:42:47
Entry through practice -- (3) craving nothing (continued)
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi Storandt and edi...
2019-07-03 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 5 from 2019-07-16T04:39:32
Entry through practice -- (3) craving nothing
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi Storandt and edited by Jane ...
2019-07-02 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 4 from 2019-07-16T04:37:56
Entry through practice -- (2) accepting circumstances
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi Storandt and edited ...
2019-07-01 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 3 from 2019-07-16T04:36:19
Entry through practice -- (1) requiting animosity
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi Storandt and edited by ...
2019-06-30 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 2 from 2019-07-16T04:34:09
Entry through Principle -- awakening to the essential
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi Storandt and edited ...
2019-06-29 Bodhidharma's Outline of Practice 1 from 2019-07-16T04:31:28
Bodhidharma's life and his direct pointing to the human heart
Main Text(s) quoted: The Path to Bodhidharma, the teachings of Shodo Harada Roshi. Translated by Priscilla Daichi Storandt and...
2019-06-25 The Sixteen Precepts from 2019-07-16T04:29:20
Ethical conduct is at the heart of our practice, not an "optional extra". Some notes about the significance of the precepts and of the Matariki Jukai ceremony.
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2019-04-09 Encouraging Words in Times of Crisis from 2019-04-12T15:45:57
Continuing on from the previous teisho, more on working with our darkest thoughts, especially tanha vibhava the craving for non-existence, aka the "pot of loathing". Plus four perspectives on our r...
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2019-03-26 Overwhelm and Other Afflictive Emotions from 2019-04-12T15:41:58
Some responses to questions from a student: "Given the enormous amount of destruction and suffering in the world how can we do everything that needs doing? How to we keep our hearts and minds wide ...
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2019-03-24 The Power of Love and Compassion from 2019-04-12T15:41:12
The Mosque shootings, white supremacy, non-violent climate action and "placing our fearful mind in the cradle of loving-kindness".
Main Text(s) quoted: "Why climate action is the antithesi...
2019-02-19 Discussing the climate crisis from 2019-03-02T11:57:46
Sensei comments on the sangha's discussion of the climate crisis.
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2019-01-16 Songgyong Doesn't Undress from 2019-01-27T16:10:02
Forgetting the self and being awakened by the 10,000 things
Text quoted: The Hidden Lamp ed Susan Moon and Florence Caplow ; Women on the Buddhist Path by Martine Batchelor
2019-01-15 Manseong's No Cultivation from 2019-01-27T16:04:31
The paradox of zen -- a practice which is both sudden and gradual
Text quoted: The Hidden Lamp ed Susan Moon and Florence Caplow
2019-01-14 Great Doubt 2 from 2019-01-27T16:00:12
Zazen as a way of dissolving the mirage of ego
Text quoted: Silent Illumination by Master Sheng Yen and John Crook
2019-01-13 Great Doubt 1 from 2019-01-27T15:56:22
The nature of questioning
Text quoted: The Faith to Doubt by Stephen Batchelor
2019-01-12 Principles of Zen 3 from 2019-01-27T15:54:45
Great faith, great courage, great questioning
Text quoted: The Principles of Zen by Martine Batchelor; The Faith to Doubt by Stephen Batchelor
2019-01-11 Principles of Zen 2 from 2019-01-27T15:52:33
Ethics,meditation and wisdom
Text quoted: The Principles of Zen by Martine Batchelor
2018-11-20 Ziyong's Earth from 2019-01-26T16:09:02
A story from "The hidden lamp", ed. Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.
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2018-10-30 Ted Smith Coming to the Path from 2018-11-03T16:41:48
Coming to the Path talk by Ted Smith.
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2018-09-08 Sonin's Shadeless Tree from 2018-09-20T00:58:52
Master Keizan asks, "What about right now? Sonin responds with a bow that contains everything.
Main Text(s) quoted: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women ed...
2018-09-07 The Old Woman and the Pure Land from 2018-09-20T00:57:16
A Zen Master learns from an elderly Pure Land practitioner -- and so can we. Notions of "self " and "other" drop away.
Main Text(s) quoted: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries o...
2018-09-06 Teachings of Master Bassui 5 from 2018-09-20T00:54:31
Arouse the mind with out its abiding anywhere Main Text(s) quoted: Mud and Water, The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, translated by Arthur Braverman
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2018-09-05 Teachings of Master Bassui 4 from 2018-09-18T17:02:03
The Six Perfections (Paramitas) are our Buddha-nature functioning.
Main Text(s) quoted: Mud and Water, The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, translated by Arthur Braverman
2018-09-04 Teachings of Master Bassui 3 from 2018-09-18T16:46:45
In what way is Zen "outside the sutras"?
Main Text(s) quoted: Mud and Water, The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, translated by Arthur Braverman
2018-09-03 Teachings of Master Bassui 2 from 2018-09-18T16:29:08
Bassui's Talk on One Mind -- invaluable instructions for working on a koan.
Main Text(s) quoted: The Three Pillars of Zen, compiled and edited by Philip Kapleau.
2018-09-02 Teachings of Master Bassui 1 from 2018-09-18T16:15:13
Master Bassui's Life
Main Text(s) quoted:
Mud and Water, The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, translated by Arthur Braverman
2018-08-28 Long Ancestral Line Series: Miccaka from 2018-09-18T15:28:09
Though we find clear waters ranging to the vast blue sky in autumn, how can it compare to the hazy moon on a spring night!
Main Text(s) quoted: The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master ...
2018-08-14 Long Ancestral Line Series: Dhritaka from 2018-09-18T14:38:07
What does it mean to "leave home?"
Main Text(s) quoted: The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan's Denkoroku, translated by Frances H. Cook
2018-07-03 Precepts 3 from 2018-07-06T19:45:22
A teisho on precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.
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2018-06-19 Precepts 2 from 2018-06-23T04:54:09
A teisho on the precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.
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2018-06-05 Precepts 1 from 2018-06-23T04:53:03
A teisho on the precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.
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2018-05-22 The Ancestral Line: Vasubandhu from 2018-05-26T13:36:54
A teisho in the series about the chant "The Ancestral Line".
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2018-05-12 S32 Yangshan's Mind and Environment from 2018-05-19T02:21:31
It is possible to get stuck in emptiness. More is needed for real living.
Main Text(s) quoted: The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen
2018-05-10 Cultivating the Empty Field 5 from 2018-05-19T02:12:21
Becoming an ox at the bottom of the mountain, or "Nothing distinguishes the enlightened person." (Yamada Koun-roshi)
Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of...
2018-05-09 Cultivating the Empty Field 4 from 2018-05-19T02:11:18
Review -- why do we come to sesshin and what do we do? Skillfully working with our mental obsessions, compulsions and delusions and entering the Hongzhi's "clear circle of brightness".
Main Tex...
2018-05-07 Cultivating the Empty Field 2 from 2018-05-19T01:59:14
"Murkiness remains": pros and cons and pitfalls of shikantaza and koan practice. What is the "field of boundless emptiness"? Some perspectives from quantum physics.
Main Text(s) quoted: Cultiva...
2018-05-06 Cultivating the Empty Field 1 from 2018-05-19T01:46:33
Biographical material and introduction to Master Hongzhi's teaching.
Main Text(s) quoted:
Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen D...
2018-04-24 Time in Zen from 2018-04-26T17:57:48
A dharma talk by Richard von Sturmer.
Text used: "Shobogenzo" by Dogen Zenji.
2018-03-27 The Ancestral Line - Ananda and Shanavasa from 2018-04-11T18:25:13
Second talk in the series about the Full Ancestral Line chant.
Note: the first part did not record and was re-recorded and attached to the original file.
2018-03-13 The Full Ancestral Line from 2018-03-15T21:02:22
A discussion of the Ancestral Line chant.
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2018-02-20 Pool of Radiance: Satsujo from 2018-03-15T20:54:11
Teisho in a series of teisho on women masters from the Pool of Radiance chant.
Text used: "The Hidden Lamp", ed. Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.
2018-01-13 H89 The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion from 2018-01-17T17:07:43
Day 7 of summer 7-day sesshin
How does Kannon do her work? How do we bring our practice into our daily activities?
2018-01-12 Vajira and Mara - the Emptiness of the Five Skand from 2018-01-17T17:05:32
Day 6 of summer 7-day sesshin
Texts: The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentary on the Therigatha by Susan Murcott
The Questions of King Milinda; An Abridgment of the Milindapanh...
2018-01-11 Four Essential Ingredients of Practice (5) from 2018-01-17T17:02:46
Day 5 of summer 7-day sesshin
Gratitude, Loving Kindness and Collective Karma
Text: Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-yen. Edited with Preface, Introductions...
2018-01-10 Four Essential Ingredients of Practice (4) from 2018-01-17T16:58:53
Day 4 of summer 7-day sesshin
Genuine Humility and Repaying Our Karmic Debts
Text: Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-yen. Edited with Preface, Introductions ...
2018-01-09 Four Essential Ingredients of Practice (3) from 2018-01-17T16:55:10
Day 3 of summer 7-day sesshin
Pride, Shame, Guilt versus Repentance Based on No-self
Text: Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-yen. Edited with Preface, Introd...
2018-01-08 Four Essential Ingredients of Practice (2) from 2018-01-17T16:51:53
Day 2 of summer 7-day sesshin
Entering the Great Ocean of Buddhism through Faith
Text: Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-yen. Edited with Preface, Introducti...
2018-01-07 Four Essential Ingredients of Practice (1) from 2018-01-17T16:50:07
Day 1 of summer 7-day sesshin
Right Effort -- going beyond ego-centredness
Text: Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-yen. Edited with Preface, Introductions an...
2017-12-12 Pool of Radiance teisho series from 2017-12-13T13:07:05
This teisho is a part of the series about the teachers in the new chant Pool of Radiance.
Text used: "The Hidden Lamp", edited by Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.
2017-11-28 Pool of Radiance teisho series from 2017-12-13T13:06
This teisho is a part of the series about the teachers in the new chant Pool of Radiance.
Text used: "The Hidden Lamp", edited by Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.
2017-11-14 Anxiety from 2017-11-14T13:55:05
How to deal with anxiety?
Text used: "My Age of Anxiety" by Scott Stossel
2017-10-24 The Bamboo Acrobat from 2017-10-26T19:58:08
Reading a Pali sutta: the Bamboo Acrobat.
Text used: Sedaka Sutta: The Bamboo Acrobat, translated by Andrew Olendzki.
2017-10-06 October Spring Sesshin Day 6 from 2017-10-12T18:35:12
Punna's Offering
Text: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Enlightened Buddhist Women edited by Susan Moon and Florence Caplow
(note: there is no recording from Day 7)
2017-10-05 October Spring Sesshin Day 5 from 2017-10-12T18:04:11
Working with Koans 4 -- Master Dahui and the senior nun Miaodao
Texts: Working with Koans by J.C. Cleary, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters by Grace Schireson
2017-10-04 October Spring Sesshin Day 4 from 2017-10-12T18:00:20
Working with Koans 3 -- Master Huangbo on Mu
Text: Working with Koans by J.C. Cleary
2017-10-03 October Spring Sesshin Day 3 from 2017-10-12T17:54:50
Working with Koans 2 -- Sweating Horses
Text: Working with Koans by J.C. Cleary
2017-10-02 Sesshin Day 2 Koan practice from 2017-10-11T01:52:45
Text used: "Illuminating silence" by Master Sheng Yen.
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2017-09-26 Why is practice so difficult? from 2017-10-11T01:37:58
Why does practice have to be so difficult? Sensei reads and comments on an email she received.
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2017-08-15 H62 Yunmen's One Jewel from 2017-08-16T23:27
A dharma talk by Richard von Sturmer on case 62 from the Blue Cliff Record.
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2017-02-28 Faith and Love 2 from 2017-07-11T19:14:14
Amala-sensei presents a series of reports on her 2016 3-month solo retreat.
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2017-07-04 Ling's Question from 2017-07-11T04:44:01
A talk in the series on female zen masters.
Text used: "The Hidden Lamp" Edited by Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.
2017-06-06 Repentance from 2017-06-15T01:32:20
A talk on repentance, apologising and the importance of humility in out Dharma practice
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2017-05-22 from 2017-06-06T00:57:48
2017 Autumn Sesshin day 2
Text cited: "Zen Dawn: Early Zen Texts from Tun Huang, translated by by J.C. Cleary."
2017-05-09 Surrender 2 from 2017-05-09T20:22:11
Dharma talk by Kathryn Argetsinger on surrender practice in daily life. Text quoted: 'Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening' by Cynthia Bourgeault
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2017-04-11 Surrender 1 from 2017-04-11T21:24:42
Dharma talk by Kathryn Argetsinger on what we can learn from centring prayer, a Christian form of meditation practice. Text quoted: 'Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening' by Cynthia Bourgeault.
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2017-03-28 Faith and Love 4 from 2017-04-11T21:10:28
Amala-sensei presents a series of reports on her 2016 3-month solo retreat.
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2017-03-14 Faith and Love 3 from 2017-03-21T20:43:48
Amala-sensei presents a series of reports on her 2016 3-month solo retreat.
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2017-02-07 Faith and Love 1 from 2017-02-24T07:00:28
Amala-sensei presents a series of reports on her 2016 3-month solo retreat.
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2017-01-24 Disappointment from 2017-02-24T06:33:13
Dharma talk by Kathryn Argetsinger. Reading and discussion of selections from "Nothing Special" by Joko Beck.
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2016-11-29 Adrian Croucher: Coming to the Path from 2016-11-30T19:55:08
Coming-to-the-path talk by Adrian Croucher. How he came to be practicing Zen.
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2016-11-15 Love Buddha Heart 2 from 2016-11-24T16:35:54
Second part of a Dharma talk by Grant George.
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2016-10-11 H29 It Goes Along With Everything Else from 2016-11-24T16:33
Dharma Talk by Richard von Sturmer.
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2016-09-20 Steps on the Eightfold Path from 2016-11-24T16:30:16
Dharma Talk by Hanya Gallagher. Discussion of the significance of the Eightfold Noble Path for our practice, focusing on the mental discipline aspects: Right View, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, ...
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2016-09-06 Practicing from 2016-11-24T16:29:57
Dharma talk by Kathryn Argetsinger. Commenting on the movie "Seymour: An Introduction" by Ethan Hawke (2014). Parallels between musical practice and the practice of zazen. What is our practice? Wha...
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2016-09-03 M48 Kempo's One Road from 2016-11-24T16:29:24
What is Nibbana/Nirvana? Where is it? Is it an "it"?
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2016-09-02 Metta Sutta 6 from 2016-11-24T16:28:19
Sublime abiding and non-abiding. Metta that flows naturally into no-mind and nibbana.
Main Text(s) quoted: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness (Sn 1.8), translated from ...
2016-09-01 Metta Sutta 5 from 2016-11-24T16:26:27
The destructiveness of ill-will, towards others and towards oneself.
Texts quoted: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness (Sn 1.8), translated from the Pali by The Amaravat...
2016-08-31 Metta Sutta 4 from 2016-11-24T16:23:26
Benevolence -- how to wish well. The actual instructions on metta bhavana.
Texts quoted: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness (Sn 1.8), translated from the Pali by The Am...
2016-08-30 Metta Sutta 3 from 2016-11-24T15:56:59
More on frugality. Guarding the six sense-doors and mastering oneself. Metta and service.
Texts quoted: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness (Sn 1.8), translated from the...
2016-08-29 Metta Sutta 2 from 2016-11-24T15:55:53
A foundation of virtue is needed before we can meditate effectively. The precepts, or non-harm, as benevolence in action. A close look at the Sutta up to “Unburdened with duties and frugal in their...
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2016-08-28 Metta Sutta 1 from 2016-11-24T15:54:14
Why we have introduced the Pali Karaniya Metta Sutta into our early morning chanting service in sesshin, and an introduction to the Sutta.
Main Text(s) quoted: Karaniya Metta Sutta: The Buddha'...
2016-08-16 Sei and Her Soul Are Separated from 2016-11-24T15:53:10
Description: When we are torn, when our longings pull us in different directions, when we feel pinned on the horns of some dilemma, or literally in two minds about something, what is our True Self?...
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2016-06-21 Giving Rise to the Doubt Mass from 2016-11-24T15:51:31
Some basic instruction on working on one's first koan.
Text cited: What is This Tricycle Article by Martine Batchelor and Shattering the Great Doubt by Master Sheng Yen.
2016-05-21 Kakuzan Shido’s Dagger from 2016-11-24T15:48:16
Kakuzan Shido, founder of Tokei-ji, challenged about her ability to teach, brings forth a dagger. Was her act a violent one? What role do such extreme actions play in Zen? What role does pressure (...
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2016-05-20 M38 A Buffalo Passes Through a Window from 2016-11-24T15:45:52
Why can’t the buffalo’s tiny tail pass through the window when his head, horns and legs all do? How come, even after we have seen into the emptiness of all things do we still have unfinished busine...
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2016-05-19 The Old Woman’s Enlightenment 4 from 2016-11-24T15:43:55
Putting kensho in perspective; the importance of cultivating compassion as well as wisdom.
Text(s) quoted: The Hidden Lamp, Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplo...
2016-05-18 The Old Woman’s Enlightenment 3 from 2016-11-24T15:41:59
A continuation of the above. Kensho as a third step of the Ten Oxherding Pictures.
Text(s) quoted: The Hidden Lamp, Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Su...
2016-05-17 The Old Woman’s Enlightenment 2 from 2016-11-24T15:37:01
What is the enlightenment referred to in the story? What do we mean when we talk about enlightenment and kensho? Do these terms as they
are used in the Three Pillars of Zen, mislead us? Roshi ...
2016-05-16 The Old Woman’s Enlightenment 1 from 2016-11-23T23:48:12
Prompted by a teisho from Master Hakuin, an old woman looks deeply into her heart day and night until she sees her own mind as the Pure Land, her body as that of Amitabha Buddha. She sees the great...
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2016-05-15 Shotaku’s Paper Sword from 2016-11-23T23:29:29
Shotaku, third abbess of Tokei-ji, fends off an armed attacker with nothing more than a rolled up piece of paper and the force of her finely honed ki. Acknowledging our fears, we can act with coura...
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