Teachings
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Dharmatalk: The Unadjusted Step
March 1, 20221 min read
The unadjusted step is a way of naming this moment. Valerie Forstman Description: Valerie Forstman offers this post-election talk and acknowledges our deeply divided nation. She introduces the taoist concept of the unadjusted step - stay where you are and don't move, as a way to face this moment. Despite our division, separation doesn't hold well. Valerie also explores the famous koan about Master Baa who is near death - Sun Faced Buddha, Moon Faced Buddha. And,...
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Day Three of Exploring the Wild World of Koans Retreat – February 5, 2022 (videos)
February 28, 20221 min read
Returning to the Case 11 from the Gateless Gate, Henry ponders on the idea of the “Gateless Gate” itelf. Why a gate? How do we get that there is nothing to get? That there is no gate, and that there never was. Henry invites all to revisit the case of Joshu to find that All is One and that there are no divisions despite what we may think. https://youtu.be/QFKWmKCa8W0 Featured photo by Mark Paul Petrick Later that afternoon,...
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Why We Sit, Valerie Forstman
February 27, 20222 min read
When asked, “Why do you sit?” students new to the practice as well as longtime sitters offer a variety of responses. Some say, “I sit to cultivate present moment awareness,” or “to deepen my sense of peace and well-being.” Others say, “I sit for the well-being of the whole world,” or “I sit to foster wisdom and compassion, to come home to the reality of what it is to be truly human.” There’s also the...
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Day Two of Exploring the Wild World of Koans Retreat – February 4, 2022 (videos)
February 22, 20221 min read
Henry asks, What is mindfulness? Compassion? Wisdom? In honor of great Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Henry recalls a visit to the Deer Park Monastery in which the only object on the altar of their vast Dharma hall was a simple calligraphy saying only “This Is It.” Henry launches into Case 11, Joshu Examines the Hermit, reasoning as to why the same question and response can ellicit a different outcome. https://youtu.be/zOukISvSXBo Featured photo by Mark Paul Petrick Later...
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Dharmatalk: Samadhi, Unification
February 22, 20221 min read
"... samadhi ... bringing together or unification ..." Description: Our Sanbo Zen lineage has traditionally focused on kensho (sudden awakening) experiences which offer a complete, though often brief, shift in how we see reality. To attain this shift, practitioners sit on a cushion and meditate with little instruction. This changed in the 1940s when Zen opened to western seekers and laity. An early introductory document written during this time period listed three aims for Zen, the...
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Day One of Exploring the Wild World of Koans Retreat – February 3, 2022 (videos)
February 20, 20221 min read
In this first talk from the Exploring the Wild World of Koans retreat, Valerie takes up Mu as a gateway to what koans are and how they can bring about an intimate recognition of what we truly are. When the thread of our fixed assumptions about self and world is plucked, Mu rushes in. In that moment, we may see through the weave on the loom and find ourselves at home in this world just...
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Life is Not Suffering: Dharma Talk with Rick Hanson (video)
February 19, 20221 min read
It is said that the Buddha teaches only suffering and its end, but what is suffering? Guest speaker Rick Hanson attempts to define this suffering, challenging that suffering is only a small part of everything that exists. Understanding this can help break the pattern of seeing meditation and mindfulness practices as a solution to suffering, rather than a practice worth immersing yourself in. While there is suffering in this world, this world is not all...
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Picking and Pecking: Dharma Talk with Will Brennan (video)
February 19, 20221 min read
“Pecking from the inside is an act of opening the heart.” Expanding on his last Wednesday night talk, assistant teacher Will Brennan revisits the story of Joe and his wild turkeys, connecting it to case 16 of the Blue Cliff Record. https://youtu.be/p7vBdlc-55U Recorded in our zendo on January 20, 2022 Photo by Dominik Dancs on Unsplash
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Coming Home,Valerie Forstman
February 17, 20222 min read
The true Buddha is sitting in the recesses of the house Joshu (Chao-chou) There’s a short memoir by the American Zen master, James Ishmael Ford, about his experience on the Zen path entitled, If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break. The title points to all the ways our human hearts break in the course of navigating our lives and to the fundamental invitation of Zen practice - to let your heart break all the way open. This may not...
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Dharmatalk: Fierce Compassion
February 15, 20221 min read
"... This very moment is awakening ..." Description: Valerie Forstman's dharma talk probes Case 23 from the Blue Cliff Record, Hofuku and Chokei on an Outing. Hofuku says "This very moment is awakening. Exactly," responds Chokei, "but it's regrettable." And, here's a link to our YouTube video of this talk. Also, check out our Upcoming Events: Original Love 2022 – SIX-WEEK COURSE AND RETREAT: MINDFULNESS, SELF-LOVE AND AWAKENING. Post & Featured Image (edited): Small river flows through the rocks in the...
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No Cover or Fence: Zazenkai with Valerie Forstman (video)
February 13, 20221 min read
In this talk from the first Zazenkai of the New Year, Valerie turns to the life and poetry of Qiyuan Xinggang, a 17th c. Chinese nun, master, and abbess, whose experience invites us to find our seat on a meditation cushion with ‘no cover or fence.’ There we can bare our hearts, drop our assumptions, and find our home in this achingly broken world without the slightest gap. https://youtu.be/mtC0sjZT4CU Recorded in our virtual zendo on January 15,...
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Methods of Practice,Valerie Forstman
February 9, 20221 min read
Art by Christy Hengst A single meditation cushion has no cover or fence. Qiyuan Xinggang Sitting in silence and becoming at home in our own breath is an ancient practice that is as contemporary as the present moment. Some 2500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama was moved to search for a resolution to all suffering. Deeply determined, nearly dying of his austerities, the one who became the Buddha - “awakened” - turned to a middle way. He sat down under...
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