Teachings
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Dharmatalk: Bodhidharma’s Vast and Void
February 8, 20221 min read
"... ultimate meaning of the holy truth ... Vast and void, no holiness ..." Description: Guest speaker and Sanbo Zen teacher Hannelore Mueller opens this beautiful talk recognizing the seriousness and major impact of Covid 19 world wide. We are asked to learn the intimacy of life, sickness and death, and to pay attention to the personal responsibility of our common fate. Hannelore next speaks on the koan, Bodhidharma's Vast and Void. When Bodhidharma arrived in...
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Sangha Meeting Minutes from January 29, 2022
February 6, 202212 min read
January 29, 2022 Sangha Meeting Minutes The meeting was held on zoom. 58 attendees were present. Agenda approved by those present Minutes from the October 30, 2021 sangha meeting were also approved. Teacher’s Reports Written versions of Henry and Valerie’s reports are at the end of these minutes. Financial Report, Presented by Johanna Sindelar Mountain Cloud ended 2021 in strong financial postion. Looking at the financial report from 2021, we saw a total income of about $381,000 which is quite high in comparison...
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Zen’s True Blindness: Dharma Talk with Valerie Forstman (video)
February 5, 20221 min read
In this talk from January 6, 2022, Valerie welcomes the new year and acknowledges the occasion by taking up ‘Unmon’s Bright Light,’ Blue Cliff Record case 86, together with readings from Jacques Lusseyran’s memoir, ‘And There Was Light.’ https://youtu.be/jM3ZWpE_XCU Recorded in our virtual zendo on January 6, 2022 Photo by Risto Kokkonen on Unsplash
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The Heart’s Wide Clarity, Valerie Forstman
February 2, 20222 min read
In the heart’s wide clarity, all things gather, but the heart is never overcrowded. ~ Ross Bolleter, composer and Zen teacher Zen practice is an invitation to sit in silence and discover the heart’s wide clarity. This discovery may come gradually, calming our nervous systems, melting our sense of boundedness, easing us towards more wellbeing and more agency in our lives. Or, within the context of a settled practice, there may come a sudden shift in experience, a...
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Dharmatalk: The Oak Tree in the Garden
February 1, 20221 min read
"... has a strange power to remove and delete delusions, concepts and unnecessary attachments ..." Description: Listen to this personal and powerful talk from Carmen Afable, Sanbo Zen teacher from Manilla. Carmen presents Case 37 from the Mumonkan cannon (The Gateless Gate), The Oak Tree in the Garden. Ryoun Roshi says this koan "has a strange power to remove and delete delusions, concepts and unnecessary attachments." And, here's a link to our YouTube video of this talk. Also,...
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Meditation Tip from Valerie, Present Moment Awareness
January 29, 20221 min read
If you wish to attain suchness, practice suchness immediately. ~ Eihei Dogen, Fukanzazengi Another translation of this famous line from Dogen reads, “If you want to realize suchness, practice suchness without delay.” Suchness is what we are, just as we are. Without delay means now, this very moment. Whatever we may seek in cultivating a daily practice of zazen, it is nowhere but here. Whatever draws us to the exploration of silent sitting, the only time it can unfold...
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Sitting Nowhere, Leaving no Traces
January 28, 20227 min read
By Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, 2000 I am one of those who find Japanese architecture and interior design extraordinarily beautiful. This has been true for a long time. In the very early days of my practice Japanese style surroundings seemed to be a necessary part of zazen, even if in a big old landmark house in Riverdale, New York. It wasn’t a monastery in Japan, but ZCNY did its best to imitate one. This worked...
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Radiating Love: Wednesdays with Will Brennan (video)
January 28, 20221 min read
In his Wednesday December 15 talk, Will talks about a couple of aspects of the journey of coming home. He refers to and quotes from Norman Fischer's book about Homer's Odyssey, Sailing Home. There are no maps for this journey... it takes effort, courage, fun, effort and intimacy. Will embellishes his talk from his many years of life with Zen practice. https://youtu.be/oCPM_Gtv80Y Recorded in our zendo on December 15, 2021 Photo by Sarah Cassady on Unsplash...
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Meditation Tip from Valerie, Three Fruits
January 27, 20222 min read
For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace Zen is a path of practice that invites us to experience and embody ever deeper authenticity. Over time, silent sitting acts as a solvent for our assumed views, the grid of judgments and measures we set up and defend. As it unfolds, softening our hearts and opening us to the moment at hand, this path can yield...
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