Teachings
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The Swinging Door, Shunryu Suzuki
July 27, 20191 min read
What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. When we practice zazen our mind always follows our breathing. When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is limitless. We say "inner world" or "outer world," but actually there is just one whole world. In this...
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Dharmatalk: A Path of Peace (Practice Pointers)
July 25, 20191 min read
"... When we allow what is, space magically appears ..." Description: This is the first talk of the Fall 2018 sesshin. Specific pointers to aid us in allowing deeper states of meditation are discussed, beginning with two ways we can practice with the mind: disciplined focus on our chosen object of awareness, and backing off entirely, letting it all just be. Post & Featured image: Kingfisher Bird by Timo Schluter, Pixabay License.
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Casa, by Rosa Bellino
July 20, 20191 min read
Casa a place I must leave I know Each step carved on the wheel of life a circle that never ends a circle of ever new vistas in a world I do not yet know and yet... Casa a place I know must return to as I walk on the path that will bring me back home where I belong where it all began Casa the place I comeback to in every season without knowing why without a thought without a reason Casa I sit in the old chair waiting for me without a word we touch we know each other well All...
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Dharmatalk: Maura Noone: Allow It All
July 18, 20191 min read
"... Allow whatever's happening ... and let this practice just swallow you up ..." Description: In this heart-felt and profound account of some of the ways that practice has helped her, Maura Noone, a Senior Student at Mountain Cloud, shares some of the challenging circumstances of her life, and shows in clear and illuminating ways how the Zen practice of being still and of taking koans deep into our meditation, has transformed her life. Full of...
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How Buddhist is Modern Buddhism? Book Review and Analysis by David Loy
July 13, 201911 min read
Ultimately, the fundamental issue is not Buddhist interaction with scientific reductionism or Romanticism but how the Buddhism that is emerging might best address the individual and collective dukkha [suffering] of our time. Buddhism was the first major missionary religion, and by all accounts it seems to have spread peacefully. The merchants and monks who transported the dharma did not accompany conquering armies or attempt to defeat the local gods. Most often, Buddhism engaged with native traditions...
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Dharmatalk (Guest): Ruben Habito: World in a Grain of Sand
July 11, 20191 min read
To see a World in a Grain of Sand; And a Heaven in a Wild Flower ~William Blake Description: This talk was given by Ruben Habito Roshi, founding teacher of Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, TX. Beginning with William Blake’s poem, “Auguries of Innocence,” we are invited to glimpse our true nature. Words and concepts can only point to this reality— but in stillness, with open hearts, we can become it. The basic guidelines of Zen...
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Uji – Being-Time, Dogen
July 6, 20191 min read
An old Buddha said: For the time being, I stand astride the highest mountain peaks. For the time being, I move on the deepest depths of the ocean floor. For the time being, I'm three heads and eight arms. For the time being, I'm eight feet or sixteen feet. For the time being, I'm a staff or a whisk. For the time being, I'm a pillar or a lantern. For the time being, I'm Mr. Chang or Mr. Li. For the time being,...
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Dharmatalk (Guest): John Gaynor: Zen Master Dôgen Kigen (Part 2 of 2)
July 4, 20191 min read
Description: This is the second part of a talk given by John Gaynor, a Zen Teacher with The Oxford Zen Centre. The why, how and what of meditation is explored, using the wisdom gleaned from Master Dôgen’s first work, Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Sitting Meditation). It closes with an engaging question and answer period. Click here for Part 1. This talk was hosted by Meditatio and recorded by WCCM and is being published with their permission. Post...
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Breathe Truth into the Word
June 29, 20191 min read
Poetry does not care If you like it or not Rhymes may care What you write How you write But true poetry doesn't care About the words you use It only cares About the silence you sing The pauses The stillness That breathes into your voice The invisible wind That carries each letter Each sound on to the page Into the space.. Time and space Weaved together Till the All sings In you - in me... It sings without boundaries Without limits In the heart of a flower In the heart of a child that reaches for the stars In the...
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