Teachings
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Dharmatalk (Guest): John Gaynor: Zen Master Dôgen Kigen (Part 1 of 2)
June 27, 20191 min read
"... If one person is harmonizing this experience of Dogen’s, then we all are ..." Description: John Gaynor is a Zen Teacher with The Oxford Zen Centre. This wonderful talk was presented at The Meditatio Centre in London. Using the wisdom gleaned from Master Dôgen’s first work, Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Sitting Meditation), the why, how and what of meditation is explored. It begins with an overview of Dôgen’s life (1200-1253). This talk was hosted by...
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Dharmatalk: Case 84, Book of Equanimity:Gutei’s One Finger
June 20, 20191 min read
"... Whatever you experience, if you can see it clearly, it shows itself to be hollow, empty, insubstantial ..." Description: In Case 84, Master Gutei responds to whatever he is asked with the same gesture—he holds up one finger. Where is the wisdom in his teaching? Where is the compassion? This talk explores these questions, beginning with the story of how Gutei came to a moment of profound awakening after surrendering and deciding to seek help. Post...
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Dharmatalk: Infinite Heart Opening (Practice Basics)
June 13, 20191 min read
"... The Way is never apart from you right where you are ..." Description: There are a myriad of ways to parse the human experience and find clarity. This talk is a basic overview of practice, beginning with the centrality of breath and closing with beautiful words from Master Dogen. Post & Featured image: Forest by PublicDomainPictures, Pixabay License.
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Dharmatalk: Case 83, Book of Equanimity: Dôgo’s Nursing the Ill
June 6, 20191 min read
"... The whole universe is offering unconditional love ..." Description: The focus of this talk is Case 83, which features Master Isan and Master Dôgo. These masters are completely free; they have thoroughly seen through self and world and the delusion of separateness is gone. How do we nurse the ill and help all become free from suffering? There is a path and it leads to boundless compassion. Post & Featured image: Love by klimkin, Pixabay License.
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Dharmatalk: Case 82, Book of Equanimity: “Sound” and “Color”
May 30, 20191 min read
"... It’s about entering the moment in a more immediate, intimate and clearer way ..." Description: In the koan, “Sound” and “Color,” Master Unmon is essentially talking about the main emphasis of Zen—the experience of waking up. This can be suddenly triggered by one of our sense channels. What is a sense experience? When we are still in our minds and bodies, it is possible for this to become clear and boundless love reveals itself. Post & Featured...
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Dharmatalk: Case 19, The Gateless Gate: Ordinary Mind is the Way
May 23, 20191 min read
"... Ordinary experience is extraordinarily miraculous. It is “as vast and boundless as the great empty sky ..." Description: This talk focuses on a teaching story from very early in Master Jôshû’s training with his teacher, Master Nansen. Nansen tells Jôshû that the ordinary mind is the Way. What is ordinary mind? What is the Way? Ordinary experience is extraordinarily miraculous. It is “as vast and boundless as the great empty sky” and it is always right here. Post...
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Can Buddhism Meet the Climate Crisis? Part 2 of 2, by David Loy
May 18, 201913 min read
“...clinging to emptiness” can function in the same way as cosmological dualism, both of them devaluing this world and its problems If you missed part one of this article by David Loy, click here to read it. The Challenge A few years ago I was reading a fine book by Loyal Rue, titled Everybody’s Story: Wising Up to the Epic of Evolution, and came across a passage that literally stopped me in my tracks, because it crystallized so...
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Dharmatalk: Case 28, Book of Equanimity: Gokoku’s “Three Disgraces”
May 16, 20191 min read
"... At the deepest level, nothing is separate from the Dharma ..." Description: This talk focuses on Henry’s trip to Germany, beginning in Nuremberg, then on to Benediktushof, a former Benedictine monastery, now a spiritual center, then to Sonnenhof Zen Center in the Black Forest, and, finally, to Domicilium, a joint hospice and Zen center. This leads into Case 28 where Gokoku expresses what Buddha realized. At the deepest level, nothing is separate from the Dharma,...
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