Recording Category: Dharma Talks

Anicca, or Impermanence, looms large among our basic Buddhist teachings. It’s one of the three characteristics of existence and is intimately related to the Four Noble Truths. Impermanence seems pretty straightforward – everything changes. It’s pretty easy to accept that intellectually, but not so easy to live in congruence with it. Why do we struggle… Read more »

Several people became lay disciples this week. The decision to enter a formal teaching relationship is a serious one. But it’s not magic – teaching takes place both in and out of such a relationship. What does a teacher do? How do we work with the embodiment in front of us?

Especially during challenging times or when experiencing personal difficulties, we can find comfort by focusing on our core practice – our Soto style of Zen. Fumyo highlights some practical aspects of our Soto Zen including its beginnings as a unique style and its subtle pragmatism. He also touches on deep questions at the heart of… Read more »

Keeping things dry in an Oregon winter can be tough, but not as difficult as not leaking our practice intention. This Sunday, we’ll explore the process of diverting attention on a few different timescales, and find some tips to keep this from happening.

This Sunday we’re in for a special treat. Kosho Finch, a Shingon priest and the new reverend of the Henjyoji Temple, will do a talk on Fudo-Myoo and Kojin, represented in chants that we do regularly (particularly the Fudo Ceremony). Fudo is the statue to the right of Manjushri in front of the hall (to… Read more »

Several Sangha members are involved in DRZC’s prison program, as volunteers, adults in custody, and prison grads. Many DRZC members don’t have a clear sense of who these folks are, how the program works, or what involvement in it might look like, so every few years we like to report back. Grads and volunteers talked… Read more »

The Buddha told us to find good friends, and keep them close. What does this mean to a person of practice? How do we manage relationships? What is intimacy and companionship on the Path?

Both Shakyamuni Buddha and Eihei Dogen gave their last dharma teaching on the same topic. We’ll look at this teaching, a description of the marks of practice, and why both teachers felt it was so important for their students to remember.

It’s a time of year when we look forward and back, and we can look to our lineage ancestors to provide us with inspiration for the future. Genko talks about the many ways we share stories and how that practice creates, maintains, and continues to build Sangha for all of us.

Jyoshin speaks of the need for honoring deep winter by taking some down time. We close down the temple for two weeks partly as a way of following the direction of the earth in resting in the darkness and the cold.

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This Sunday, Jyoshin spoke about honoring lineage and tradition and at the same time exploring the tension between valuing and connecting with what we’ve done before while also responding to current conditions.

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