Recording Category: Dharma Talks
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.
Kakumyo describes a recent (experimental) sesshin he participated in and some of the lessons learned for trusting and deepening meditation.
Genko continues a series looking at the six perfections (paramitas) with Virya, sometimes translated as Energy. Dale Wright says in The Six Perfections: “Virya mean[s] the energy of accomplishment, the effort, courage, and power to see spiritual endeavor through to its completion. Viryaparamita is the perfection of this energy, the power of unyielding commitment to… Read more »
Every year toward the end of September we celebrate the contribution of Eihei Dogen and Keizan Jokin to the establishment of Soto Zen. Dogen is considered the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, having brought it from China in the 1200s. Keizan, four generations later, popularized it and was instrumental in its spread.
Genko continues to examine the six Perfections (Paramitas) and this month looks at Kshanti, translated variously as patience, tolerance, and forebearance. Patience has gotten a lot of press in Buddhist teachings, being considered a central virtue. According to Dale Wright, who wrote The Six Perfections, “Bodhisattvas who have trained in this virtue are imperturbable and… Read more »
Zen master Bankei said, “Rather than trying to become a buddha, nothing could be simpler than taking the shortcut of remaining a buddha!” We are that which we long for. In the original spirit of Zen, we focus on direct experience. We recognize that we are, already, the Buddha.
Fall term is in effect and practice is flowing. This Sunday Kakumyo will talk about one way we may notice the effects of contemplative practice, and how to make good use of this phenomenon.
With the shift towards cooler weather and the return of rain, the mind naturally turns towards fall practice. The beginning of Ango, with a Term Opening Ceremony and the Daoren Entering Ceremony, mark a starting point for particular sets of vows or intentions. (During the Term Opening Ceremony, each of us will have the opportunity… Read more »