Recording Category: Dharma Talks

Buddhists around the world have been celebrating the Buddha’s enlightenment this past week. This week’s talk is a reflection on the Buddha’s life and how so many elements of his story serve as a support for all of us today who walk the spiritual path.

The World-Honored One ascended the seat and Manjusri announces, “Clearly observe the Dharma of the King of Dharma; the Dharma of the King of Dharma is thus.” Then the World Honored One descended from the seat.” What is this mysterious and unspoken wisdom? How do we find it? Dogen called it “brightness,” and said we… Read more »

Genko has been working with a new Buddhist approach to recovery from addiction, called Refuge Recovery. Using the Three Refuges, Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path, the approach takes the strengths of the 12-step movement, replaces the Steps with the Path, and increases the emphasis on meditation as a tool for recovery. Through… Read more »

Shin’ei endeavors to reacquaint us with depth in the arts, to encourage us to look with different eyes. She speaks to the rediscovery of soul in Buddhism and American culture by way of Karma: a rich, colorful, and creative source.

For whom have you washed off your splendid makeup? The cuckoo’s call urges you to return. Zen practice is endlessly subtle and ever-changing. Is the dance a waltz or a tango? When we first come to practice, we “see through a glass darkly” and later “face to face.” What is it that moves us forward?… Read more »

Kate Wolf sang, “Give yourself to love, if love is what you’re after.” Why is it so hard to give ourselves to each other? What holds us back from real intimacy? As individuals and as a community, we carry many patterns of fear and withdrawal, but we also have the opportunity to see and be… Read more »

If you watch your mind with any regularity, you’ve noticed that awareness is heightened when we realize that things are not as we expect, and is lowered when we perceive things as routine. But, like all generalizations, there are exceptions. Understanding these provides some useful handholds for practice.

On October 12, Abbot Gyokuko Carlson took on a Zen koan that goes like this: Dogo and Zen-gen went to a house to show sympathy. Zen-gen hit the coffin and asked, “Alive or dead?” Dogo replied, “I won’t say alive, I won’t say dead.” Zen-gen demanded, “Why won’t you say?” Dogo repeated, “I won’t say.”… Read more »

On Sunday, September 28, we did our annual Two Ancestors memorial service to honor Eihei Dogen and Keizan Jokin. Genko talked about honoring our ancestors, and of course this included some talk of Kyogen as he takes his place in the ancestral line. Who are our ancestors? How do we honor them? Why do we… Read more »

People often use the metaphor of climbing a mountain when describing spiritual practice. For example: “there are many paths but they lead up the same mountain.” There are number of problems with this view. The main one is that spiritual attainment has many different facets, and we confuse ourselves by rolling them together. “Mountain” might… Read more »

For the first Ango Sunday in fall 2014, Bukkai referenced a Pete Seeger song, with words from the book of Ecclesiastes: To everything – turn, turn, turn There is a season – turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven.

What is “sacred?” Why have we human beings, throughout our existence on this earth, nearly universally created rituals and images invoking the sacred? How do we use the word today, and just what does it really mean? What then, if anything, fits that definition? Does Buddhism, specifically Zen, point us toward the sacred? What about… Read more »

This Dharma Talk is about actively engaging in the practice of not criticizing, and specifically not complaining. Taking the practice of cultivating acceptance off the cushion and into all the situations and people we encounter in the course of our lives is quite a challenge. Is it even possible to really do this practice of… Read more »

Everything is always changing; on what can we rely? All passes away. Where is our ground? We seek for something and it is pulled away. The Buddha repeatedly predicted perfect enlightenment – Buddhahood – for all beings; how can this be true if everything is conditioned and dependent and changing? The word sometimes used for… Read more »

This Dharma Talk is about Gratitude. Kakumyo finds much to be thankful for.

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