Below is a selection of the Sydney Zen Centre podcasts published on Soundcloud.
If you are interested in listening to more, click here for access to all of SZC podcasts.
Peter reflects on the interaction between Venerable Ananda and Venerable Kāśyapa, highlighting Keizan’s assertion that true transmission goes beyond lineage to awakening our shared Buddha Nature. Ananda's journey underscores the importance of recognizing and shedding our illusions of separation. By embodying this truth, we can realize our potential for awakening and extend that understanding to...
Read MoreIn this talk, Peter examines the pivotal moment when Mahākāśyapa smiled in response to the Buddha holding up a flower, marking the transmission of the "true dharma eye." He explores the deeper significance of the "flower sermon," illustrating how this story extends beyond its mythical origins to represent the living nature of realisation today. Peter invites...
Read MorePeter delves into the transformative awakening of Śākyamuni Buddha as he gazed upon the morning star. The Buddha's declaration, "I, and the great earth and beings, simultaneously achieve the Way," signifies a realisation that transcends individuality. Keizan’s commentary reinforces this shared experience, with Tiantong Rujing showing us how realisation connects across time and space. Peter...
Read MoreWill considers that Zen cannot be taught. All the ideas we accumulate from listening to talks and reading books are not 'it'. As useful as they are at times, they are the accumulation of just more concepts and ideas. It is only through our great enquiry that we awaken. This teisho, referring to Huang Po...
Read MoreWill explores how we might view our pain differently. Rather than fleeing and avoiding pain, how we might also awaken to the fact that our pain and struggles are also the true dharma. He refers to Case 3 of the Blue Cliff Record: Sun Faced Buddha, Moon Faced Buddha This teisho was given by apprentice...
Read More“Where have you been?’ is a common opening phrase from the teacher in many koans. In this talk about case 15, Book of Serenity, ‘Yangshan thrusts his hoe in the ground’, Jane discusses aspects of this koan in relation to the story of the Buddha’s awakening and to our own realisation. We can appreciate the...
Read MoreBodhidharma faced the wall. The Second Ancestor stood in the snow, cut off his arm and said, ‘Your disciple’s mind has no peace as yet. I beg you, Master, please put it to rest.' Mumonkan Case 41: Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind The words, life and control, cancel each other out - life is just this! Moment...
Read MoreMultitudinous messages coming in from marketers and politicians intensify the sense that the future’s uncertain and potentially disastrous, that though we are all right, it’s the “other” or “others” who are the problem. Our anxiety grows. Our minds already overflow with habits, preconceptions and prejudices, with ideas about self and other, ideas that have me here, and you over there,...
Read MoreIn Dogen’s ‘Instructions to the Tenzo’, he describes Three Minds, a division which provides a framework for all daily tasks. As well as Joyful Mind, Kind Mind, and Great Mind, we study Dogen’s question ‘What is practice?’. This teisho was given by Jane Andino roshi on Day 4 of Winter sesshin 2024 at the Annandale...
Read MoreIn ‘seeing the reflection’ and ‘seeing the portrait’, we find that which we can’t put into words. This teisho looks at Case 98, The Book of Serenity, and also explores the Soto ancestor side of our Zen lineage, Dongshan. This teisho was given by Jane Andino, roshi on day 3 of Winter sesshin 2024 at...
Read More‘No-gate is the gate of liberation; no-mind is the mind of the wayfarer’. These are the words of Hsuan-sha, quoted by Wu-men in his postscript to the Wu-Men Kuan. This talk explores the path of the wayfarer, the path of freedom. This talk was given by Jane Andino, roshi on Day 2 of Winter sesshin...
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