The priest Ruiyan called “Master!” to himself every day and answered himself“Yes!”Then he would say “Be aware!” and reply “Yes!”“Don’t be deceived by others!”“No, no!”Peter delves into the profound meaning behind this seemingly simple practice of Ruiyan Shiyan, moving beyond interpretations of self-affirmation or mere remembrance. Connecting it to Ruiyan’s earlier encounter with Master Yantou, Peter highlights the challenge of
Join Peter for a talk exploring Zhaozhou’s famous koan, “The Cypress Tree in the Courtyard.” Found in the Wumenguan and Book of Serenity, this koan, often presented in a shorter form, offers profound insights when viewed within its broader dialogue. Peter will delve into the context provided by the Record of Zhaozhou, examining how this seemingly simple response to the
In this guided meditation Will gives instructions on how to work with the koan ‘who is hearing?’. ‘Who is hearing’ is one of the primary koans taken up by students of Zen under the supervision of a Zen teacher. This practice instruction wasgiven by apprentice teacher Will Moon during the Autumn sesshin of 2025 at Kodoji.
Will explores our relationship between our problems and our practice, and our attitude to our problems. This teisho draws upon several koan examples that involve problems and our approach to our practice. This includes… The Iron Flute case 33: ‘Yueh Shan solves the monk’s problem’ Blue Cliff Record case 6: ‘Every day is a good day’ Gateless Barrier, case 30:
The first teisho of Diamond Sangha sesshin traditionally focuses on the koan ‘mu’, a primary koan – a koan that opens the way –even though it is a gateless barrier.Mumon’s commentary on this case is a rare case of hearing how to work with a koan – which translates as ‘a matter to be resolved”. This teisho was given by
Ta-mei asked Ma-tsu, “What is Buddha?” Ma-tsu said, “This very mind is Buddha.” In this talk, Peter takes up the well-known case 30 of the Mumonkan. Shibayama Roshi said that “This very mind is Buddha’ is a very important philosophical saying which concisely depicts the essence of zen” yet any philosophical expositions on “This very mind is Buddha”, whether from Ma-tsu, Bodhidharma or
A monk says to Jingqing, “I am pecking from the inside, I beg you master, please peck from the outside”. Jingqing says, “But will you be alive?” This quote appears in the Blue Cliff Record, Case 16. The monk then says, “I am vigorously working this way, if I were not alive, I would be laughed at”. Jingqing responds, “You
Peter takes up two koans that revolve around the primary koan of “Who is Hearing”. Challenging the self to see where we begin and end, we eventually realise it’s not about beginnings or endings at all. There is only one timeless present, sometimes its valley streams, sometimes its rain drops… This teisho, given by apprentice teacher Peter Bursky, explores Xuansha’s
Maggie examines a koan which explores the nature of fear as well as the imperative to walk straight into the heart of fear. Finally, it lands on the matter of taking full responsibility, for everything…..with a bow to the Precepts, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and your own unique self. This teisho was given by Maggie Gluek, roshi on day 4
