mindfulness

Finding Peace

Beloved Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh passed away peacefully at his root temple Tu Hien Temple, in Hue, Vietnam at the age of 95 on January 22, 2022. Thay (Vietnamese for teacher) was a world-renowned spiritual leader, prolific author, poet, relentless peace activist. As a pioneer of engaged Buddhism, Thay adopted the slogan, “There is no Way to Peace,

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Challenging Times

How do we meet the challenges of our times? And how does zazen change or save our world? Subhana Barzaghi, roshi explores the relationship between our inner and outer work in the world and the relationship between our mind and the environment. She draws on Case 32 from the Book of Serenity. This talk was given at Autumn sesshin 2019

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Be Wide Awake

Maggie Gluek, roshi talks about setting aside time and building spaces in your life where you can let everything else go and touch the place of practice in whatever form it might take. She uses Case 12 of the Wu-Men Kuan to explore how simple reminders can help to cultivate discipline. This talk was given on day 5 of the

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Everyday life

‘Carrying water and chopping wood’ is an ancient Zen description of the importance of being present now, and enjoying the simple gifts of everyday life. This talk was given by Subhana Barzaghi, roshi at Autumn sesshin 2019, day 4, at Kodoji

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How Can I Help?

Subhana Barzaghi, roshi asks a critical question for Zen practitioners, ‘What should we do in these heart-breaking times with this ecological crisis?’  How can we help our fractured and troubled world?  In challenging times we are called upon to bring as much love, wisdom, courage, compassion and gratitude as we can into the world to alleviate the suffering around us. 

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Bodhisattva Vows

Maggie Gluek, roshi helps us understand and experience what it means to be a Bodhisattva and connect deeply with the vows: The many beings are numberless, I vow to save them; greed, hatred, and ignorance rise endlessly, I vow to abandon them;dharma gates are countless, I vow to wake to them;the Buddha’s way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it

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All Moments are the Time Being

‘The reason you do not clearly understand the time-being is that you think of time only as passing. In essence, all things in the entire world are linked with one another as moments. Because all moments are the time-being, they are your time-being.‘ Dogen Time can measured in seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, semesters, years and, more poetically, by the

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Who is this ‘I’?

All the harmful karma ever created by me since of old On account of my beginningless greed, hatred and ignorance Born of my body, speech and thought I now acknowledge openly and fully In the Purification gatha which opens our sutra service the “I” is salient and crucial. Let’s get it straight right away, in the first person, this

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A Blade of Grass

The Buddha points to the ground and declares “Here would be a good place to erect a temple.” In this talk, Jane Andino looks at this case from the Book of Serenity and reflects on what that temple might be for us. She also investigates the traditions of our lay practice. This Dharma talk was given at a zazenkai in September 2018

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No difference

“If there is even a bit of difference, it is the remote distance between heaven and earth.” This is a famous Zen saying that has been used many times by the masters of the past and present, but what does it mean? Difference between what and what? Allan Marett, roshi explores a famous exchange between Fayan and his pilgrimage companion Hiushan

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