Subhana Barzaghi

The Way Practices Us

On the great road of Buddha ancestors there is always unsurpassable practice, continuous and sustained. It forms the circle of the way and is never cut off. Between aspiration, practice-enlightenment, and nirvana, there is not a moment’s gap. Continuous practice is the circle of the way. —Eihei Dogen As we herald in the New Year, we kick start our practice

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Stone Woman

Dogen’s metaphor of Stone Woman giving birth to a child by night encapsulates the wisdom of seeing into the empty nature of the ‘self’ and all hence all phenomenal things.  This realisation opens out to the way of true intimacy of interconnectedness with the 10,000 things of the world.  The awakening to the interpenetration of emptiness and form emerges through

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Silent Illumination

Subhana gives meditation instructions for Silent Illumination, also known as Just Sitting or Shikantaza.  Zen master’s Hongzhi illuminated Silent Illumination as both method and realisation of mind.  She gives a guided meditation of 15 mins, sitting in open expansive spacious awareness and letting go of identification with body and mind.  This talk was given by Subhana Barzaghi at Autumn sesshin

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The Way of Love

Subhana explores what sprinkling Holy Water on the Dragon’s Tail might mean. The Christian legend of Martha and the Dragon reveals a beautiful teaching of cultivating compassion to those parts that we don’t like; pain, jealousy, judgemental reactivity and old unworthy beliefs the “dragon” parts of ourselves.   Instead of slaying the dragon or hating ourselves, we offer it compassion and

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Wu Wei – Equanimity

Wu Wei is a Chinese Taoist expression that means ‘doing nothing’ or non-doing. Equanimity has strong associations with the spirit of Wu Wei. Wu Wei – non-doing has easily been misunderstood and falsely interpreted as a passive acceptance of life or resignation or literally sitting on the cushion and doing nothing. Wu Wei is an attitude and approach to meditation and life itself; it

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Cultivating the Empty Field

Subhana explores the deep and profound teachings of ‘emptiness’ the selfless dimension or the self-forgotten and its misunderstandings.  What does it mean to cultivate that which is already our inherent true nature, which cannot be cultivated, yet it can be realised.  This Dharma talk inquires into the aspects of the liberated nature of mind: of infinite space, unification of mind and body,

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Silent Illumination

 Subhana gives meditation instructions, an introduction and guided meditation practice on Silent Illumination.  Silent Illumination is a both a practice and the direct realisation of mind.  It was developed by Chinese Zen master Hongzhi and has its roots in Shamata Vipassana practice of early Buddhism.  It was later called Shikantaza in Japanese Zen &/or Just Sitting.   This teisho was given by Subhana Barzaghi

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Silent Illumination

There are three primary practices in Zen training – Mindfulness of breathing, Koan practice which is working with an existential question and silent illumination practice.Silent illumination is both a practice method and realisation of mind. We need to make a distinction between silent illumination which is the direct realisation of mind and silent illumination that entails a practical practice. What

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