Post Archive by Month: February,2023

Let it go

 “Let it go” is almost a mantra in the dojo, where we are encouraged to abandon discursive thinking and return to our single point of practice. It’s instructive to consider the mental and emotional baggage you bring to zazen and thus discover that it is unnecessary. But what if you see the emptiness of phenomena? What if you and I

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Peaceful mind

Not a few of us come to practice to find peace of mind. Just so Huike, the protagonist of this story.  Let’s see how determination, faith and surrender help him in his quest and how Bodhidharma turns him upside down. It’s a dramatic tale and one that is foundational to the Zen tradition. This teisho was given by Maggie Gluek,

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What is Sangha?

This teisho, given at Jane’s Transmission ceremony, explores the origins and evolving nature of Sangha. With the help of some home-made koans, the talk also develops the theme that Sangha is not merely a means to get things done as a unit of organisation, but also presents the essential.  This teisho was given by Jane Andino at her Transmission ceremony

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What are Koans?

Senior student, Alladin Jones, gives us instructions about how to sit with a koan. Aitken roshi described them this way: “Koans are tiny doors that open to great vistas inviting us to wander through endless gardens. And they are the folk stories of Zen and like folk stories their expression is presentational rather than discursive. And they are poetic and

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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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Trust

Trust the Buddha, trust the practice, trust your intention to realise the Way. Youmade the decisionto come to sesshin. Trust yourself enough to honour that decision and commit anew to your practiceat the start of each period of zazen. Release anything extra in your body, mind and heart. Mu is the first koan in the collection called The Gateless Barrier,

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Concert Recording

This concert features the talented musicians and performers of the Sydney Zen Centre, in the beautiful Upstairs Hall of the Annandale Community Centre. It was a fabulous night, on October 2022, of instrumental music, poetry, storytelling and song. Irish duo “A ‘N B” (Aeveen Kirby & Brian Gutkin) delight us with folksongs old and new, highlighting Aeveen’s superb lilting voice

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