‘The Great Way has no gate” is the beginning of Wu-Men’s verse from his preface to The Gateless Barrier. This talk explores the Preface and the Postscript of Wu-men’s great work. It also raises the deep questions of ‘Why am I at sesshin? What is the Barrier for me?’ This talk by Jane Andino, roshi, was the first teisho of
Suchness is also referred to as Tathagata another name for the Buddha – the one who is thus gone, thus comes, the one who sees reality as-it-really-is.The teachings of suchness are encapsulated in the much-loved succinct Bahiya Sutta.The Sutta instructs us how to practice just seeing, just hearing, just sensing, just cognising, and thus how to realise the end of
This teisho explores how being present in the here and now better enables us to cope and to respond in a world with increasing conflict and increasing ecological collapse, where we can feel like we have less and less control and where there feels like great uncertainty. The teisho discusses how to live well in today’sworld by responding from our
The Heart Sutra is the essence of the wisdom teachings of liberation. It is a summary of the Buddha’s awakening experience under the Bodhi Tree. This dharma talk explores and clarify the wonderful yet highly misunderstood teachings of emptiness. Empty of what? Emptiness does not mean annihilation or nihilism or that you do not exist. After investigating all 5 skandhas / aggregates –
The Buddha’s Way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it fully. Indeed, the Buddha’s Way is only realised, made real, in and as this human body. Some of our sutras reference the four classic meditation postures. In the Metta Sutta:Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down – free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection(that is, of loving kindness).
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 ocean of inter-being is our true nature. Subhana explores how we can embody the wonder and joy of Indra’s Web of interconnectedness and can enlarge our vision to see our shared world more spaciously and more compassionately. Can you see a cloud in your cup of tea? The present moment is an open field of benefaction. Our interpersonal and relational field and
The Heart Sutra is the essence of the wisdom teachings of liberation. It is a summary of the Buddha’s awakening experience under the Bodhi Tree. In this dharma talk Subhana explores and clarifies the wonderful yet highly misunderstood teachings of emptiness. Empty of what? Emptiness does not mean annihilation or nihilism or that you do not exist. After investigating all 5 skandhas / aggregates –
As students of the way, if we are serious about awakening to our true nature, or Buddha nature, we need to believe that from the beginning we are Buddhas and the realisation of our true nature is our birth right. The following is a koan called ‘Nan-chuan’s Stone Buddha’, and it is case 3 from the Iron Flute collection of
Whenever a monk came to see him Luzu turned around and sat facing the wall.Full stop, end of story. This was his teaching. He offered no words. Our core practice is sitting. What does it mean? This talk considers zazen and the fact of a wall, drawing on the wisdom of Dogen and Aitken Roshi too. It meanders into a
