Zen literature is full of invisible female sages. Here we meet a roadside teacher who gives wise counsel to monks searching for the way to Mt T’ai, the sacred mountain that is home to Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Who is visible or invisible after all? Chao chou, acting as an undercover agent, declares that he has seen through her.
Maggie Gluek, roshi explores Hell. Where is its locus? Why does Chao chou say that are enlightened teachers are the first to go there? How do you support others in the depth of pain? How does suffering transform? This teisho, ‘Enlightened Teachers Fall into Hell’, was given by Maggie Gluek, roshi at Rohatsu sesshin 2023
Huang-po, instructing the community, said:‘All of you people are gobblers of dregs; if you go on travelling around this way, where will you meet Today? Don’t you know there is no Zen teacher?’ This is the last teisho of sesshin. Later tomorrow when we go forth in the world, the treasure of sesshin is here. We vow to meet Today. In the
In his ‘Song of Realising the Way’, Yungchia says: It speaks in silence In speech you hear its silence The Great Way has opened and there are no obstacles. It’s difficult to practise listening unless our minds become quiet and our thoughts aren’t clamouring for attention, or for expression in speech. We practise noticing thoughts and returning to the count
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
Chapter One:Once upon a time, between two hundred and forty-five and sixty-six million years ago, gentle vegan dinosaurs from the Evazoum family were roaming around the vast land mass called Gondwana, foraging on ferns. Their footprints sank into the water-sodden layers of ancient plant debris, their tracks later in-filled by silt and sand which, after millions of years, turned into
With the referendum on The Voice to Parliament set for October 14, the discussions about it have naturally been taking centre stage. I would like to present some Buddhist perspectives from my readings about this, aspects of harmony and transformation. In the Uluru Statement from the Heart, it says “We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a
“Mornings my thought is Kanzeon; evenings my thought is Kanzeon.” The Kannon sutra is an invocation to ourselves as Kanzeon bodhisattvas to live the timeless life and follow the Way of compassion. This talk also touches on the legacy of Torei Zenji. This talk was given by Jane Andino, roshi on the fourth day of Winter sesshin 2023
Hakuin Zenji is credited with revitalising the Rinzai (Linji) tradition in 18thcentury Japan. In this talk, Jane looks at aspects of Hakuin’s life which serve as a reflection on our modern-day Zen practice. She explores Hakuin’s art and calligraphy as teaching, and his efforts to transform Zen from a quietist practice to one of vigour, with emphasis on koan study.
There is only one true person of no rank, not two, always coming and going from the faces of each of you. Sometimes that one is cold wind, sometimes the crying of cicadas, sometimes loneliness, sometimes … Look! Look! Peter explores Linji’s famous phrase as it touches the heart minds of each of us. This teisho was given by apprentice teacher Peter
