Waking at daybreak, my sisters and I, dancing with delight, would run to the Christmas tree and tear open our presents. It was the pinnacle of our year – the tinsel and the fake holly – the nativity play at school, the Christmas carols we sang to our neighbours with
On my office wall hangs a scroll which inspires me each day, and which was given to me by my teacher Paul. The calligraphy says, ‘Every day is a good day’, a famous phrase of Yun-men. There is an enso below the calligraphy. This could be the fullness of the
In ‘seeing the reflection’ and ‘seeing the portrait’, we find that which we can’t put into words. This teisho looks at Case 98, The Book of Serenity, and also explores the Soto ancestor side of our Zen lineage, Dongshan. This teisho was given by Jane Andino, roshi on day 3
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
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
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:
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
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
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
