Seven sisters forego the option of going to a garden with beautiful flowers and instead set out to visit a charnel ground where dead bodies are strewn. This turns out to be an interesting choice to have made. The Buddhadharma reveals itself in unexpected ways! This teisho, which explores a story from 9th century China, was given by Maggie Gluek
How does it look to have “no notions of self to contest?” Who was Vimalakirti? And how does George Clooney make his way into a Dharma talk anyway? Such questions are explored in this teisho by Maggie Gluek, roshi on day 1 of Rohatsu sesshin 2025 at Annandale. This Rinzai koan is from Entangling Vines, Case 108 – ‘Vimalakirti, The
In Secret Oral Instructions on Practice we hear how to ”maintain the essence” from a 20th century Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Kyabje Künzang Dechen Lingpa. These injunctions resonate with Dogen’s teaching on “zazen-only” and the option of realising it in all our expressions and activities. Each one of us can open the Dharma gate of ease and joy. This teisho was
This life is a play and we are all the players. In an old story we meet Manjusri, Great Wisdom Bodhisattva as well as the Much Lesser Bodhisattva Delusive Wisdom and A Young Woman Meditating. And in them—as Aitken Roshi points out—we meet dimensions of ourselves. In all of this there’s deep encouragement at hand. This teisho was given by
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).
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
Be faithful! Be faithful! Trust and faith are almost synonyms, with slightly different shadings. However you language it, this quality, this mind, is essential to our Zen Buddhist practice. Core. It is indeed the last word that Zen Master Raven offers to his community. Where do you place your trust? How does it support you on a dark path? What
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
One of the joys of studying the Dharma, particularly in the context of Zen Buddhism, is to become acquainted with the words of the old teachers, individuals ever creative in their ability to express the inexpressible. One such was Hsüan-sha (835-908). He was a fisherman until at age thirty he took up the Buddha Way. As an ascetic he wore
