You may have come across Yantou in thekoancollections as the student ofDeshanand the good dharma brother ofHsueh-feng.Yantoulived in 9thcentury China at a time of great upheaval.Yantouwas attacked and murdered by bandits as he sat inzazenin his monastery. As he was stabbed, Yantoulet out a great shout which was said to have reverberated for miles around. In 13thcentury Japan, HakuinZenjiwasgreatly troubledby
A monk asked Chao-chou, “Has the dog Buddha nature or not?” Chao-chou said, “Mu.” Will describes how we can interpret his instructions and apply them with today’s language to work with ‘Mu’. It also considers how these instructions can also be applied for students that are not working with koans, including breath counting and shikantaza. This is from Case 1 of
Will explores what it means to sit with a Metta practice. He gives a guided meditation which involves bringing loving kindness to ourselves, our friends and family, those people we don’t know, and all beings. This practice instruction was given at Autumn sesshin at Kodoji in 2026 instruction was given by Will Moon, roshi at Autumn sesshin 2026 at Kodoji.
As one of Charlotte Joko Beck’s Dharma Successors, Geoff Dawson talks about her background, her teachings, and her founding of the Ordinary Mind School. He describes how she transformed Zen teaching in the West, and explains her methods of Working with emotions as practice, and Working with core beliefs. This talk was given by Geoff Dawson of the Ordinary Mind Zen School
Before Ma-tsu became a teacher, he was training at Nan-yueh’s monastery, one of several hundred monks lost in the crowd. A senior monk noticed how diligent he was and mentioned him to Nan-yueh, who found him alone in the zendo and asked, ‘What is your purpose in doing zazen?’ When Ma-tsu replied, “I seek to become a Buddha’, Nan-yueh picked up
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:
Subhana gives meditation instructions for Silent Illumination, also known as Just Sitting or Shikantaza. Zen master’s Hongzhi illuminated Silent Illumination as both method and realisation of mind. She gives a guided meditation of 15 mins, sitting in open expansive spacious awareness and letting go of identification with body and mind. This talk was given by Subhana Barzaghi at Autumn sesshin
Subhana gives meditation instructions, an introduction and guided meditation practice on Silent Illumination. Silent Illumination is a both a practice and the direct realisation of mind. It was developed by Chinese Zen master Hongzhi and has its roots in Shamata Vipassana practice of early Buddhism. It was later called Shikantaza in Japanese Zen &/or Just Sitting. This teisho was given by Subhana Barzaghi
In a couple millennia’s worth of meditation instruction we find a wealth of shared experience that has allowed teachers to craft useful teachings that help point students in the right direction. In our inherited traditions of Buddhism, Taoism and Ch’an, various approaches to guidance arose out of the insights these traditions collectively experienced. The most obvious approach, which resonates most
Jane Andino discusses Torei Zenji’s Bodhisattva’s Vow in the context of climate change and space junk. How do we realise for ourselves that all forms are the ‘sacred forms of the Tathagata’s never-failing essence’? This talk was given on day 3 at Rohatsu sesshin 2019
