Vine of Obstacles Zen

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Zen teaching Featured

On Not Serving a Sangha: A Reflection on Zen Teaching

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Zen politics

An Unexplainable Election Truth as Zen Practice

Platform Sutra

Dharma Ocean's Pivotal Affinity with the Sixth Ancestor: Studying the Platform Sutra

"When absorption and wisdom are maintained equally/Within consciousness all is pure and clear."

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Record of Going Easy

What Color is the Cool Breeze? Fayan's Substance and Name

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Adverse effects of meditation Featured

404 Adverse Meditation Experiences

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Nyoho-e

The Spirit of Zen: Wrapping Ourselves in Buddha's Teaching

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Inka shomei Featured

Inka Shomei: The Ancient Practice of Face-to-Face Verification Today

Absorption

More Is Less: How To Shut Up And See Deeply

If you want to deeply delight in the buddhadharma, if you want to go beyond stages, break through mu, and practice wisdom-samadhi throughout the day, the first thing you gotta do is sit down and shut up.

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Record of Going Easy

Back from North Carolina - Sesshin and Helene

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Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts

The Precepts of Compassion Roar Like Thunder

Wandering Close to Home: A Year of Zen Reflections, Consolations, and Reveries

"Our essential choice is whether or not we align with what is already true."

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Translation

A Translator's Dream: With A Little Help from Earnestine

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Homeleaving

Forty Years a Zen Priest

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Record of Going Easy

Stars Shining Through a Hidden Meaning: On Taking the Teaching Seat

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Stopping

How to Shut Up and See Deeply

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Zen politics

A Dharma Talk: Politics and Dharma - My View and a Case History

What Was Bodhidharma Really Doing? On The Importance of Breaking Through Walls

If we cling to walls about dharma practice, how can we break through?

Vine of Obstacles Zen Featured

Four Big Juicy Factors of the Zen Way

Many practitioners languish in their home practice, tormented by small doubt, due to the difficulty of implementing Zen practice in non-residential settings.

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Record of Going Easy

Is Just Sitting Facing a Wall Enough?

Vine of Obstacles Zen Featured

Vine of Obstacles Zen Training: What's the Point?

Wholeheartedly doing the training just for the love of the buddhadharma.

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Not Misusing Sexuality

Not Misusing Sexuality: The Red Thread

Not Misusing Sexuality

Not Misusing Sexuality: The Naked-Woman Koan

“All of the buddhas of the three worlds, the six ancestors, and all the great monks everywhere—they all come out from within this.”

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Not Misusing Sexuality

Not Misusing Sexuality: A Dead Tree

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Record of Going Easy

Nanquan Beheads a Cat: Putting the Two Together with One Stroke of a Blade

Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts

Cats, Cars, and Categories: The Wondrous Subtlety of the Buddhadharma

One crucial point in this work is to grok the subtle truth of these three perspectives with the whole bodymind. Wallowing in moralism is dangerous. Realizing emptiness is not enough.