Throw Yourself Into the House of Buddha Featured Throw Yourself Into the House of Buddha: The Life and Zen Teachings of Tangen Harada Roshi Now, fortunately, even those who didn't train directly with Roshi-sama can get a taste of his teaching of uncompromising compassion - of vital importance for Zen today.
Nyogen Senzaki Rays of Silvery Light: Hakuin's "Song of Zazen" Paraphrased By Nyogen Senzaki In the infinite sky of Samadhi, the moon of the Tathagata's four wisdoms is shining, yet its rays of silvery light are the reflections of your true self.
Special Experiences Do Special Experiences Mean Anything? We're in a strange moment in Zen in the West where, in at least nine of ten zendos, all "experiences" are lumped together and dismissed.
Soto Zen Buddhism Soto Zen's Dirty Little Secret This was first published at Wild Fox Zen on Patheos, but didn't come along with the transfer, so I'm reposting now.
Soto Zen Buddhist Association Suspending the Soto Zen Buddhist Association Given the sad state of affairs of the SZBA and how they tragically trivialize the Great Way of Buddha, I’m happy to be on the outside of this organization.
Awakening Featured Gnawing Through Qiánfēng’s Three Illnesses and Two Lights "... You will see the infinite compassion contained in Qiánfēng’s instructions...."
On 19 Ways of Looking at a Wang Wei Poem This post is a follow-up to my recent post, Sitting, Looking for the Time When the Clouds Arise - my translation of a poem by the great Wang Wei. Below you'll find a lightly edited repost of another piece about Wang Wei, published on my Patheos site a
Sitting, Looking for the Time When the Clouds Arise Below you'll find my translation of a classic Chinese poem by Wang Wei (701-761), "Zhongnan's Exceptional Karma." The poem contains these often quoted lines, even today: "Going to the water’s source/Sitting, looking for the time when the clouds arise." Wang
Progress "Why, Oh Why, Is My Practice Not Progressing?" Progress is empty, but that doesn't mean that progress in Zen practice is unimportant. Just like there are no ears (as the "Heart Sutra" proclaims), but still many people have awakened through hearing. And the Buddha of the Pali Canon often says that if practice isn&
Record of Going Easy Absorption, Awakening and Spiritual Fascination: Juifeng Does Not Agree We're back from sesshin and a little vacation. Both were wonderful, as is being home again in the hermitage and walking along the great lake. Today, as promised, I'm sharing my translation of The Record of Going Easy (Japanese, Shoyoroku, aka, Book of Serenity), Case 96:
Paid-members only Record of Going Easy The Inner Meaning of Zen: Dying While Sitting Doesn't Reach It
Record of Going Easy Messing With Yasutani Roshi Again and Again: Don't Sit Down in the World of Awakening In this post, I'm concluding the series of re-edits of Hakuun Yasutani Roshi's (1885–1973 - pictured above) comments on the main case of Record of Going Easy (J., Shoyoroku), Case 11 Yunmen’s Two Illnesses, inserting my translation of the case into his commentary. The
Record of Going Easy Messing with Yasutani Roshi Again: Real Happiness and Peace In this post I'm going to continue messing with Hakuun Yasutani Roshi (1885–1973, pictured above). The original version of Yasutani Roshi's commentary that I'm working with appeared in The Hazy Moon of Enlightenment, by Taizan Maezumi and Bernard Tetsugen Glassman. But, as with
Record of Going Easy The Vigorous Nature of Working Zen Zen students sometimes seem to think that Zen is a passive process. One just sits and the magic happens. Nonsense! And Sōtō students sometimes dismiss wholehearted application of the method by attributing "hair on fire" training to Rinzai Zen. Double nonsense!! Here's a bit from the
Record of Going Easy Messing With Yasutani Roshi: The Verse for Yunmen's Two Illnesses Recently, in my translation work and personal practice, I've been playing again with Record of Going Easy (J., Shoyoroku), Case 11 Yunmen’s Two Illnesses. This case is so important, in my view, that in addition to the introduction, koan, capping phrases and Hongzhi's verse, I&