Vine of Obstacles Zen

Going Through the Mystery

Going Through the Mystery's One Hundred Questions Introduction Part 1

They Can Fish It!

Greetings, Next week we'll be on a break/retreat here at the hermitage and the following week we'll be in sesshin, so it'll be quiet here for the last week of December and the first week of January. This week, though, I've

The Storm and Afterwards

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Dogen

The Pivotal Linji Master Xutang and his Profuse Praise for Sōtō Master Dōgen

Dahui

Smashing Mu to Smithereens

Today I'll share another important passage about the one Zen way and the keyword that Chinul, the great Korean Master included in his Excerpts on Zen Practice, one of four core texts in the Korean Sŏn (Zen) monastic curriculum. The phrase "smashing mu..." also comes up

Book Launch Video and BTT Podcast Now Available

I'm happy to share the Going Through the Mystery news that both the the Book Launch Dharma Talk from December 4, 2022, and a Buddhist Temple of Toledo podcast are now available on the Going Through the Mystery page of the Vine of Obstacles Zen website. Click here.

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The One Word "Awareness" is the Gateway to All Calamities

A Wild Morning at the Hermitage

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Adverse effects of meditation

On the Adverse Effects of Meditation

A Cold Sunrise

Going Through the Mystery

Going Through the Mystery 30: Why am I like this?

Greetings! For my update this month, I'll offer you this short video of chapter 30 in Going Through the Mystery. I'll also be offering a book launch dharma talk this Sunday at 10amCT. If you'd like to come, let me know and I'

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Going Through the Mystery

How to Investigate the Three Subtle and Six Coarse Aspects

A Lazy November Day Update

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Record of Going Easy

Zhàozhōu’s Cypress Tree

Dogen

Putting the Kōan Back in Genjōkōan

The Vine of Obstacles Zen has been immersed in an Intensive studying Ashvaghosha's teaching in The Awakening of Mahayana Faith on how suchness perfumes birthdeath and draws us to practice. "The dharmas of buddhas have causes and conditions; only when replete with causes and conditions can those

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Dogen

Bargaining for Salvation

One Mind, Myriad Aspects

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Pṛṣṭhalabdhajñāna - What's That You Say?

Going Through the Mystery

Book Announcement

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A Stone Bridge? The Teacher-Student Relationship in Zen

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Going Through the Mystery

Postscript for Going Through the Mystery's One Hundred Questions

This too....

The Gift of Milkweed

Post Meiji Soto Orthodoxy Featured

The "Soto Zen" of the PMSO: A New Religion Whose Time Has Passed

Ironically, today in the West, most Soto practitioners, as well as most Soto teachers, seem to unknowingly embrace what they think is the "Soto Tradition" and "Dogen's Way," when, in fact, what they are embracing is a recently reformulated religion....

The Ten Vows of Samantabhadra

Here's a different little post. Above is Samantabhadra (普賢, the full extension of compassion) Bodhisattva, also known as the Bodhisattva of Universal Good. The expression on the above image of the bodhisattva's face changes dramatically depending on the focus point. Or is it just me? Samantabhadra