Vine of Obstacles Zen

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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

Sunset from just now

Nodding in Zazen

Someone on Rinzai Zen Facebook Group referenced this teaching from the Pali Canon in response to my recent post about sleep practice. The sutta is actually about the opposite - how to wake up when you're trying to meditate, rather than how to sleep when you're

Dahui's Shobogenzo

Where Buddhas Apply Their Minds

Tetsugan Sensei and I had thought we might work this gem from Dahui’s Shobogenzo into a Sunday dharma talk on the Awakening of Mahayana Faith. It seemed like too much, though, so I'll share it with you here. [520] National Teacher Wuye said to some disciples, “The

The Zen Way of Sleep

Recently, Meido Moore Roshi posted a short fireside sesshin talk about sleep practice. You can find it here. In the talk, Meido Roshi mentions the Soto monastic practice for sleep that I have shared bits and pieces of before, so I thought I might stitch it together for you. One

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Sunrise, Sunset

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Going Through the Mystery

How to investigate the three subtle and six coarse aspects?

Dahui's Shobogenzo

One Geeky Review of Dahui's "Treasury of the Eye of the True Teaching"

Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163) was (arguably) the most important Zen master ever. (1) He is credited with developing the keyword method (話頭, huatou) that revolutionized Zen practice and that, in my opinion, is the greatest development in the meditation realm since Shakyamuni Buddha. Most importantly, the innovative teaching of Dahui

Sunrise Photos from October 19