In March of this year, I was offered a wonderful opportunity to share the benefits of Zen Meditation with the general population at the Sarasota County Jail. I originally asked Sangha Member Judy Rosemarin to join me and she generously donated her time each Thursday morning for an hour of sitting and sharing the Dharma with inmates. Unfortunately, Judy will be unavailable for three months this summer. In order to give the inmates continuity of experience, as much as possible given the situation, I have asked […]
Greeting Equanimity
It is common in Zen Buddhist and other traditions to greet one another by joining our hands together and bowing. Done with diligence and vigilance, embracing equanimity, it is practice. It is Zen. It is the doorway to awakening. Diligence, in this case, means letting go of self-referentiality and approaching with a joyful and open mind. Vigilance means embracing the equanimity of this moment. Without any judgment or labeling, we are at one with the essence of being. This is truly greeting reality.
Wumen’s Zen Warnings
The Zen warnings come at the close of the Gateless Gate, a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開; Japanese: Mumon Ekai; 1183–1260). Wumen’s preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. To obey the rules and regulations is to tie yourself without a rope. To act freely and without restraint is heresy and deviltry. To be aware of the mind, making it pure and quiet, […]
Lisa Cairns – Is Meditating Helpful?
Here is the thing. After the curiosity wears off, when the video stream ends, what do you have? What generally seems to be missing in the “Non-Duality Movement” is practice. How to get to know for yourself what is? How to know the objective, subjective, absolute/relative reality, to be free of identification and yet fully participating in life? How to know the same old you, through and through? That’s it. That old dusty mirror is the way! Here Lisa Cairns […]
Stuck in a Story with Lisa Cairns
A “Non-Duality” speaker that I like is Lisa Cairns. She expresses unconditional love beautifully, as well as being clear and unpretentious. However entertaining it might appear, she is a Dharma teacher. https://www.lisacairns.com/
Linji’s Person of No Rank
Since OZS will not meet on Christmas Eve or New Years eve, I offer a Dharma talk (Pod Cast) to tide you over till we meet next year! I think you will find Norman Fisher’s Dharma Talk delightfully insightful and rewarding. It is my gift to you, celebrating Buddha’s Enlightenment and bringing in the New Year! Norman Fisher’s Dharma talk is about Linji’s “Person of No Rank”. Linji is a famous Zen Master considered the founder of the Rinzai School […]
The American Zen College
My years at the American Zen Center – 1989-1999. — Abbot Will Rauschenberger
Weekly Dharma Talk with Zen Master Gosung Shin 1.24.2015
When I first began my practice, I was fortunate to spend time with the Korean Zen Master Gosung Shin (I lived on the American Zen Center grounds for 10 years). Two days ago I learned from an old friend (who I had not talked to in over 15 years) that there were some video’s on YouTube from 2014 and 2015 of Gosung Shin. How wonderful! This Dharma talk is typical of the Saturday lectures. How grateful I am to have known […]
Silent Illumination – The Awakened Heart
I sometimes refer to our meditation practice by different names. It is called zazen, just sitting, shikantaza or silent illumination. These are just names that point at what we do when we get on the cushion. “Silent Illumination” best describes our meditation practice. I first learned the term “Silent Illumination” from a book titled “The Method of No-Method” by Chan Master Sheng Yen. Master Sheng Yen described Silent Illumination as another name for Shamatha-Vipashyana, a meditative practice of stilling the mind […]