Exploring The Transmission of Mind with Huangbo

Good Friends, In the New Year, I will share a series of posts on the ‘Transmission of Mind’ by Master Huangbo (Similar to the series we did in August of the ‘Platform Sutra of Hui-neng‘). This series will primarily use the Book ‘Zen Roots – The First Thousand Years‘  by Red Pine as its main study text (There is a link to purchase the book on the website). Another good translation is ‘The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the […]

Sunday Practice Session

I am happy to be back after a month off and looking forward to sitting together! Please join me this Sunday, 9-03-2023 at our Zendo or online for our practice session. After our practice session, I would like to invite sangha members to join me for an Indian buffet at the Royal Peacock Indian Kitchen. They are just up the road from our Sangha at 5445 Fruitville Rd (near Publix).

Hui-neng leads us to water, but we must drink it.

Our study of the platform sutra only leads us to our own minds, nowhere else, no other Buddha. ‘Each of us must practice ourselves. No one else can do it for us. Nor can any text take our place‘ It isn’t that the teaching is direct or not, sudden or gradual. ‘The teaching is simply so. When we finally understand it, it appears direct because it is right in front of us. When we don’t understand it, it appears indirect […]

Platform Sutra Study- Part 4 – Sections 20-23

Dear Good Friends, We continue to explore the Platform Sutra of Hui-neng. If you are following along with me, I recommend that you go directly to the Platform Sutra and skip the introduction and the sections with commentary by Red Pine. Read sections (20-23) of the Platform Sutra, notice your reaction to this reading, sit with it, and comment below. I will respond to your comments (privately) as necessary. You may of course not follow my direction and not respond […]

Platform Sutra Study- Part 3 – Sections 15-19

Dear Good Friends, We continue to explore the Platform Sutra of Hui-neng. If you are following along with me, I recommend that you go directly to the Platform Sutra and skip the introduction and the sections with commentary by Red Pine. Read sections (15-19) of the Platform Sutra, notice your reaction to this reading, sit with it, and comment below. I will respond to your comments (privately) as necessary. During the month of August, we will continue each part of […]

Exploring the PLATFORM SUTRA with OZS

The Zen Teaching of Hui-Neng Hui-Neng was the Sixth Patriarch of China’s Zen sect. Over the centuries, he has become a most venerated teacher of one of the world’s great spiritual traditions. During my personal retreat this August, I will be focusing on the Dharma as presented by Hui-Neng. I read the platform Sutra many years ago and studied it as part of a curriculum in a Buddhist Studies class I took. Now it is time for me to take […]

Transcription of a OZS Dharma Talk – We Use Words

Edited Transcription of a OZS Dharma Talk – 03-22-2023 I have no words. There’s nothing I can give you that you don’t already have. There’s nothing I can add to what you already are. In our ignorance, we’ve forgotten who we are. We walk down the road of habit energy, it drags us along like a chain, and we struggle. As we go down the path of getting to know ourselves, we discover that there are options for us that […]