Taking June 2024 Off for a Personal Retreat

Last year, I took a month off in August for a personal retreat. This year, I will take a month off in June. There will be no practice sessions in June 2024. I will be in Budapest, Hungary from Thursday, June 6th through Sunday, June 9th for an advanced meditation retreat at the Original Light Zen Temple that will be led by Zen Master Chong An Sunim. I will also be traveling with Chong An Sunim and his family after […]

Huangbo’s Transmission of Mind – Parts 1 to 9

For there is nowhere that is outside the Buddha-Mind I invite you to join me in reading and reflecting on the teachings of Haungbo. This series will use either ” Zen Roots – The First Thousand Years “  by Red Pine or ” The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind “ translated by John Blofeld. If you are using the John Blofeld translation you will notice his use of the word ” Void ” as in ” it is […]

Huangbo -Transmission Of The Mind – Intro

Dear Friends, Welcome to the New Year and our study series on the Teachings of Huangbo. The text we will be exploring is a record of a series of talks given by Huangbo in the fall of 842. The talks were recorded by an official named Pei Xiu. There are two translations that you may use for our study series. The first is The Zen Teaching Of Huang Po On The Transmission Of Mind by John Blofeld. The second can be […]

The Basis for Giving

Cultivate an attitude of all-pervading loving kindness. Directed not just to humans but to all sentient beings, with this attitude, we give freely of what we have without any regret. The three types of giving: The first is to give through your understanding of the Dharma. This means to devote yourself to the service of others by realizing, for their sake, the emptiness of yourself and your desires. The second is to give away material possessions without any reluctance. Giving that […]

November 18th, All Day Retreat & Precepts

Good Friends, I would like to remind you that we are a month away from our All Day Silent Retreat at Myakka River State Park. Come and join us for this wonderful experience. No previous experience with meditation is necessary and an intro on how to meditate will be available. We will start promptly at 10:00 a.m. Arrive one-half hour early for the intro. The retreat will be in silence. There will be several sitting and walking meditations during the day, […]

News and updates – 10/1/23

Good Friends, Our ‘Silent Retreat in Nature‘ is getting closer and if you haven’t registered yet, I encourage you to do so! I want to especially congratulate those who have signed up for the precepts ceremony. The ceremony will be at the end of the retreat and I will be interviewing each participant during the day. When your time comes, someone will let you know. Nothing scary about the interview, just want to have a moment with each of 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).

Coming Back To Practice

All is calm for now, yet the Gulf of Mexico might have a surprise for us with Idalia strengthening as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida! Right now we are planning to get together on Sunday, September 3, 2023, at the Zendo for Zen Meditation and a Dharma Talk. That might change, so please check the calendar and stay safe! Looking forward to our fall sessions and seeing you all again! Abbot Will Rauschenberger

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 […]