The Old Lady’s Tea House…
Tag Archives: zen
The wonderfully useless practice that can save your life
Sitting still and meditating can change the trajectory of your life. Zen Meditation Practice Sessions Offered at OZS
A handful of soybeans
Will begins the Dharma Talk with a story from 101 Zen Stories on Audible.
Unconditioned Nirvana
The fashionable appropriation of Non-Duality and Mindfulness is just the froth and not the soup!
The Seeking Mind
Good to be back after a month off! Dharma Talk for 9-3-2023 All-day Silent Retreat At Myakka River State Park
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).
All-day Silent Retreat – Myakka River State Park
Saturday, March 1, 2025, 10:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. The park setting, surrounded by nature’s beauty, will help us relax, reflect, and renew. We will start promptly at 10:00 a.m. (arrival time 9:30 a.m.). During the day, there will be several sitting and walking meditations, Dharma talks, and a vegetarian/vegan potluck lunch. Water and tea will be provided. The retreat will be over by 5:30 p.m. Update: 02/16/25 – We are no longer accepting reservations. The Retreat is full! […]
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 2 – Sections 12-14
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 (12-14) 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 at any time, after reading this part of the […]
Platform Sutra Study- Part 1
Dear Good Friends, As I start my August retreat, I invite you to join me in reading and reflecting on the teaching of Hui-neng. The Translation I have chosen is by Red Pine (Although there are other translations of the Platform Sutra, this is the one that offers the best translation from my view). 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 […]