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.

Posted on August 20, 2023August 20, 2023 by Will Rauschenberger

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

Posted on August 2, 2023August 2, 2023 by Will Rauschenberger

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

Posted on July 31, 2023July 31, 2023 by Will Rauschenberger

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 […]

Ancestors of Ordinary Zen

The audio clip from “The Sutra of Hui Neng” in this Dharma Talk was taken from “The Diamond Sutra, The Heart Sutra, The Sutra of Hui Neng: Three Key Prajna Paramita Texts from the Zen Tradition”, available as an Audiobook on Audible. It is also available in Print on Amazon.