"You cannot rely on looking far ahead to the end of the universe. And why would you tie yourself down to tainted worldliness? Essentially, the miraculous body is not bound anywhere. It is already throughout the whole body, so what other traces could there be? A single efficacious word transcends the multitudes. It is far beyond the Three Vehicles and does not require cultivation. hake off your hands and get away from the sages of all ages. Then your path of return will resemble an ox in the midst of fire." 

This talk was given during the Treeleaf monthly zazenkai, on May 1st, 2026

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We will explore the second of the ten talks. (Translation by Daigaku Rumme) This talk was given during the Treeleaf monthly Zazenkai.

For more information about practice at Treeleaf Sangha, please visit treeleaf.org

This talk was given during the Treeleaf monthly Zazenkai.

For more information about practice at Treeleaf Sangha, please visit treeleaf.org

For more information on Treeleaf Sangha teachings, practice and offerings, please visit treeleaf.org

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Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: October Monthly Zazenkai »

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Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: READ MORE HERE »

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Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: HERE»

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Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Dedication of Merit»

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - A Happy New Year Genjo!!

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI»

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Remember Bodhidharma Day!

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Commencing JUKAI & ANGO!

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Aug 4-5th 2023 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hr ZAZENKAI - Genjo Koan (II) - The Key to Dogen's Zen

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: July 7-8th 2023 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hr ZAZENKAI - Genjo Koan (I) - The Key to Dogen's Zen

¨One must sit Shikantaza with profound trust that sitting is whole, complete, nothing lacking, the sitting of the Buddhas and Ancestors sitting as this sitting right here and now, no other place to be, nothing more in need of doing, nothing more to attain, that Zazen embodies enlightenment itself.¨ The essay can be found HERE

Here's the "elephant in the room" of Shikantaza Zazen: What does it mean to "think-non-thinking?" In ordinary life, our daily minds resemble a mad circus, maybe a chaotic jungle. We react to the elephants passing through our awareness, jumping on, leaping from one to the next, pulling their tails, prodding them with a stick, often tangled in their trunks. Sometimes we chase them to catch them, sometimes we run away in fear, sometimes we get trampled underfoot. What is more, all our meddling seemingly summons ever more elephants of thought and emotion into the crowded room. The jumbled circus of "thought jumbos" and "emotion mastodons" never ends, and we taunt them and stir them up more. But in Zazen, the elephants are tamed.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: The Elephant in the Zazen Room

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 2-3 2023 -OUR MONTHLY 4-hr ZAZENKAI- Nyorai Zenshin -A Mini-Lesson in Dogen Jazz

"So much of all life is like a neutral canvas to which we add our judgments and reactions, coloring it with our feelings. It is like an empty container or some bland ingredient, like Tofu for example, that can be decorated or flavored as our heart decides. The experience is bad if we make it bad but it is whole, complete, fulfilling and welcoming if our heart makes it so."

Further reading and discussion for this are available on the Treeleaf forum: The "Inner Switch" of Zazen

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: May 5th-6th, 2023 -OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: April 7-8, 2023 -OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 3rd-4th, 2023 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Shinjinmei (III) »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 3rd-4th, 2023 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Shinjinmei (II) »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Jan 6-7th, 2022 - OUR (NEW YEAR!) MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Shinjinmei (I) »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: TREELEAF SANGHA online 2-DAY ANGO-JUKAI-ROHATSU RETREAT -- 2022 »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Nov. 4-5th, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS in EUROPE»

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Oct. 7th-8th, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Menzan in the Mirror»

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sept. 2nd-3rd, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Commencing JUKAI & ANGO! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Aug 5-6, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf Zazenkai - Keizan's Sankon Zazen Setsu »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: July 1-2nd, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Ho-i - 法位 - Dharma Position »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 3rd-4th, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Farewell, Vimalakirti »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: May 6-7th, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Dharma-Door of Non-duality »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 4-5, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Wisdom Amid Confusion »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 4th-5th, 2022 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI»

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Our 2021-2022 NEW YEAR's EVE 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI- CELEBRATING A NEW THIS MOMENT! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 5th-6th, 2021 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Vimalakirti Sutra Series »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: {Oct. 1st-2nd, 2021 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Dedicated to Reiyu Payen} »

One of the most popular Asian classics for roughly two thousand years, the Vimalakirti Sutra stands out because unlike most sutras, its central figure is not a Buddha but a wealthy townsman, who, in his mastery of doctrine and practice, epitomizes the ideal lay practitioner.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: September 2021 Zazenkai Talk (Commencement of 2021 ANGO & JUKAI Season)»

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 5th-6th OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »

The Tibetan version of the Heart Sutra contains the following verses that we do not usually chant. Why? And what do they mean?

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 2021 Zazenkai Talk (The 'Missing' Heart Sutra) »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Jan 1st 2021 Our NEW YEAR 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI- COME CELEBRATE A NEW THIS MOMENT! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Nov 6-7 2020 OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI- Book Tour Kickoff/DAYLIGHT SAVINGS »

To save all sentient beings, though beings numberless To transform all delusions, though delusions inexhaustible To perceive Reality, though Reality is boundless To attain the Enlightened Way, a Way non-attainable

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Oct 2nd-3rd, 2020 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sept 4th-5th, 2020 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Commencing Jukai & Ango! »

Koan 86: "Rinzai's Great Enlightenment"

Koan 87: "Sozan's With or Without"

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: July 31th-August 1st, 2020 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »

Today's Talk will reflect on "ANGO: NOW & THEN" - What is Ango in our day and time, for householders in the modern West? Is it Ango as the Buddha, Dogen and all the Ancestors Practiced?

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sept 6th-7th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - COMMENCING JUKAI & ANGO! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SPECIAL SUNDAY Aug 4-5th - Our MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI (No Zazenkai Fri-Sat) »

1. All compounded things are impermanent
2. All emotions are Dukkha
3. All phenomena are empty; they are without inherent (or "self") existence
4. Nirvana is beyond extremes / concepts / description

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: July 5th-6th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - featuring Sekishi ! »

MANY roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 7th-8th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - featuring Kyonin! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: May 3rd-4th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - featuring Shokai! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 1st-2nd, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - IN THE NEWS! »

In Shikantaza, trains of thought and stormy emotions might come. and we are told to release the thoughts, become untangled, returning to the posture or breath or 'open awareness,' the stillness and silence free of thoughts. Then, when more thoughts come, we just repeat. That is correct.

However...

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: THOUGHTS and EMOTIONS are GOOD ZAZEN too! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Special New Year Zazenkai SATURDAY 1/5 with Zoketsu Norman Fischer »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 3rd-4th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: October 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »

In the Western Heavens and the Eastern Lands, wherever the transmission has passed between Buddhist patriarchs, at the beginning of entering the Dharma there is inevitably the receiving of the precepts. Without receiving the precepts we are never the disciples of the buddhas and never the descendants of the ancestral masters—because they have seen “departing from excess and guarding against wrong” as “practicing [za]zen and inquiring into the truth.” The words “the precepts are foremost” already are the right Dharma-eye treasury itself. To “realize buddha and become a patriarch” inevitably is to receive and maintain the right Dharma-eye treasury; therefore, ancestral masters who receive the authentic transmission of the right Dharma-eye treasury inevitably receive and maintain the Buddhist precepts. There cannot be a Buddhist patriarch who does not receive and maintain the Buddhist precepts. Some receive and maintain them under the Tathāgata, which in every instance is to have received the lifeblood. The Buddhist precepts now authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha and from patriarch to patriarch were exactly transmitted only by the ancestral patriarch of Sūgaku [Master Bodhidharma] and, transmitted five times in China, they reached the founding patriarch of Sōkei [Master Hui-Neng].The authentic transmissions from Seigen, Nangaku, and so on have been conveyed to the present day, but there are unreliable old veterans and the like who do not know it at all. They are most pitiful.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Aug 31st-Sept 1st, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! - COMMENCING JUKAI & ANGO! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: ATTENTION: Special Zazenkai SATURDAY 8/4 with Author/Zen Teacher SUSAN MOON »

• CASE 76: Shuzan's Three Verses
• CASE 77: Kyôzan: As Befits His Portion

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: July 6th-7th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 1st-2nd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Edward Espe Brown, a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, was was ordained in 1971 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and he received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman in 1996. He was the first head resident cook at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center from 1967 to 1970. He later worked at the celebrated Greens Restaurant in San Francisco [then operated by San Francisco Zen Center], serving as busboy, waiter, floor manager, wine buyer, cashier, host, and manager. He has taught meditation retreats and vegetarian cooking classes throughout North America and Europe. He is the author of several books and also has edited a book of Suzuki Roshi lectures, Not Always So. Ed is the founder and teacher of the Peaceful Sea Sangha.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: ATTENTION: Special Zazenkai SUNDAY with Rev. EDWARD ESPE BROWN (The Tassajara Tenzo) »

We also CELEBRATE the Dharma Transmission of our Treeleaf Priests: Kyonin, Shingen and Shokai.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: April 6th-7th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! - CELEBRATING BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY! »

I am going to read from page 21 through the first few lines of 24 today if there is time. It is a grabbag of topics, so let's see what we find.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: January 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! (Welcoming the New Year & Jukai) »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 3rd-4th, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

I feel I need to explain why, and the meaning of this. Someone might misunderstand or be confused. I am sorry that it is a little complicated.

Our Metta chant states:

1. May he be free of suffering; may he feel safe and still.
2. May he be free of enmity; may he be loving, grateful and kind.
3. May he be healthy and at ease in all his ills.
4. May he be at peace, embracing all conditions of life.

We must somehow not turn away, not forget ... yet see the real culprit as the "greed anger and ignorance" that infects human beings. Perhaps it is too hard to ask people to forgive, but at least, let us strive not to meet anger with further anger of our own. The best response to hate is ... peace.

Hostilities aren't stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth.(Dharmapada 3-5)

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: October 6th-7th, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Sailing, Shikantaza »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Enter in Spring, Exit in Fall »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sit-A-LONG with JUNDO: CHANGING HEART, CHANGING TIRES »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: A SPECIAL TALK to COMMENCE 'ANGO' SEASON »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: September 2nd-3rd, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 31st-July 1st, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 2nd-3rd, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

This is a manifestation of our Shikantaza Practice out in this world, this is a Community Project together. We recall especially that Mahayana Buddhism that is actually not about us at all, but is always dedicated to the world. We sit for the world, we act for the world and others. So, this is just another form of Shikantaza, like Chanting Metta ... it is Metta in Action. Like placing an offering on the Altar, this is making small offerings to the Altar which is the world. Like working in Samu to pick weeds or cook, or eating Oryoki, this is working to pick a few weeds in our town, to feed others as we feed ourselves.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: The Treeleaf LEND-A-HAND ('LAH') Project ... WE NEED YOU! »

• Verse upon Hearing the Meal Signal (Montsui no ge 聞槌之偈)
• Verse for Setting Out Bowls (Tenpatsu no ge 展鉢之偈）)
• Verse of Buddha Names (Butsumyô 十仏名)
• Food Offering Verses (Sejiki ge 施食偈)
• Verse of Five Contemplations (Gokan no ge 五観之偈)
• Verse of Food Offering (Saba ge 生飯偈)
• Bowl Raising Verse (Keihatsu no ge 擎鉢之偈)
• Meal End (Sessui no ge 折水之偈)
• Verse of Purity While Abiding in the World (shose kaibon no ge 処世界梵之偈)

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: May 5th-6th, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: ATTENTION: Special Zazenkai SUNDAY April 30th with DAVID LOY »

We will reflect on the wording of the Heart Sutra as we chant for Zazenkai in English most weeks. However, I will touch briefly on the somewhat longer version used by Tibetan Practitioners and some others, with adds a little more at the startless start and endless end.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 31st-April 1st, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! (NOT APRIL FOOLS!) »

This famous hermit monk lived a simple life but rich in practice and reverence for the present moment. After leaving the monastery he spent his life helping people in villages, begging, playing with kids and writing poems. More about Ryōkan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dkan

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! The zen poems of Ryokan Taigu »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Sit Down & Speak Up »

Our reading for today's Nehan-e Zazenkai is a passage that Dogen wrote late in life, showing his seemingly very traditional views on Rebirth at that time: Dogen’s Shobogenzo Doshin, "Mind of the Way" (translated by Peter Levitt & Kazuaki Tanahashi)

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 4-5th, 2017 - Our SPECIAL "NEHAN-E" 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: January 6th-7th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! Reflections on Jukai! »

Do you know the still and quiet center at the heart of all ups and downs? Do you know that the world has always been so? Do you know that things are probably not as down (or as up) as you might think?

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sit-a-Long with Jundo: My Uplifting, Inspiring, Hopeful, Optimistic New Years Message »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 4th-5th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! NAMASTE INDIA! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: October 7th-8th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: When I Feel So Bad »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sept 9th-10th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI - COMMENCING this ANGO & JUKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: August 12th-13th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

In Sanscrit, this is called the Virya Paramita ... which comes from the same root as vim and virile! And that energy is not only of use for all our social and political efforts to fix this world, clean up our country or town ... it is energy for whatever we need to "get er done" in life. And like all the "Perfections", it recognizes that we are only human, not perfect. Even superman needs to get his rest sometime.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: ENGAGED ENERGY »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Who Is a Priest ... »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: July 1st-2nd, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

• CASE 51: Hogen's "By Boat or Land"
• CASE 52: Sozan's Dharmakaya
• CASE 53: Obaku's Dregs
• CASE 54: Ungans Great Compassionate One

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 3rd-4th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: ENGAGED PATIENCE »

In [this] sahā world, in the great kingdom of Song [China, there lived] Great Master [Gensha]. One day [while still a young monk, a student of Master Seppo], in order to explore widely the surrounding districts, he leaves the mountain, carrying a [traveling] bag. But as he does so, he stubs his toe on a stone. Bleeding and in great pain, [Gensha] all at once seriously reflects as follows: “[They say] this body is not real existence. Where does the pain come from?” He thereupon returns to Seppō. Seppō asks him, “What is it, [tough guy]?” Gensha says, “In the end I just cannot be deceived by others.” Seppō, loving these words very much, says, “Is there anyone who does not have these words [inside them]? [But] is there anyone who can speak these words?” Seppō asks further, “Why do you not go exploring?” [Gensha] says, “Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Lands [of China]; the Second Patriarch did not go to the Western Heavens [of India].” Seppō praised this very much.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: April 1st-2nd, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI for TREELEAF'S 10th ANNIVERSARY! »

Heshang Moheyan (和尚摩訶衍)) was a late 8th century Chan monk (Chan is the Chinese name for Zen). He became famous for representing Chan in the so called "Council of Lhasa," a debate held in Tibet between adherents of the Indian teachings of "gradual enlightenment" and the Chinese teachings of "sudden enlightenment," which according to tradition was won by the "gradual teachings", causing Moheyan and all Chan Teachings to be expelled from Tibet. However, recent research has disclosed that the story is not so simple, and may represent a rewriting of history and what actually happened by those later advocating the esoteric teachings we now know as Tibetan Buddhism. It is now known that Moheyan and Chan Teachings were very influential and widely accepted in long ago Tibet for a long time before they were purged.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: May 6th-7th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

... And on to today's topic:

As part of our focus on Treeleaf's Engaged and Charitable Projects Center, I have been looking at how the traditional Virtues (Paramitas) of a Bodhisattva aid and guide us in our volunteer, charitable and socially engaged activities in the world. This time, we look at how ethics and the Precepts are a vital foundation for our activities.

Truly, they open the heart. An appreciation of the importance of life, of not taking what has not been given, of not using others, of honesty and like virtues all help us along.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Engaged Ethics (& Zenathon for Treeleaf's 10th Anniversary) »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 4th-5th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

To give and be charitable takes us out of our selfish concerns for our own well-being alone. There are hungry mouths to feed in this world, and we can all do something. There are none of us so impoverished or wanting that we cannot give something to someone in need ... money, food, kindness, comfort, encouragement, teachings of wisdom ... especially for so many of us in relatively wealthy Western society.

However, there is also something special about giving from a Zen Buddhist point of view ... namely, that even as we give, there is nothing in need of giving or lacking ... there is truly no giver, receiver or gift ... nothing in need of giving, no giver or hungry mouths to feed ... yet we give nonetheless, for there are hungry mouths to feed! All True At Once, As One.

Perhaps we might say that, transcending giver-receiver-gift, only the naked generosity remains which holds and sweeps in all of us in the world's embrace. As you breathe every breath of air, bite a sweet apple and drink the refreshing water that the earth provides, as the sunlight shines down, know all this as just the world's generosity. We must pay it back.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: GIVING, GENEROSITY and ENGAGEMENT »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 6th, 2016 - SPECIAL "NEHAN-E" 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

We want to activate the place, and believe that it should be front and center in our Practice right with Zazen ... in fact, charity and volunteer activities --are-- Zazen "off the cushion."

Every couple of weeks or so, we will be presenting projects that anybody can ... should ... dig into, and we would like to make this a Community Team Effort! There will be many options available, something for anybody, even folks who have mobility or other health issues. There are always ways to reach out wherever you find yourself, always someone who you can help a bit no matter how much you are struggling in your own life (maybe just pick up a phone or computer and reach out to someone else who is also housebound, for example).

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: TOTALLY ENGAGED »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: January 1st-2nd, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! WELCOME THE NEW YEAR! »

The two days will include Zazen sitting, Kinhin, Chanting, Zazen sitting, Oryoki, Zazen sitting, Bowing, Talks, 'Samu' Work Practice, and More Zazen Sitting, as in any Soto Zen Retreat, all in celebration of the Buddha's days of Zazen and Enlightenment. Folks will be sitting with us from places as far and wide as Sweden, Mexico, the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, the Ukraine and other places ... all together as a Community, forgetting distance. The retreat is designed to be sat in any time zone around the world through a combination of 'live-live' and 'live though recorded' segments, and one may still join the Retreat and sit-a-long at ANY AND ALL TIME after, by the real time recorded version (no different from the original!). For further details, please have a look here.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Rohatsu, Retreat and Family »

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 6th-7th, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

It is not known if the precepts in sixteen articles resulted from Dogen’s own innovation or if he borrowed this group from another source. [Dogen, in a writing describing the ordination ceremony for his priests] states that the ordination ceremony described therein is exactly the same as the one conducted by [Dogen's Teacher in China] Ju-ching in 1225 when he administered the precepts to Dogen. The reliability of that assertion, however, seems doubtful. [from "Dogen and the Precepts" by Prof. Steven Heine]

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: October 2nd-3rd, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

A nice thing about Buddhists is that we rarely kill, burn at the stake or imprison our critics, dissenters, heretics and the doctrinally different (although we have our scattered extremists too, the same as any religion). We are pretty non-violent, but even we aren’t totally immune from forbidding and punishing blasphemy and unwelcome voices.

Keep room in Zen Buddhism for the misfits, square pegs, tradition breakers and “original non-thinkers” on the edges. Learn to distinguish the con artists, shysters, abusers and predators from those who have simply walked their own path, attended the “monastery of hard knocks”, are doing something good even if not how you would do it. Having “set standards” and “required training paths” is useful and generally necessary for helping to assure substance, experience, dedication and ethics in our teachers. Someone can do a lot of harm when falling down in those things, like an untrained doctor or a drunken lawyer. However, keep room for exceptions and “special cases” too. Look at who the priest has become, not so much only how she or he got there.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: INTERNATIONAL BLASPHEMY DAY: Make Room for the Misfits! »

The meaning of the Japanese word Ango [安居] (Skt : varsha or varshika; Pali: vassa ) is “tranquil dwelling”. The origin is the “rainy-season retreat” , the period when Buddhist monks in India stopped their travels and outdoor activities for the duration of the rainy season and gathered at some sheltered location to devote themselves to Practice, study and discipline. One practical reason was because the heavy rainfall made traveling and outdoor activities impractical. But it was also a time when the individual monks in Buddha’s time, spending most of the year scattered here and there in small groups or individually, could gather and unite as a community and Practice together. During the rainy season in India, monks traditionally dwelt in a cave or a monastery for three months—from the sixteenth day of the fourth month to the fifteenth day of the seventh month. During this period the monks learned the Buddha's teachings, engaged in meditation and other practices, and repented their harmful behavior and weaknesses. The tradition is said to have begun during the time of Shakyamuni, was brought to China, and in Japan the three-month retreat was first observed in 683. Now it comes to us.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:

September 4th-5th, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! ANGO SEASON BEGINS! »

One reason is because they trust the Zen Teachers too much sometimes.

Another reason is because they trust their Teacher not enough sometimes.

Sometimes they are blind to a Teacher's flaws, victims of excess devotion, faith and obedience (yes, it sometimes happens, as described HERE)

Sometimes students expect a Zen Teacher to be flawless, saintly and superhuman, and run away at the first sign of humanity.

Students should realize that the teachers are really just mentors, "friends on the way", folks who have been around the block, guides who have walked the path and can help point out the generally good directions and the dangers and quicksand. Learn from the voice of experience and the wise advice, but in the end, each student must do their own walking.

In all cases, the student should learn to see through the Teacher to the Teaching, seeing this messy world and the Pure Land as One.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:

SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Why Zen Folks FAIL!! (6) - Trusting the Teacher »

Theory of Zazen for Three Personality Types Sankon-Zazen-Setsu by Keizan Zenji (translation by YASUDA & ANZAN, with some adjustments from Masunaga and Kennett)

In traditional Buddhist descriptions, there the three levels of capacity that Buddhist practitioners exhibit (sankon 三根; Sk. trīṇi indriyāṇi): dull (donkon 鈍根), middling (chūkon 中根; Sk. madhya indriya), and sharp (rikon 利根; Sk. tīskṣṇa indriya) capacities. These are three different capacities that Buddhist practitioners exhibit.

Dogenologist & Historian Carl Bielefeldt comments (Dogen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation, footnote 33 on p.152): Here [in the “Theory of Zazen for Three Personality Types”] Keizan distinguishes three levels in the understanding of zazen (corresponding to the traditional Buddhist disciplines): the lowest emphasizes the ethical character of the practice; the middling, the psychological character; the highest, the philosophical. The second, he describes as ―abandoning the myriad affairs and halting the various involvements, ‖ making unflagging effort to concentrate on breathing or consider a koan, until one has gotten clear about the truth. (In the highest zazen, of course, this truth is already quite clear.) In his influential Zazen yojinki as well – though [Keizan] repeats the Fukan zazen gi passage on nonthinking—Keizan recommends the practice of kanna [Koan phrase centered Zazen] as an antidote to mental agitation in zazen (ibid. 497b).

Further reading for this talk is available in the Zazenkai forum thread:

August 2015 Zazenkai Forum Thread »

However, Zazen only truly hits the mark when all measure of time and score, goals and attainment are dropped away. Only then does a moment of sitting contain all time, only then does one realize the destination ever present. Zazen is thus very unlike many forms of meditation (not to mention very unlike our usual clock watching, tally counting, comparing and measuring, goal oriented attitude toward the rest of our busy lives) in which deeper and deeper attainments, and greater and greater achievements, add up with time. In Zazen, one attains the deepest attainment and the greatest achievement, namely, the timeless which is right in each tick of the clock, the goal ever reached again and again in each passing mile on the road across town. But one only realizes so when one sits as the still and round face of the clock which holds all time as the hands make their circles ...

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:

SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Why Zen Folks FAIL!! (5) - Watching The Clock Rackin Up Points »

The true nature of mind is mirror-like awareness, always just reflecting what’s happening, whether we notice this or not. It never shuts off or stops functioning, even when we’re completely engrossed in conceptual thinking or strong emotions. A mirror just receives whatever object is placed before it, neutrally and naturally. It has no opinions about the object. The mirror doesn’t prefer red over blue, it doesn’t discriminate among these things, and yet it doesn’t block them out, reject them, or alter them in any way. It is just open receptivity, without adding any commentary. … All these qualities of the mirror are also qualities of the nature of mind, the naturally present open awareness of Buddha-Nature.

… During zazen we can open to this receptive mirror awareness. If we try to look directly at it, try to grasp the mirror, we won’t be able to; we will only get to see our ideas of it reflected in it. Therefore the practice is, rather than trying to see the mirror, simply to be the mirror. If we try to be the mirror and also try to figure out what the mirror is, then such figuring is simply reflections on the mirror. It seems quite challenging to just reflect like a mirror, since we are so accustomed to discriminating, preferring, assessing, and getting caught up in the objects placed before us. Though it is challenging, it is also very simple, almost too simple for us to accept. http://sweepingzen.com/mirror-awareness-the-true-host

Further reading for this talk is available in the Zazenkai forum thread:

July 2015 Zazenkai Forum Thread »

Saying about this life and world that "there is nothing in need of change" --does not-- mean "there is nothing in need of change". Simply because all things are "perfectly complete, just as they are", that --does not-- mean that all things are "perfectly complete, just as they are". Saying so is only from one beautiful perspective. In fact, to realize profoundly that "there is nothing in need of change", we must change our human tendencies of excess desire, anger, jealously and other divisive thoughts of ignorance. There is a lot about us in need of change in order to realize that nothing was ever in need of change from the first, not a drop.

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:

SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Why Zen Folks FAIL!! (4) - NOT CHASING ENOUGH! »

Even many of the students and Teachers of so-called "Just Sitting" Zazen will bring a subtle greed into their sitting ... subtly and secretly demanding some profit and returns ... which robs the sitting of its greatest power. Oh, sure, they may become more peaceful, relaxed, accepting in life ... and that's something! But they are not truly "just sitting" in stillness ... rather, they are still "just demanding" even if in the backs of their minds. Modern, industrial people, it seems, find it so hard to just sit and be, whole and complete!

Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:

SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Why Zen Folks FAIL!! (3) - CHASING »

Menzan Zuihō (面山瑞方, 1683-1769) was a Japanese Sōtō Zen scholar and abbot of the Zenjo-ji and Kuin-ji temples active during the Tokugawa era. Menzan's scholarship was part of the Tokugawa movement of returning to original historical sources to revitalize Zen (復古. "fukko" - "return to the old"), especially the works of Dōgen Zenji. Before Menzan the works of Dōgen were not widely studied or put into practice, and he helped revitalize the Sōtō school by analyzing and building on Dogen's writings. Menzan used Dōgen to promote a reform of the Sōtō sect, which included reforming the monastic code and meditation practice. Due to Menzan's efforts, Dōgen studies now occupies a central position in Sōtō Zen thought.Menzan was also involved in lecturing to the public and teaching laymen and laywomen meditation practice. One of his most famous works, the Buddha Samadhi (Jijuyu Zanmai) is addressed to laypeople and focuses on the teachings of Dōgen.

The reading for this talk is available in the Zazenkai forum thread.

June 2015 Zazenkai Forum Thread »

People fail at Zen because they think there is -no- place to fail. In fact, THERE ARE ENDLESS PLACES TO FAIL!

The biggest place to fail is to believe that there either is or is not places to fail. Better said, the trap is the failure to know that ONE CAN FAIL YET NOT FAIL AT ONCE!

This is the first of a NEW VIDEO/AUDIO PODCAST SERIES and, over the coming weeks, I will look at many of the reasons that Zen students, Teachers, Zen groups and Buddhism in general are EPICALLY FAILING in the West (and why they are also doing quite well in so many ways, thank you!).

Join the discussion for this episode at the Treeleaf.org forum.

Being the open, bright, boundless between the words, thoughts, good and bad things of life.

Being the open, bright boundless that shines through, that enlightens & enlivens the words, thoughts, good and bad things of life.

Once, when the Great Master Hongdao of Yueshan was sitting in Zazen, a monk asked him, "What are you thinking of (shiryô), sitting there so tall and straight? The master answered, "I'm thinking of not thinking (fu shiryô tei)." The monk asked, "How do you think of not thinking?" The Master answered, "Nonthinking (hi shiryô)."

Master Dogen said (Zazengi) ...

Sitting in balance and stillness like a mountain, think of "not-thinking." How can the state of not thinking be thought? Be "Non-Thinking."

This is the essence of zazen. Zazen is not meditation. It is the Dharma Gate of great ease and joy. It is stainless, undivided practice-realization.

PS -Thank you to the many folks who have written to ask how we are doing with the FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR REACTORS, just 100 miles from here as the crow flies. Well, we are fine, life is surprisingly normal. Of course, waking up each morning to headlines like these can be rather STARTLING!

http://enenews.com/

But fear and worry is a state of mind. I sometimes compare fear in this case, of cancer and radiation and the like, to the fear of flying. Each year, many people are killed and injured in airplane accidents, yet that does not stop most of us from boarding planes. We will likely arrive safely, but even if not ... it is all the trip, man!

Today’s Sit-A-Long video follows at this link. Remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells; a sitting time of 15 to 35 minutes is recommended.