Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest, teaching and practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, from whom he received Dharma transmission in 1988. Fischer served as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center from 1995–2000, after which he founded the Everyday Zen Foundation in 2000, a network of Buddhist practice group and related projects in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Fischer has published more than twenty-fi...
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 80
Today's Talk is the second part (we began last month) of reflections on portions of the 'Tenzo Kyokun' (典座教訓) or "Instructions for the Cook," Master Dogen's celebration of work (作務) and all our responsibilities in life, as we continue our Jukai and Ango Season for this year. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 3rd-4th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »...
Nov 13, 2018•43 min•Ep. 79
Today's Talk will honor portions of Master Dogen's "Instructions for the Cook," a celebration of 'Samu' Work Practice and all our duties in life. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: October 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »
Oct 07, 2018•42 min•Ep. 78
Today's Talk will reflect on a portion of Master Dogen's 'Shobogenzo-Jukai' as we commence our Jukai and Ango Season for this year. 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 ex...
Sep 03, 2018•50 min•Ep. 77
(Reigetsu) Susan Moon is a writer, editor, and lay teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She is the author of a number of books about Buddhism, including the humor book The Life and Letters of Tofu Roshi and This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity. For many years she was the editor of Turning Wheel, the journal of socially engaged Buddhism. Her short stories and essays have been published widely. Sue has been a Zen student since 1976, practicing in the lineage of Suzuki Ro...
Aug 06, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 76
The Talk this time will be on "Book of Equanimity" Koans we have recently danced in our "No Words Book Club." These are available to read on our current Book Club thread at: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?55-BEYOND-WORDS-LETTERS-BOOK-CLUB-TREELEAF-ART-CIRCLE 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! »...
Jul 19, 2018•38 min•Ep. 75
We will finish this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 1st-2nd, 2018 - O...
Jun 12, 2018•41 min•Ep. 74
On Sunday May 6th, Soto Priest and famed former "Tenzo" (Head Cook) at the Tassajara Zen Monastery Rev. Edward Espe Brown offered a very special Zazenkai and Talk, live from California and Treeleaf Tsukuba. 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 Rest...
May 07, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 73
Our Zazenkai today is in CELEBRATION of BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY, traditionally APRIL 8th in Japan. Today's Talk will dance with Dharma Hall Discourses by Master Dogen in Celebration of the Buddha's Birthday (from the Eihei Koroku, trans. Leighton and Okumura). 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 BUD...
Apr 15, 2018•40 min•Ep. 72
I thought that we might spend a few months with the text, taking it a few pages at a time. Not all the advice is something one need agree with in modern times, maybe (based on his own later Teachings) some of it even Dogen did not take to heart. However, let us see what we can find. 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 Treele...
Mar 08, 2018•36 min•Ep. 71
Today's Talk is based on the Sandokai (Identity of Relative & Absolute) that we chant each month. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: February 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Feb 03, 2018•49 min•Ep. 70
We continue this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances of much of the advice and guidance he received on those question...
Jan 06, 2018•38 min•Ep. 69
Our Reading Text for Today's Talk: Hokyoki (Journal of My Study In China) by Master Eihei Dogen - Part II (Pages 8 to 12). We continue this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to ...
Nov 15, 2017•34 min•Ep. 68
For today's Metta (Loving Kindness) Recital, in the section of offering Metta to people difficult in our lives or in this world, I will be offering in my heart to "people like Stephen Paddock", the man who killed 58 people, and wounded hundreds more, in Las Vegas this week. 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: May he be free of suffering; may he feel safe and still. M...
Oct 08, 2017•38 min•Ep. 67
I feel that 80% of Shikantaza teachers these days are teaching only 80% of Shikantaza ("Just Sitting" Zazen). The wind is often left out of Shikantaza's sails. The point of Shikantaza is an action done for such action's sake, with the action itself as Total Fulfillment beyond judgment or measure. This is a rarity in our never resting, never satisfied, always running and chasing lives. Sitting is Sacred, Whole and Complete just in Sitting alone. Further reading and discussion for this talk are av...
Oct 05, 2017•13 min•Ep. 66
In Japan today, it is O-Higan (お彼岸), a holiday in Japanese Buddhism celebrated at the Spring and Fall Equinox. It is said that the etymology of the name, the "other shore", is from "the other shore of the Sanzu River" which river traditionally is said to separate this life from the world of the afterlife, much as the River Hades. The "other shore" can mean as well the world of Enlightenment, which transcends the life and death of this world, this shore. On this day, when the seasons change, the ...
Sep 25, 2017•20 min•Ep. 65
A little homework assignment for you, an experiment to help you discover the power of this Practice to change life. It is something to try even if you are new to this Practice, or if you have a lot of miles down the Zen road. It is also a litmus test, a demonstration of the ability of this Practice to work great change in your life right now. Oh, this little act won't fix all the problems in your life, and won't even change a flat tire. You still will have to grab a jack and get to work. But it ...
Sep 22, 2017•11 min•Ep. 64
Today is the Beginingless Beginning of our Jukai and Ango Season. Especially for our Ango participants, and for anyone, a short Talk on the meaning of the 'True Ango' that has 'No Obstacles' and nothing ever to interfere ... and which is precisely the obstacles that interfere! Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: A SPECIAL TALK to COMMENCE 'ANGO' SEASON »...
Sep 12, 2017•20 min•Ep. 63
Having returned from my own travels by plane, car and train, I thought to begin a series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances...
Sep 06, 2017•47 min•Ep. 62
Buddhist meditation has commonly been considered an instrumental technique aimed at obtaining a heightened mental or spiritual state, or even as a method for inducing some dramatic "enlightenment" experience. But in some branches of the Zen tradition, Zazen (Zen seated meditation) has been seen not as a means to attaining some result, but as a ritual enactment and expression of awakened awareness. This alternate, historically significant approach to Zen meditation and practice has been as a cere...
Jul 05, 2017•36 min•Ep. 61
Our Talk this Month is "What I Know about the Ino" (the Supervisor of Monks) ... a monastic office, but not that far from our own lives, jobs and family duties ... It is from Master Dogen's "Pure Standards for the Temple Administrators (Chiji Shingi)" for Eiheiji Monastery (translated by Taigen Leighton and Shohaku Okumura) Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 2nd-3rd, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »...
Jun 08, 2017•43 min
We are calling on ALL of our Treeleaf Members and friends to Vow to undertake one extra, special 'Good Deed' each day (besides all the Good you already do!) and dedicate this to our Sangha. 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 fo...
May 29, 2017•14 min
A special Zazenkay and talk by guest speaker David Loy. David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as Tikkun and Buddhist magazines including Tricycle, Turning Wheel, Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma, as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. David lectures nationally an...
May 03, 2017•1 hr 35 min
The Talk this time will look at the Heart of the Heart of the Heart Sutra, form and emptiness in a nutshell ... 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 MON...
Apr 03, 2017•51 min
Our talk is about the zen poems of the Great Fool: Ryōkan Taigu (1758–1831). 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 Taig...
Mar 05, 2017•38 min
How does our Zen Practice blend with taking a stand? Do we stay "beyond the fray" or speak out for what is right? I have been wrestling with this lately, like many folks. I have advocated leaving "politics" outside the door of our Treeleaf Sangha. In principle. I still believe so, and that we should speak civilly and gently to each other in the Sangha, agreeing to disagree, leaving most political debate outside. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: SI...
Feb 23, 2017•7 min
WELCOME to our Memorial & Celebration of NEHAN-E, (Pari-Nirvana) the traditional day to mark the historical Buddha's death and passing from this visible world. This is also a day for each of us to remember in our homes those family and friends who have gone before. As well, we particularly mark the passing of Nishijima Gudo Wafu and Rempo Niwa Zenji. 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...
Feb 12, 2017•39 min
This talk looks at aspects of the wording and content of our upcoming Jukai "Undertaking The Precepts" Ceremony, to be held next week ... 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! »
Jan 09, 2017•36 min
The past year has seen its ups and downs ... a lot of downs it seems. Next year will likely be so too. (And the year after that!) This is the roller coaster of life. 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, Hop...
Jan 02, 2017•12 min
To Commence Jundo's month-long travels & pilgrimage to India, this talk is on Satsangs the Bhagavad-gītā (and various Zen Teachings on India). Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: November 4th-5th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! NAMASTE INDIA! »
Nov 10, 2016•46 min
