Zen folks fail because we're IGNORANT, DELUDED sentient beings, of course! But more specifically, because of several common mistakes and misguided assumptions among many Zen students new and old (and by so-called Zen Teachers too). 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 way...
May 22, 2015•11 min
Buddhism [1] explains why sorrows exist in the world, and explains in reasonable, cogent, realistic ways (beyond some rather more doubtful and fanciful explanations it also offers), [2] provides a vision which offers peace and compassion amid, and transcendence of, all human suffering, and, simultaneously [3] offers a workable path toward the alleviation of such suffering and ugliness in this world in ways vitally necessary for our species' future. If Buddhism failed in those three hard tasks, I...
May 06, 2015•37 min
This "Buddha quote", however nice it sounds, is not something the Buddha likely said at all (turns out to be from the cheery 70's writer on love, Leo Buscaglia). Oh, the Buddha certainly taught us to be grateful for this precious life, but also to be Grateful (Big "G") in a way that puts down the balance sheet and any need even to hunt for the "silver lining". What is the difference between gratitude and Great Gratitude seen in a Buddha's Eye? Daido Loori once recommended this elegant, simple pr...
Aug 31, 2013•9 min
Many times I hear folks say that they want to practice on their own, and not join in a Buddhist Community, because doing so gets in the way of their own practicing and sitting. They say that other people or having a teacher are a distraction, take up "my" precious time, are not a benefit to "me". Well, I say: Don't be a selfish sitter, a Pratyeka-buddha. There is an obligation, a face of the Bodhisattva Vow and taking refuge in Sangha, to support the Practice of others and not to be a Pratyeka-b...
Aug 09, 2013•7 min
in spring, the cherry blossoms in summer, the cuckoo 's song, in autumn, the moon shining, in winter, the frozen snow: how pure and clear are the seasons! Please visit the forum thread here!
May 06, 2013•12 min
I would like to criticize some Soto Zen Teachers for how we may be teaching Shikantaza (I know that all the Soto Teachers fully understand what I say. My point is merely whether we are conveying the message clearly enough). Yes, we teach the importance of sitting in a balanced way, be it in Lotus, Seiza, on a chair or the like. We may show students how to place the mind on the breath, the Hara, how to "return to the posture" or sit boundlessly or some other way. We may tell folks about "opening ...
Apr 27, 2013•12 min
What is your true colors? How can you show your true color? As the needle goes through the field of mokuran birds songs traffic sounds even the distant train even your sweet face clouded with suffering all of them all are sewn into mokuran true color
Mar 30, 2013•13 min
Please visit the forum thread here!
Feb 27, 2013•12 min
Sitting with the beautiful AND the ugly in this world ... finding that which simultaneously transcends and holds, breathes in and breathes out, "beautiful vs. ugly" ... is our Practice. We are free of aversion and attraction even as we have our ordinary human aversions and attractions, pulling the weeds we can and watering the flowers ... even as we embrace each as just what they are. One finds Wholeness, Light, Beauty that is unconcerned by small human judgments of beauty and ugliness. We obser...
Feb 17, 2013•8 min
After Jundo s eloquent post and video, my humble take on the subject. Much like the beautiful dancing Dorothy on the yellow bricks road, OUR JOB IS TO UNMASK THE WIZARD, in other words to dispell the illusion of the ego and turn the three poisons, the three little companions of Dorothy into compassion, wisdom and action. Please visit the forum thread here!
Feb 03, 2013•14 min
Taigu, our other Teacher here at Treeleaf, posted this week that he was going through some HARD TIMES at home and work, feeling stress and the blues from his job. Taigu recounted a story about the great Tibetan Teacher Chogyam Trungpa who, according to detailed accounts by his wife, suffered from frequent bouts of depression so severe that Trungpa was sometimes pushed to the point of considering suicide . (page 27 to 29 here) Taigu was talking about a little blues in his own case, not anything l...
Jan 29, 2013•9 min
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ZEN TALK YOU WILL EVER HEAR. It will save Zen Students endless tail chasing and dead-ends, disappointments and wasted days. It will allow every Sitting to be Magnificent ... both the Sittings which are magnificent and those which are not. One will never be let down by one's Zen's Practice again ... nor by one's life, family and friends, nor this whole world ... both when fulfilling your every dream and when falling far short. In an old Koan from the Book of Serenity (G...
Jan 19, 2013•9 min
My Dharma Bro. BRAD WARNER has written ( HERE ) that we are not Zen "Clergy" ... or at least, he is not "Clergy". He writes ... Zen has to be just a little bit dangerous. If it’s not, it ceases to be Zen. The reason that Zen can go as deeply as it does into the question of what it means to be truly human comes in a large part because it’s not entirely safe. The safer, more rule-bound, more structured and organized it becomes, the shallower and less valuable it gets. Nobody gets hurt (supposedly)...
Jan 10, 2013•14 min
Please visit the forum thread here!
Jan 06, 2013•10 min
There is a saying in the news business that "IF IT BLEEDS IT LEADS". An air crash or other tragedy captures the headlines and is endlessly examined by 24 hour news coverage, while the thousands ... hundreds of thousands ... of safe landings and uneventful flights that same day never make the news (Can you even imagine the strange headline ... "BULLETIN: PLANES MAKE NORMAL LANDINGS, NOTHING HAPPENED!!"). That leads to the unfortunate misperception that flying is dangerous, when in fact there have...
Jan 05, 2013•7 min
Samsara, this world we live in, is thus. It is a world filled with great beauty and sometime great ugliness, human beings who live in peace and those who kill. Sometimes innocent children die. Today is a day for tears. The true evil doer is greed, anger and ignorance, mental illness. That is the disease, that is the real culprit. Yet, the Buddha also Teaches of a View of Views, free of birth and death, beyond violence, with no separate killer or killed, no gain or loss in Wholeness ... and so no...
Dec 16, 2012•5 min
Following up on a prior talk by me called Sex Scandal Finger Wagging (Link Here), I now wish to call out some other damn foolish behavior witnessed in the ongoing big hoo-hah about Sasaki Roshi at SweepingZen.Com ... I wag my finger at those so invested in their religious or other heroes and "gurus", their idealism and romanticism about "Enlightened Roshis", that they are blind to serious failings, look the other way even when seeing the reality before their eyes, try to explain things away, try...
Dec 15, 2012•14 min
Moreover, remembering the natural sage of Jetavana park, we can [still] see the traces of his six years of upright sitting. We can still hear rumours of the transmitter of the mind-seal at Shaolin, spending nine years facing the wall. The ancient saints were like that already: how could people today fail to practice wholeheartedly? De plus, alors que nous pensons au sage inné de Jevatna, nous pouvons percevoir les traces de ces six années d'assise. Ainsi de Bodhidharma qui transmit le seceau de ...
Oct 29, 2012•12 min
Halloween is a good time to talk about ... ... the things that SCARE US! 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 Please visit the forum thread here!
Oct 27, 2012•10 min
Dogen writes these few verses: In the stream Rushing past to the dusty world my fleeting form casts no reflection Echoing a distant poem of Tozan in the Jewel Mirror Samadhi: it is like looking into a precious mirror form and image behold each other You are not it, it is you Visit the forum thread here!
Oct 08, 2012•12 min
Please visit the forum thread here!
Sep 03, 2012•13 min
OUR ZAZENKAI marks the COMMENCEMENT OF ANGO and our upcoming GLOBAL DAY OF SERVICE ALSO, AN (unintentionally very quiet) CHANTING OF "WE SHALL OVERCOME" SHALL BE IN PLACE OF THE 'IDENTITY OF RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE (Sandokai)' THIS TIME .. ... and note other sound issues, and that we have no netcast the last 15 minutes ... Dear All, Please 'sit-a-long' with our MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI, netcast LIVE 8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 7pm to 11pm, Los Angeles 4pm to 8pm (Frida...
Aug 31, 2012•43 min
I want to wag my finger, not just at the Zen teachers caught in scandals recently (although at most of them too), but at the reactions of some folks to the scandals. Particularly, I want to call out: Those folks ... some of them fellow Buddhist priests or moderators of Buddhist forums ... who would seek to ignore, hide or explain away some of these scandals, like sweeping dirt under a rug. Shame on them, shame on all of us, and we are contributing in part to these things if we do not look them s...
Aug 28, 2012•18 min
Aug 08, 2012•12 min
I have friends these days who are feeling the pain of cancer, grief at the death of a spouse, worry over a sick child, a broken heart from a broken marriage, fear and despair from loss of a job. I wish I could take their pain away, but I can't. Zazen is powerless for all of it too, and can't cure their cancer, remove the physical pain, heal the baby, bring back the lost loved one or fix the economy. Zazen is useless in that way. Even the buddha could not escape sickness, old age and death, and i...
Jul 21, 2012•10 min
Even if, proud of our understanding and richly endowed with realizations, we obtain special states of insight, attain the truth, clarify the mind, manifest a zeal that pierces the sky, and ramble through those remote spheres that are entered with the head; we have almost completely lost the vigorous path of getting the body out. Même si, fiers de notre compréhension et comblés par l’éveil, nous accédons à des états spéciaux, atteignons la vérité, purifions l’esprit et manifestons un zèle sans li...
Jul 16, 2012•11 min
We are pleased to announce our GLOBAL DAY OF SERVICE initiative here at Treeleaf. Starting in a few weeks, we will be asking each and all of our Treeleaf folks, in some way, to spend a day making their communities, the lives of others, this world a bit better. This is a chance to live the Virtues of Generosity and Giving, and our Bodhisattva Vows to Aid All Sentient Beings. Please look for additional information, and ideas for activities suitable for you, in the ENGAGED & CHARITABLE PROJECTS...
Jul 14, 2012•8 min
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Jul 06, 2012•36 min
Please visit the forum thread here!
Jul 02, 2012•11 min
If however there is the tiniest gap, heaven and earth are far apart. If the least tendency arises to go against or conform, the mind is lost in confusion. Cependant, s’il existe le plus petit écart, ciel et terre se séparent. Que s’élèvent la plus légère préférence ou le moindre rejet, l’esprit se perd dans la confusion. Please visit the forum thread here!
Jun 17, 2012•13 min
