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Treeleaf Zen

The question came up today about whether a Buddha would ever feel frustration … did he always feel peace and contentment? I believe he knew how to feel peace and contentment, even amid a world that can often be frustrating! You see, the highest Contentment, attained through dropping all thought ofsameness or difference, is being…

Well, the day has arrived for our JUKAI (Undertaking the Precepts) CEREMONY … … our first ever for Treeleaf Sangha … … and (we believe) the first Jukai Ceremony ever conducted fully online since, well, Buddhism began!! There is more about the meaning of “Jukai” below. But first, here is the record of our ceremony…

As we get ready for our Jukai (Undertaking the Precepts Ceremony) this Saturday (see here) … … some folks wrote to ask whether the Precepts were really necessary. Don’t the Precepts, and gentleness … a dropping of greed, anger and ignorance … naturally arise in our Zazen and Zen practice? Well, perhaps it is not…

This Saturday, our Treeleaf Sangha will be having our first … and what seems to be the … “World’s First”… ALL ONLINE JUKAI (Undertaking the Precepts) CEREMONY!! Please come watch, if you have the time. The live netcast will start here (and on this blog) at this link … http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sit-a-long-with-jundo from SATURDAY, JANUARY 17th 2009…

Today, some more to do in our “How To” Zazen … Life is a million things to do. These days, all of us are juggling so much … Is Buddhism a teaching of passivity? Must it mean withdrawal from the world? Not at all! “Just Sitting” Shikantaza is stillness … whether sitting or when moving.…

More in our series on “How To” Zazen … In “Just Sitting” Zen Practice, we learn to take life like the weather … … whatever comes, comes.   (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)

Please join our weekly “Live from Treeleaf” Zazenkai … We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about 40 minutes of Zazen, then 10 minutes of Kinhin, closing with the chants of the “Verse of Atonement” and “Four Vows“.Please join in, one and…

We continue our series on “How To” Zazen … … and how to handle thoughts that appear during Zazen. I often used the analogy of clouds (of thought) drifting in and out of a clear, blue spacious sky (a mind open and clear of thoughts). Our mind in Zazen may be compared to the sky…

Continuing our series on “How To” Zazen … The mind is like a noisy kitchen blender … filled with all kinds of rattlin’ stuff. Let it settle! (  if using headphones, loud noise at times in video !!  )   (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes…

Continuing our series on “How To” Zazen … In our Soto Zen perspective, Zazen is Enlightenment itself … … just crossing the legs, stretching the back, gazing at a wall, and all’s done! Like saying that merely running a race –is– the finish line crossed. In this race, there is nothing to gain or attain,…
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