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Treeleaf Zen

I receive e-mails sometimes from folks who feel that my talks are ‘too heavy‘ … when I speak of dropping ‘life‘ & ‘death‘, time as a state of mind, our self as an illusion and the world just a dream … cause that’s all HEAVY STUFF! Other folks write to say that I’m ‘too light’,…

Today, we finish our series of talks on ‘The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra’ … finishing with no beginning or end … There/fore/ set/ forth/ the/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/ man/tra/. Set/ forth/ this/ man/tra/ and/ pro/claim/: Gate! Gate! (Already Gone, Gone)Paragate! (Already Gone Beyond)Parasamgate! (Already Fully Beyond)Bodhi! Svaha! * (Awakening, Rejoice) Press on arrow…

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

It’s one handy dandy, nifty jifty, super duper Mantra! There/fore/ know/ that/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/ Is/ the/ sac/red/ man/tra/, the/ lu/min/ous/ man/tra/, the/ sup/reme/ man/tra/, the/ in/com/pa/ra/ble/ man/tra/ by/ which/ all/ suf/fe/ring/ is/ clear/. This/ is/ no/ o/ther/ than/ Truth/. Traditionally, a “mantra” is a religious or mystical syllable or syllables first arising in the Vedic…

A ‘shout out’ for my favorite of all Mahayana Sutras … the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra. The story is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: First, in the tale, ‘ol Vimalakirti is an unordained, married lay person (a father and businessman) who ‘bests’ all the Buddha’s great disciples and Bodhisattvas in his understanding of the Dharma.…

… a classic sit-a-long … The very next town to Treeleaf, Tsukuba happens to have, according to Guinness World Records, THE WORLD’S TALLEST BUDDHA IN THE WHOLE WORLD!! (and maybe the world’s tallest statue in the whole world!!), taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Obelisk in Trafalgar Square and even Godzilla (imagine what this…

…Continuing our look at “low self-esteem” … Someone wrote to ask whether all the “self acceptance” and embracing ourselves “just as we are” which I described last time means that, for example, a wife beater or alcoholic or thief should just accept themselves like that, “just as they are”, not seek to change or live…

Welcome to our Saturday “Live from Treeleaf” Zazen (but on Sunday!), We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH, then sit about 40 minutes of Zazen, then 10 minutes of Kinhin, closing with the chant of the “Verse of Atonement” and “Four Vows”. Please join in, one…

NOTE: OUR WEEKLY ‘LIVE’ ZAZENKAI WILL BE TOMORROW (SUNDAY) THIS WEEK Someone wrote to ask about “low self-esteem”. I’m curious about people’s views on self-esteem. On one hand, having good self-esteem leads to a positive and happy life. People with high self-esteem are confident, friendly, out-going and not afraid of taking risks. On the other…

Picture of Buddha catching a cigarette break Far/ be/yond/ all/ de/lu/sion/, Nir/va/na/ is/ al/rea/dy/ here/. All/ past/, pre/sent/ and/ fu/ture/ Budd/has/ Live/ this/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/* And/ re/al/ize/ su/preme/ and/ com/plete/ en/light/en/ment/. Press on arrow for ‘play’NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE TO SEE THE SCREEN OR START BUTTON,PLEASE UPDATE FLASH. SEE HERE
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