Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Treeleaf Zen

From a talk on Fukanzazengi by Taitaku Pat Phelan (Chapel Hill Zen Center) .… “a banner” refers to Ananda’s enlightenment story. Ananda was the Buddha’s first cousin and became his attendant. Both Ananda and Kasyapa were disciples of Buddha [but] Ananda realized enlightenment after Buddha’s death when he was practicing with Kasyapa. … Ananda’s enlightenment…

. .PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS !! . Master Gutei always raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen. A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way. When a visitor asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy raised his finger. Gutei heard about the boy’s mischief,…

.[OUR EMAIL IS OUT AGAIN, IF ANYONE IS TRYING TO WRITE] . Koan study was a vital part of Master Dogen’s philosophy. It was and remains so today. Koans are vital for understanding Zen views beyond mere words, and are a subject of intense focus and experience … Just not —during— the sitting of Zazen.…

.Many Zen masters of the past, when they felt death approaching, would take brush and ink in hand, compose a death poem, sit in the Lotus Position and die in such way. Bodhidharma, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Zen Ancestors are all said to have died this way. The Third Ancestor, Kanchi Sosan, author of…

. A saying by St. Jerome … In the sacred is the ordinary,In the ordinary is the sacred But in dropping all mental weighing of both sacred and ordinary … katte miru, chôbon osshô, zadatsu ryûbô mo kono chikara ni ichinin suru koto o. Iwan ya mata shi kan shin tsui o nenzuru no tenki,…

. Sometimes, there are no hidden meanings … Moshi za yori tataba jojo to shite mi o ugokashi, anshô to shite tatsubeshi,sotsubô narubekarazu If we rise from sitting, we should move the body slowly. Rise with calm confidence. We should not be hurried or violent. [Nishijima] When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly,…

. Yesterday, we looked at a book by a Swami, promising states of eternal bliss and joy, imperishable and pure, a freedom from the need to return to, in the Guru’s words, “this miserable land of birth, old age, disease and death” … Our Zen practice is very different from that. However, it is also…

. I came across a book by a Swami, promising states of eternal bliss and joy, imperishable and pure, a freedom from the need to return to, in the Guru’s words, “this miserable land of birth, old age, disease and death” … all to be found just “over the rainbow” … Such claims are very…

Some folks have written recently to ask, Hey, Jundo! What’s with all the hair & the beard? I thought Zen monks are supposed to shave? Well, many Zen teachers of old had hair and/or beards … … and even recent Ch’an monks … and Western women (though usually not the beards) … … Master Dogen…

Today, our most special guest ‘sits-a-long’ … The subject was the ‘Kesa’ (skt. kâshâya), the monk’s outer robe. The ‘Rakusu’ is the shortened version that I wear most days. Nishijima Roshi always sits in a full Kashaya. He recently wrote this: I think that not only monks, but all human beings should wear Kashaya when…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners