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Spring Ango 2020

· Sangha News, Zen Training · , , , ,

by Jeffrey Gyokudo Roberts

Even though the Catskills are frozen and quiet right now, if I close my
eyes, I can already hear the returning song of the Hermit Thrush and
smell the tulips blooming.  Slowly the Esopus Creek, covered in ice,
will loosen its grip on Winter and Spring will come.

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Facets of the Jewel

· Conversations, Zen Training · , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei, in conversation with Danica Shoan Ankele.
Originally published in Mountain Record journal: “Mother of All Buddhas” (2016)

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Shuso’s Letter Spring Ango 2019

· Sangha News, Zen Training · , , , , , ,

Dear Sangha,

Not being a native speaker of English, living my 75th year of life, hard of hearing—surely I was way back in the line of candidates for Chief Disciple. Thus, it was a big surprise when Shugen Roshi asked me to be Chief Disciple for Spring Ango. Immediately a line from the Shuso Hossen
Ceremony became real and very present for me: “I feel like a mosquito trying to bite an iron bull.” Fears of incompetence arose in my consciousness.

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Shuso’s Letter Fall Ango 2018

· Sangha News, Zen Training · , , ,

Dear Sangha,

As Autumn is swiftly approaching and we experience the impermanence of those lovely summer days, we can be reminded of and reflect on the limited time we have in our own life to manifest what we came here to do.

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Photo by Kevin Harber

What Do You Call it?

· Teachings · , , , , , , , ,

by Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi


LISTEN TO THIS TALK>

Book of Serenity Case 74

Fayan’s Non-Abiding

The Pointer

Plenty has myriad virtues; swept clear, there’s not a mote of dust.
Detached from all forms, identical to all things: taking a step atop a hundred foot pole,
the universe in all directions is one’s whole body—but tell me, where does it come from?

Main Case

A monk asked Fayan, “I hear that in the teachings there is a saying‚
‘From a non-abiding basis are established all things.’
What is the non-abiding basis?”
Fayan said, “Form arises before substantiation,
names arise from before naming.”

Verse

Without tracks, No news
The white clouds are rootless—What color is the pure breeze?
Spreading the canopy of the sky, mindless,
Holding the carriage of the earth, powerful;
Illumining the profound source of a thousand ages,
Making patterns for ten thousand forms.
Meetings for enlightenment in the atoms of all lands
in each place is Samantabhadra:
The door of the tower opens
everywhere is Maitreya.

 

The enlightened path is to practice and awaken to the Buddha mind that each and every one of us possesses. Though it is our very nature—it is never apart even for an instant—to directly realize this truth is both subtle and profound. To engage the teachings that point to self-nature is also a challenge. There are teachings that are challenging and so we need to engage them thoughtfully and carefully, and take time trying to understand what they are saying. This means that in the beginning we are using our rational mind to reflect on and understand conceptually what the dharma is pointing to—something that is itself, beyond all concepts and knowing.

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