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Friday November 20, 2009

RETREAT !! RETREAT!! (I)

. We will have a few talks over the coming week or two, in preparation for our 'Treeleaf Two-Day Online Retreat', scheduled for LIVE NETCAST over the weekend of

DECEMBER 5 and 6, 2009!

(and available in recorded form after that, for participation any time 'On Demand').


The Retreat is in celebration of our all-online JUKAI (Undertaking the Precepts Ceremony, to be in early January) as well as ROHATSU (the celebreation of Shakyamuni's Moment of Realization under the Bodhi Tree some 2,500 years ago, traditionally celebrated in Japan during the week leading up to December 8th)

If you would like more information on the Retreat and Jukai (you can sit the retreat even if you are not participating in Jukai), please watch for information here and in our forum ...

JUKAI FORUM

Additional information and updates on the Retreat will be posted from time to time here:

ADDITIONAL RETREAT INFORMATION

Talks here in the coming days will cover such hot topics as "How to Chant" "How to Oryoki" "How to Bow" "How to Go To The Bathroom during a Retreat" (Really) and many others.

In the coming days, some additional materials (including the 'Chant Book' and various "Retreat Pointers") will be available for download. Watch for them here, on this "Sit-a-Long" blog.



Press on arrow for 'play'

NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE TO SEE THE SCREEN OR START BUTTON,
PLEASE UPDATE FLASH. SEE HERE

Thursday November 19, 2009

Carving Buddhas

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXVII)


We continue our look at equanimity ... equanimity hand-in-hand with sincere endeavor. The two would seem to be at odds.


But the two tastes can be one taste ... one beyond one taste.


A beautiful way to live all of life ... equanimity with sincere endeavor.

_____________________________

What is regarded as the preparation of superb delicacies is not necessarily superior, nor is the preparation of a soup of the crudest greens necessarily inferior. When you select and serve up crude greens, if you do so with a true mind, a sincere mind, and a pure mind, then they will be comparable to superb delicacies. Why is that so? Because when one enters into the pure and vast oceanic assembly of the buddha dharma, superb delicacies are never seen and the flavor of crude greens does not exist: there is only the one taste of the great sea, and that is all (Uchiyama: The many rivers which flow into the ocean become the one taste of the ocean; when they flow into the pure ocean of the dharma there are no such distinctions as delicacies or plain food, there is just one taste, and it is the buddhadharma, the world as it is). Moreover, when it comes to the matters of nurturing the sprouts of the way and nourishing the sacred embryo, superb delicacies and crude greens are as one; there is no duality. There is an old saying that a monk's mouth is like a stove (meaning that a stove consumes all kinds of wood equally, regardless of its quality). You must not fail to understand this. You should think that even crude greens can nourish the sacred embryo and nurture the sprouts of the way (Uchiyama: Likewise, understand that a simple green has the power to become the practice of the Buddha, quite adequately nurturing the desire to live out the way). Do not regard them as base; do not take them lightly. A teacher of humans and devas is able to regard crude greens as things that convert and benefit [beings].

From: Tenzo Kyokun - Instructions for the Cook by Eihei Dogen - Translated by Griffith Foulk 




(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;
a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)


To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.

Wednesday November 18, 2009

Karma Chameleon

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXVI)

The section we discussed yesterday mentions "Karma" and rebirth... so this is a good time for me to express a personal view on that.

My view is just my view, but is one that is sometimes criticized by Buddhists of a more literal or traditional bent ... who often tell me that my beliefs and comments will land me next life reborn as a wild fox, or perhaps in a Buddhist Hell.

According to Professor Foulk, the first

reference here is to "the famous story of a poor old woman who made an offering to Buddha of the water that she had used to rinse rice and, as a result, was reborn as a deva or human for fifteen kalpas [long ages], gained a male body [typically necessary for Budhahood in traditional Buddhism], and eventually became a buddha herself" ... the second is about "King Ashoka [who], legend has it, tried to contribute a huge amount of gold to a monastery, but was prevented by his son and ministers. ... Finally he took half a crabapple that he had in his own hands and ...  gave the fruit to the monks. They received it courteously, ground it into flour, and baked it into a cake, which was shared by all. This was Ashoka's final establishment of his good karmic roots."


(I mean, one may not need to take literally every belief of ancient Buddhism ... such as that belief about women, still felt in some corners of Buddhsm)

_____________________________

As for the [proper] attitude in preparing food offerings and handling ingredients, do not debate the fineness of things and do not debate their coarseness, but take as essential the profound arousal of a true mind and a respectful mind.

Have you not seen that a single bowl of starchy water, offered to Him of the Ten Names, naturally resulted in wondrous merit that carried an old woman through future births; and that half a crabapple fruit, given to a single monastery, enabled King Ashoka finally to establish his vast good karmic roots, gain a prediction, and bring about a great result? Although they create a karmic connection with the Buddha, [donations that are] large and vacuous are not the same as [ones that are] small and sincere. This is the practice of a [true] person.

From: Tenzo Kyokun - Instructions for the Cook by Eihei Dogen - Translated by Griffith Foulk 




(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;
a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)


To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.

Tuesday November 17, 2009

Equanimity, Gratitude, Respect ... Sincerity, Generosity

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXV)

In this section, Master Dogen continues to counsel that we should take the ingredients that life hands us and treat them with each of equanimity, gratitude and respect ... even if poor ingredients, small or not what we would necessarily want.

Master Dogen also emphasizes that a small donation or gift, though meagre yet given with sincerity and generosity, may mean more than a casual giving of great treasure.

He references a couple of old Buddhist stories to make his point: The first (from the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom) is a story of a poor old woman who made a simple offering to Buddha of the water that she had used to rinse rice and, as a result, was reborn to eventually became a buddha herself. The second concerns the great King Ashoka who, unable one day to give gold or money, donated with sincerity a mere half a crabapple to a monastery, which the monks received courteously, ground into flour, and baked into a cake which was shared by all (from the Ashoka sûtra).

The passage also refers to the Buddha as "Him of Ten Names", because many names are used to describe the Buddha. One sometimes heard is "awake and generous one", which seems fitting here.

_____________________________

As for the [proper] attitude in preparing food offerings and handling ingredients, do not debate the fineness of things and do not debate their coarseness, but take as essential the profound arousal of a true mind and a respectful mind.

Have you not seen that a single bowl of starchy water, offered to Him of the Ten Names, naturally resulted in wondrous merit that carried an old woman through future births; and that half a crabapple fruit, given to a single monastery, enabled King Ashoka finally to establish his vast good karmic roots, gain a prediction, and bring about a great result? Although they create a karmic connection with the Buddha, [donations that are] large and vacuous are not the same as [ones that are] small and sincere. This is the practice of a [true] person.

From: Tenzo Kyokun - Instructions for the Cook by Eihei Dogen - Translated by Griffith Foulk 




(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;
a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)


To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.

Monday November 16, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - The Ten Oxherding Pictures (II)






the 10 simultaneous pictures







ten oxherding all at once.gif



_______________________



(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;
a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)


To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.

Saturday November 14, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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 5 minutes or so...

Friday November 13, 2009

Master Dogen, Business Consultant ?!?

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXIV)We could almost write a modern corporate management advice book with this stuff ...Maybe we can say that, even if the head of the whole organization, the president of the company ......

Thursday November 12, 2009

One Flavor, Five Poisons

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXIII)Maybe we could say this like this ...In cooking your life out of life's cookbook ... you had better see clearly what's what. If you do so, you may be able to...

Wednesday November 11, 2009

Raining

Raining, all day today, cold .... brrrrrrr ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Tuesday November 10, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Knowledge

The Tenth of the Bodhisattva's Ten Virtues is .... Knowledge (Jñāna) ...In Saving All Sentient Beings ... Knowledge Goes a Long Way ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is...

Monday November 9, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - The Ten Oxherding Pictures (I) ...... (How to read a Zen text)

This is an Enso from the great Zen teacher Nantembo who lived a century ago, his temple in Nishinomiya is very close to where I live. It says: Everything fundamentally is perfect roundness in this world. As soon as...

Saturday November 7, 2009

Please join our NOVEMBER 4-Hour 'LIVE' ZAZENKAI NETCAST!

This month's sitting and ceremony is dedicated to a friend whose son is leaving for service in Afghanistan ... and to all such families ...Please join our NOVEMBER MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and...

Friday November 6, 2009

One, seven, three, five --

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXII)Master Dogen continues his story of the Yuwang Monastery cook. (I have added capitalized notes inspired by Uchiyama Roshi's comments) ... Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions...

Thursday November 5, 2009

Second Life ... LIVE November 14 @ 5 PM SLT (PDT)

(there is no video today ... )Well, I just had the pleasure of visiting a Meditation Hall with 1,300 members, from all Buddhist traditions ... some of whom are pirates, golden fairies, meditating dogs, flying dragons and .... the imagination...

Wednesday November 4, 2009

If not me, who? If not now, when?

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXI)In the following section, Master Dogen recounts his encounters in China with two old Tenzo  ... The stories speak for themselves today ... so I'll let them ...(I'll have a little to...

Tuesday November 3, 2009

Self Responsibility

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XX)This is a chance to talk about Buddhist practice and personal (or "self") responsibility. The world and our self are not two, meaning that we can do a lot to repair this...

Monday November 2, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - simplicity

simplicity, please ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Saturday October 31, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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 5 minutes or so...

Friday October 30, 2009

Treeleaf Japan's New/Old Zen Hall - Under Construction

Construction has begun on converting an old wooden building at Treeleaf in Tsukuba into a hall for sitting Zazen.I cannot post a sitting today, so offer this short tribute to the carpenter (Mr. Aita) and architect (Mr. Ushioda), good...

Thursday October 29, 2009

Making Merit, Making Bows

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XIX).... all things intra-penetrating  ...  We receive aid and support from others, we give to others, we bow in gratitude._____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table...

Wednesday October 28, 2009

Guishan or the Buffalo?

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XVIII)The ordinary is the most wondrous, all things intra-penetrating yet just as they are ...Dosho Port (on his blog, wild fox zen) has a wonderful rephrase of the reference to Luling rice...

Tuesday October 27, 2009

Three Tenths, Four Tenths; One Half, Two Halves

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XVII)This section always reminds me of the old child's riddle:How do you divide equally 16 apples among 17 people??Answer:  MAKE APPLESAUCE !!_____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */...

Monday October 26, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - the teacher and the teachings

The subject of the nature of a teacher and the teachings has been discussed on our Treeleaf Forum recently ...FORUM LINK (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To...

Saturday October 24, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday October 23, 2009

Sitting With The World

My old buddy from Florida, Sid, sent me the following ... so much of the same cut as Shikantaza,   ... so beautifully stated ...A few of the subtle points of Buddhist philosophy and Master Dogen aside, it is a...

Thursday October 22, 2009

Up & Down Tsukuba-San

I climbed from the bottom to the top of Mount Tsukuba, the famous mountain near Treeleaf (in Tsukuba, Japan) ... sat some Zazen ... then climbed back down again ...A little custom of mine, a climb to no where...

Wednesday October 21, 2009

Not That Side, Not This Side

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XVI)A chant heard daily in Zen temples is the "Sandokai", the "Merging of Relative and Absolute", by Sekito Kisen, the 8th Zen Ancestor in China. It includes images such as these, speaking...

Tuesday October 20, 2009

One Eye, Two Eyes ... A Six-Foot Body Of A Buddha ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XV)Uchiyama Roshi translates this section in a very nice way ...It is vital that we clarify and harmonize our lives with our work, and not lose sight of either the absolute or...

Monday October 19, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - about the verse of the kesa

When Dogen was in China, he heard this verse that we are all still chanting as we are about to put the Kesa on. Vast is the robe of liberation  formless robe, field of happiness.  I wear the Tathagatha's teaching ...

Saturday October 17, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

DUE TO THE NETCAST EQUIPMENT NOT DOING ITS THING ... TODAY IS A RECORDED 'RE-SIT' ...  THANK YOU FOR SITTING ANYWAY ...Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho),...

Friday October 16, 2009

Anxiety

I received an e-mail with an important topic this past week ...Hello Jundo :)I have been watching your video's on Treeleaf Zendo for a few months. I really enjoy it, I see things with many different points of view,...

Thursday October 15, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' (on Thursday) - the maple leaf

... life ... death ... ... showing front, back ... the falling maple leaf ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Wednesday October 14, 2009

Turn around the light to shine within ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XIV)In another great early work, Fukanzazengi, Dogen writes ...Put aside the intellectual practice of investigating words and chasing phrases, and learn to take the backward step that turns the light and shines...

Tuesday October 13, 2009

Wild Horses and Jumping Monkeys

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XIII)Like wild horses and crazy monkeys. I am going to spend a couple of days with this passage ...  taming those horses, calming those monkeys ...(You will hear and see our wild...

Saturday October 10, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...Tonight is dedicated to John Daido Loori Roshi ... a great teacher to so many, a wonderful heart, a root of the tree of Zen in the West ... who...

Thursday October 8, 2009

It Helps To Be Dead

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XII )Let's talk about old, long dead guys.They are a tough act to follow. _____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:"";...

Wednesday October 7, 2009

Going Back A Bit (By Special Request from Fugen)

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XI )Someone in our Sangha made a special request for me to jump back a bit, to a couple of lines I had passed over.  He likes the quote ...So, will do!...

Tuesday October 6, 2009

Introducing 'Tin Tin Sensei' ...

This little funny going around the Zen-blogosphere reminded me that I should introduce our newest Zen teacher at Treeleaf .... Tin Tin Sensei (he even looks a little like the cat in the picture)  ...Ya see ... unlike you...

Monday October 5, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - Kesa

Kesa (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Saturday October 3, 2009

Join Our OCTOBER 4-Hour 'Live' Zazenkai Netcast

Please join our OCTOBER MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following links:Part of our Zazenkai was taken over by our new kitten ... and by our son chasing after his new...

Friday October 2, 2009

To Dad

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - X )Some people are just "naturally Zen" ...... naturally wise, compassionate, tolerant and strong through much of their life ... no matter what it hands them ... ... like my late father, Leon....

Thursday October 1, 2009

A Shrine in a Blade of Grass ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - IX )Today's passage makes reference to a famous Koan and story ... Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt...

Tuesday September 29, 2009

The mind and all things

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - VIII )A pair of other translations of the first lines of this passage. First, by Uchiyama Roshi ...Both day and night, allow all things to come into and reside within your mind....

Monday September 28, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - beginners mind

As I was on my way to Kyoto this morning, i wrote the followings cheap poems:Books and ideas are far too seriousChildren and walkswill show you the wayAll these wordspointing at the ineffablesnow on snowCluttered headnever ending blossomsthis lifeWell,...

Saturday September 26, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday September 25, 2009

Accepting what is given ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - VII )Cheerfully accepting what one is handed ...... yet sincerely and carefully doing one's best to make it good **(Before the noon meal, the tenzo conducts a service in the kitchen for...

Wednesday September 23, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' (on Wednesday) - Kannon As Life

dewdropsare dancing on pampas grassand how the moon is sailingabove them all!!RyokanFar from being a distant and benevolent Boddhistava ,Kannon can be seen as the dynamic radiance of stillness, it arises from the mudra of non-duality and shines through...

Tuesday September 22, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - (MORE) The Virtue of Mystical Powers

More of the Bodhisattva Virtue of Miraculous, Mystical Powers (bala)In the Tashin tsû (Penetration of Other's Minds) portion of the Shôbôgenzô, the subject is mental telepathy, one of the supernormal powers (abhijñâ) regularly said in Buddhist literature to be...

Sunday September 20, 2009

A SPECIAL 2-Hour "LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zazenkai -- Celebrating the First Day of Jukai Study!

Welcome to our Special "Live from Treeleaf" Zazen marking the FIRST DAY (although really without beginning or end) of our Jukai (Undertaking the Precepts) Study and Preparations.  Please note the Rev. Taigu, who was supposed to lead things today,...

Friday September 18, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Mystical Powers

We now come to the Bodhisattva Virtue of  ....Miraculous, Mystical Powers (bala)Mahayana sutras and lore refer to a variety of supernatural powers developed through meditation and Buddhist practice, said of aid to the Bodhisattva ... such as the ability...

Thursday September 17, 2009

Every precious thing ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - VI )Waste not, want not ...Everything always in its place ...The reference to "high and low" places is from this Koan concerning Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */...

Wednesday September 16, 2009

Rolling up one's sleeves ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - V )Getting up from the Zafu and down to work ...Looking in to oneself and changing out ..._____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;...

Tuesday September 15, 2009

Overturing the Rice Bucket

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - IV )In this passage, the "six flavors" are bitter, sour, sweet, salty, mild and hot. The "three virtues" are to be light & gentle, pure & healthy, and prepared correctly. Life, like...

Monday September 14, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - the bowl of dirty soup

On Metta ... and letting go of the territory as well as the owner ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Sunday September 13, 2009

On the Anniversary of 9-11

A Buddhist Response to Terror ...______________________________________________ (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Saturday September 12, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...BUT DUE TO TECHNICAL REASONS, TODAY'S ZAZENKAI IS RECORDED ... so,  'LIVED FROM TREELEAF' ... a 'RE-SIT' ... FOR WHICH I APOLOGIZE ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep...

Friday September 11, 2009

Tired, Nothing to Say

I'm tired, nothing to say ...( and that's maybe the best talk of all )______________________________________________ (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Thursday September 10, 2009

Not A Single Moment of Carelessness ...

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - III )Doing things carefully ... the Zen way ..._____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;...

Wednesday September 9, 2009

Frugal, Simple

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - II )Keeping it simple ..._____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New...

Tuesday September 8, 2009

The Zen Way of Cooking

( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - I )For our ongoing 100-day ANGO ... let's start cooking ...If you would like to find the complete translation we will be using ...SOTO ZEN TEXT PROJECT_____________________________ Normal 0 false false false...

Monday September 7, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - suchness

... just suchness ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Saturday September 5, 2009

Join Our SEPTEMBER 4-Hour 'LIVE' ZAZENKAI NETCAST!

This month's sitting and ceremony is dedicated to Dennis, who left this world a few days ago, to his family and to his very good friend ...Please join our AUGUST MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real...

Friday September 4, 2009

Our theme today is ... Peace ...

PEACE______________________________________________ (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Thursday September 3, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Vow & Commitment

In keeping with our 100-day Ango Practice Season, we look at the Bodhisattva Virtue of  ....Vow and Commitment (pranidhana)The most fundamental Bodhisattva's vows are these four, which we chant daily ...To save all sentient beings, though beings numberlessTo transform...

Wednesday September 2, 2009

EVIL! - A Buddhist perspective on the Garrido Dugard Kidnapping Case and like horrors ..

I offer a Buddhist Perspective on one of the many unspeakable horrors and tragedies that are sometime encountered in this world ....  (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)...

Tuesday September 1, 2009

The Meal Verse and Aware Eating

For our ongoing 100-day ANGO Special Practice Season (SEE HERE) ...... one encouraged practice is the recitation of a Meal Verse prior to each meal. Here is one we have used during Retreats at Treeleaf that I suggest ......

Monday August 31, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - the unknown

... meeting the unknown ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Saturday August 29, 2009

A SPECIAL "LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zazenkai -- Celebrating the First Day of Our 100-Day ANGO!

Welcome to our Special "Live from Treeleaf" Zazen marking the FIRST DAY (although really without beginning or end) of our 100-DAY 'ANGO' PRACTICE SEASON OUR ANGO SITTING NETCAST CAN BE VIEWED HERE (on Ustream)ZAZEN NETCASTPLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE...

Friday August 28, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Skillful Means

We continue with our series on the Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" of a Bodhisattva ....with Skillful Means (Upaya)Historian and Soto Zen Priest Taigen Dan Leighton writes ... Skillful Means, upaya in Sanskrit ... is an essential concept in...

Wednesday August 26, 2009

The Dancers The Dance

(BENDOWA XLII)In today's section of Bendowa, Master Dogen presents a rather philosophical argument (reprinted in full below) upholding the Buddha's rejection of the idea of a separate "soul" or "mind essence' which continues on, and is later reborn, after...

Monday August 24, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - ANGO

This week, Rev. Taigu talks about ANGO, a special 100 day Practice Period, as we will begin at Treeleaf in a few days ...He writes: This is the text quoted in the following talk. It was given at the beginning...

Saturday August 22, 2009

Our SPECIAL 6-Hr Jean-Marc Bazy/Ango ZAZENKAI

WELCOME to our TREELEAF SPECIAL "ALL ONLINE" 6-HOUR ZAZENKAI with Jean-Marc "Tenryu" Bazy (founder and teacher of  l'association zen Dogen Sangha de Lyon-Villeurbanne, France) ... ... recorded in "real time" and available "on demand" for sitting any time, any place,...

Friday August 21, 2009

GOIN' TO AN ANGO ...

.THIS SATURDAY/SUNDAY (depending on location) ...... to "unofficially" kick off our ANGO season a little early ("officially" beginning August 29th) ...ANGO INFORMATION LINK... and to mark the visit to Treeleaf Tsukuba all this coming week of JEAN-MARC BAZY, a...

Wednesday August 19, 2009

Jump In, The Water's Fine

(BENDOWA XLI)Today, a message for so-called "armchair Buddhists" ... hesitant to get their feet wet ..._____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;...

Tuesday August 18, 2009

Play Ball!

Continuing with Master Dogen's Bendowa ...(BENDOWA XL)So, let's say "enlightenment" is like baseball ... Dogen went around visiting a lot of baseball stadiums, meeting the players and coaches ... and here is what he learned about the playing of...

Monday August 17, 2009

'MONDAYS with TAIGU' - Shikantaza 1

.I am happy to annouce a new weekly feature on the 'sit-a-long' ... "MONDAYS with TAIGU" ... a talk each Monday by Rev. Taigu Turlur, teacher at the Treeleaf Sangha ...Welcome Taigu!Rev. Pierre Taigu Turlur (also know as "Kuma...

Saturday August 15, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday August 14, 2009

OBON ! Remembering our Ancestors, Honoring the Living

.This week (actually, the holiday is in both July and August) is the major Japanese Buddhist holiday of Obon ... a time for remembering the deceased and our ancestors ...Here is the description by the Soto Zen headquarters in...

Wednesday August 12, 2009

ANNOUNCEMENT: ANGO! JUKAI!

No video today, but an ANNOUNCEMENT of our upcoming, "fully online" 100 day 'ANGO' ... as well as Precepts study and Rakusu sewing in preparation for our next 'JUKAI' (Undertaking the Precepts Ceremony, scheduled for January 2010) ... both resources...

Tuesday August 11, 2009

After The Storm

.Well, the typhoon passed, just a glance and a lot of rain here. Also, yesterday's earthquakes did no more than rattle the roof a bit.All is still, peaceful and the sky is blue once again!I like sunny days. But...

Monday August 10, 2009

Typhoon Comin'

There's a typhoon heading toward where we are in Eastern Japan tonight, and it is interfering with the internet ... so no video today ...However, please sit with me in the coming storm. Hopefully, in this practice, we learn to...

Saturday August 8, 2009

Our August 4-Hour 'Live' Zazenkai Netcast

Please join our AUGUST MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following links:The recording is divided into 2 parts as follows (click on the blue link) :00:00 - 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA...

Thursday August 6, 2009

Lava and Sea Zazen

.On our way back to Japan today ...But this morning had the great experience of going on a boat and heading out to sea before sunrise to witness something that can be seen few places in the world ......

Wednesday August 5, 2009

Zazen in Pahoa

.I am in Pahao, Big Island, Hawaii tonight ... great town, population 962 in the last census. Pretty much sitting right on top of Kilauea Volcano, which rips through this area with a flood of lava every few decades....

Monday August 3, 2009

On The Road

.Still on the road with my family ... today, in Volcano National Park A few Zazen tips for the traveler (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe...

Saturday August 1, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY (was once) LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

NOTE FROM JUNDO - I AM WITH MY FAMILY TODAY ON THE 'BIG ISLAND' OF HAWAII WITHOUT INTERNET ACCESS ... I HAVE COME TO LOOK AT LAVA POUR FROM THE EARTH. HOWEVER, THAT MEANS THAT TODAY's ZAZEN MUST BE...

Friday July 31, 2009

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau

I can't post a video today ... but I had the privilege of sitting a little Zazen this morning at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, an old Hawaiian religious site and place of refuge, now a U.S. National Park ...Puuhonua o...

Thursday July 30, 2009

Ocean Alone

.Then only the sea remains ... the sitter gone from view. THERE IS NO BELL TO START OR END TODAY's SITTING ... just the sea ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to...

Wednesday July 29, 2009

Ocean

.I am on the 'Big Island" of Hawaii. The ocean is found in all directions. Today, I swam around a little reef near shore, borrowing my son's mask and snorkel. Fish were everywhere, yellow, bright red, blue and black....

Sunday July 26, 2009

Zazen in a Cheap Motel

.Zazen today in the motel where we are staying ... 'cause my family and I are on vacation! I mean Buddhists are allowed to have fun too ... and frolic on the beach sometimes. It's not all about 'suffering'...

Saturday July 25, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY (almost) LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

NOTE FROM JUNDO - I AM CAMPING IN A STATE PARK WITH MY FAMILY TODAY ON THE 'BIG ISLAND' OF HAWAII ... I HAVE COME TO LOOK AT LAVA POUR FROM THE EARTH. HOWEVER, THAT MEANS THAT TODAY's ZAZEN...

Thursday July 23, 2009

Fear of Flying

.Some bouncy turbulence on our Pacific flight, and I sit a little pacific Zazen. Dogen and many teachers of centuries past crossed to China in wooden boats, on voyages taking days or weeks, meeting storms and constant dangers. I...

Tuesday July 21, 2009

Eclipse of the Sun ... with my Son

..Sitting Zazen during a TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN ... //if (typeof(cnnSectionName) != "undefined") { //if(cnnSectionName == "Health"){ //O_GoT('Feedback');}} //--> Total eclipse envelops Asia in darkness(CNN) Darkness fell across parts of China and India on Wednesday morning as a...

Monday July 20, 2009

A Moment In The Park

.JUST BEING "IN THE MOMENT" ...    ...  FOR A MOMENT IN THE PARK (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Saturday July 18, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday July 17, 2009

How to Attain Enlightenment ...

... by dropping all need and effort to attain enlightenment ... ... thus, enlightenment immediately attained!It is often said that our Shikantaza way is about "not seeking", being "goalless", abandoning the need and search for "enlightenment" ...It is also said...

Thursday July 16, 2009

Enlightenment-Dancing Dancing-Enlightenment

(BENDOWA XXXIX)This passage may be a bit clearer if we think of the practice of Zazen as  ... not really a means to obtain enlightenment ... but a "dance of original enlightenment" ... ... a dance that both celebrates,...

Wednesday July 15, 2009

Right Here All Along

(BENDOWA XXXVIII)In other words ...Someone asks Dogen ... "Hey Dogen, if Zazen is a way for unenlightened folks to get enlightened ... is there any reason for enlightened folks to continue Zazen after they get enlightened?"Dogen responds, "You still...

Monday July 13, 2009

Roller Coaster (Oh baby, you know what I'm talking about)

Oh baby you know what I'm talking aboutRollercoaster of Loveoh yeah it's Rollercoaster time . (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Saturday July 11, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...Though our chanting will be a bit quiet tonight, as we have children visiting and trying to sleep near where we sit Zazen!  :-)We start with 3 floor prostrations (or...

Thursday July 9, 2009

Zazen & the Colonoscopy

.Our series on "Zazen in the Hospital" continues with today's adventure in my "soon turning 50" routine medical check up ... the dreaded: COLONOSCOPY ...(A little more dreaded here in Japan, where no anesthesia is used and the patient...

Wednesday July 8, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Wisdom

Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" are fundamental to the Bodhisattva path.Now we come to Wisdom (Prajna Paramita)In Mahayana Buddhism, this means seeing into, piercing  ... emptiness ...  being, allowing, witnessing and losing ourselves in ... the dance of emptiness ......

Monday July 6, 2009

Zazen in the ER (for our son)

NOTE FROM JUNDO: THANK YOU TO ALL THE FOLKS WHO WROTE. LEON IS DOING FINE TODAY. AMAZING HOW FAST KIDS CAN RECOVER SOMETIMES.Spent the evening in the emergency room for our son ... sudden 40C/104F fever ...He's ok now...

Saturday July 4, 2009

Our July 4-Hour 'Live' Zazenkai Netcast

Please join our JULY MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following links:The recording is divided into 2 parts as follows (click on the blue link) :00:00 - 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA...

Friday July 3, 2009

As Buddhas Do, So Should You

(BENDOWA XXXVII)Though every action may be said to be "Zazen" in its limitless meaning ... whether walking, standing, running, sitting or reclining ...... there's something special about Zazen seated in the cross-legged position.One reason is that it can be...

Thursday July 2, 2009

The Freedom of Doing Without

I would like to recommend another small daily practice that can fit into any life ...... voluntarily, each day, doing without something desired. (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is...

Tuesday June 30, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Meditation

On Today's "Top Ten" Countdown of the  "Pure Virtues of the Bodhisattva" ...... we come to No. 5 ...  Meditation .. Dhyana ... (not to be confused with the 50's song 'Diana' ... Hold me, darling, ho-ho hold me tight...

Monday June 29, 2009

Zazen in the MRI Machine

I had my annual physical today, the way they do it in Japan. (Wow, I hope my fellow Americans soon get a national health insurance system like they have here in Japan ... let's just say that there is...

Saturday June 27, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...However, for technical reasons, today's sitting has been pre-recorded.We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about 40...

Friday June 26, 2009

A Wordless Smile (and Celestial Beings too)

(BENDOWA XXXVI)Master Dogen upheld Zazen ... not only as one Buddhist Practice among many Buddhist practices ... but as ... THE Buddhist Practice. I think Dogen can make a good case for his assertion being right. Zazen is what...

Thursday June 25, 2009

There Is No 'Zen Sect' !!

(BENDOWA XXXV)We have been looking in recent days at the "Perfections of the Bodhisattva" ... one of which is said to be "meditation" (along with practicing charity, keeping the Precepts etc.). "So", the questioner asks, "since all Buddhists traditionally...

Wednesday June 24, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Effort

Last time, in our discussion of the Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" (Paramitas) of the Bodhisattva path ... we talked about "Patience" ...... and today we will talk about the Perfection of Effort and Diligence (Virya Paramita).All the perfections...

Monday June 22, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Patience

Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" (Paramitas in Sanskrit) are fundamental to the Bodhisattva path.Today, we will discuss the Perfection of Patience  (Kshanti Paramita)If the video does not work today ... please consider it a perfect chance to put this...

Saturday June 20, 2009

Our Special Zazenkai Honoring Rev. Jiho Sargent

Please join our SPECIAL ZAZENKAI Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}...

Friday June 19, 2009

Old Master Stone

We welcome back a very special guest teacher today ...... a true rock star, one of the original 'Rolling Stones'(and before anyone asks ... No, I am not 'stoned') As the sound is not very clear at points, here's...

Thursday June 18, 2009

(Un)Turning Japanese

.Someone wrote our Treeleaf Forum to comment ...I personally feel that there's a wall between me and organized zen because organized zen is either Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Chinese, and I am none of those. I'm just a guy...

Wednesday June 17, 2009

Rev. Jiho Sargent Has Passed ...

Rev. Jiho Sargent has left this little world. A Soto priest, a friend, guide, mother and tough as nails voice of reason and common sense for many people from around the world who sat Zazen with her in Tokyo...

Monday June 15, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of the Precepts

Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" (Paramitas in Sanskrit) are fundamental to the Bodhisattva path.Today, we will discuss the Perfection of an ethical life, in keeping with the Precepts  (Shila Paramita)  (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting...

Saturday June 13, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

FOR TECHNICAL REASONS, TODAY'S 'LIVE' ZAZEN IS ... PRE-RECORDED! :-)Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about...

Friday June 12, 2009

Silent Sitting

No Talking, Just Sitting. (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Thursday June 11, 2009

HATE CRIME

Holocaust Museum Shooting: Racism and Reaction(from The Washington Post) Police are confirming that the suspect in the shooting today outside the Holocaust Museum in Washington is identified as 88-year-old James W. von Brunn, who decries Jews, blacks on rambling,...

Wednesday June 10, 2009

Beyond "Common" vs. "Sacred" ... All Is Set Free

(BENDOWA XXXIV)Buddhists may disagree on various interpretations of the fine points of Buddhist philosophy ...... But when just sitting, in the perfect action of embodying enlightenment, there is nothing upon which to disagree ... nor anyone to disagree. In...

Monday June 8, 2009

Practicing for Our 'self' / for Our 'selves'

Sitting by ourself, alone on our Zafu, working on our little 'self' ...... seeking peace and understanding for ourself, in our own life ...... It is so easy in this practice to become very 'self' centered, doing this mostly...

Saturday June 6, 2009

Our June 4-Hour 'Live' 'Zazenkai' Zen Meditation Netcast

Please join our JUNE MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following links:SMALL CAUTION: Due to a TECHNICAL GLITCH, the recording is divided into 2 parts this time as follows:00:00 - 00:50...

Friday June 5, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva? - The Virtue of Generosity

Ten Pure Virtues or "Perfections" (Paramitas in Sanskrit) are fundamental to the Bodhisattva path.Today, we will discuss Generosity (Dana Paramita)  (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to...

Thursday June 4, 2009

All Talk, No Action

(BENDOWA XXXIII)In other words .... Sometimes Buddhists teachings come without words, taught by grass, flowers, mountains, stones and such. In fact, we might say that every atom of the universe holds and preaches all the Buddha's teachings. But experiencing...

Tuesday June 2, 2009

This One Practice

(BENDOWA XXXII)In other words ...Question: There are other popular sects of Buddhism these days that have some very ornate traditions, and they are certainly a lot more colorful than Zen. Some of their doctrines are pretty mysterious, claim to...

Monday June 1, 2009

Hair & the Buddhist 'Monk'

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...

Saturday May 30, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday May 29, 2009

Whattsa Who'sa Bodhisattva?

Over the next few weeks, we'll be looking at several of the famous "Greats" among the Bodhisattvas.The "Greats" include Kannon, Maitreya, Manjusri, Jizo, Samantabhadra and many others. We'll look at a few Buddhas too ...Especially in Mahayana Buddhism, a...

Thursday May 28, 2009

Urban Meditation: On The Train

Continuing our series on Sitting in the City ...... on a commuter train today, lots of tired folks heading home from work ...... lost the netcast signal though after a couple of stations (oh well)But a crowded train or...

Wednesday May 27, 2009

More City View

Sitting again in the busy streets of downtown Tokyo ... the noise and hussle, traffic and distractions ...... But are there "distractions" if all resistance to the distractions is dropped from mind? Then everything is just there, as it...

Tuesday May 26, 2009

City View

In Tokyo today ... looking at the skyline ..amazingly complicated city ... tangled streets ...... millions of people, millions of lives ... yet, from a Buddhist perspective, all One beyond One.Just a silent sitting today, not even a bell. (remember:...

Saturday May 23, 2009

Our Special 2-Hour "HANS-ZENKAI" Netcast

Hi,To commemorate the visit of our Sangha Member Hans (from Germany) to Treeleaf Japan ...... today is a  special 2-hour Hans-Zenkai Zazenkai (Zazen sitting)  ...recorded in "real time" and available at the following link:ZAZENKAI We start with 3 floor...

Friday May 22, 2009

Like Croaking Frogs

(BENDOWA XXXI)Old Dogen sounds pretty critical here about some other Buddhist practices, such as chanting Nembutsu (chants of praise to a Buddha) and reading Sutras.But what is he really saying?  He is certainly not against all study of Buddhist...

Wednesday May 20, 2009

Pulling Weeds

Our topic today is 'Samu' ... Work Practice ...... which is just Zazen working ...While Zazen is at the heart of our Way, other aspects of traditional Zen Practice also should be introduced and encouraged. I have been meaning to...

Tuesday May 19, 2009

Let's Play! / Taking A Break

(BENDOWA XXX)The topic for today is whether it is okay to take a break from Zen Practice sometimes ...... but before I get to that, I want to return briefly to something I was called on by a comment...

Monday May 18, 2009

Putting Down Our Toys, Learning to Play (REDUX)

  I AM PRESENTING THIS TALK A SECOND TIME, AS WE HAD A FEW RECORDING ISSUES A FEW DAYS AGO ...(BENDOWA XXIX)Uchiyama Roshi comments on this section:The meaning of the third question is: Okay. Zazen is good. I understand that...

Saturday May 16, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Thursday May 14, 2009

Like A Buddha Changing a Tire?

(BENDOWA XXVIII)In other words ...Someone asks ... "Hey Dogen, your wild talk of "Zazen as the way of the Buddhas and Ancestors" is tough for ordinary folks to grasp. There are many schools of Buddhism which propose that we...

Tuesday May 12, 2009

Just Sit, Just Live

This Way of 'Just Sitting' is also our Way of 'Just Living' ... (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Monday May 11, 2009

A Bad Dream

Man, I just woke up from a pretty bad dream. I don't remember all the details ... something about getting fired and losing a job  I had years ago. (I guess a lot of folks are having ... or living...

Saturday May 9, 2009

Our May 4-Hour 'Live' 'Zazenkai' Zen Meditation Netcast

Please join our MAY MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following link:ZAZENKAI Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' and 'then' ... we are sitting all together!Please have...

Friday May 8, 2009

If It Was Good Enough For The Buddhas (Continued) ...

(BENDOWA XXVII)I want to continue and clarify a couple of things mentioned in the last talk ... I asked:But, in fact, did all the Buddhas and Ancestors practice exactly the form of Zazen we practice?No ...  and Yes ......

Wednesday May 6, 2009

If It Was Good Enough For The Buddhas ...

(BENDOWA XXVI)In the remaining pages of Bendowa, Master Dogen answers a series of 18 questions about the whys and hows of Zazen ...First, he starts off by saying that Zazen is the gateway to truth, to what the Buddha realized....

Tuesday May 5, 2009

Settling The Waters

The way to settle the ripples in a vessel of agitated water is not by doing something ... not by patting down the ripples with our hand, not by blowing on them or trying to will them down ......

Monday May 4, 2009

Zen At The Movies

In transit, coming back from a retreat, so no netcast today ...Instead, a few jotted words on "Enlightenment", and its various interpretations ... doodlings on a train ...Let me use a "movie theater" parable for the point I wish to...

Saturday May 2, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

... although pre-recorded today as I am at a Zen Retreat for the next few days, at a Zen temple deep in the mountains here in Japan (Let me also mention that our MONTHLY 4-HOUR 'LIVE' ZAZENKAI WILL BE...

Friday May 1, 2009

Sound the Retreat!

I am off to a Zen Retreat for the next few days, at a Zen temple deep in the mountains, invited by a friend who is the priest there ... which means:OUR MONTHLY 4-HOUR 'LIVE' ZAZENKAI WILL BE HELD...

Thursday April 30, 2009

Resonating Like A Bell ...

NOTICE: OUR MONTHLY 4-HOUR 'LIVE' ZAZENKAI WILL BE HELD ON MAY 9th(BENDOWA XXV)In other words ... A single person's sitting a moment of Zazen resonates like a bell through all space and time, carrying out the Buddha's work throughout the...

Wednesday April 29, 2009

Buddha's Work

(BENDOWA XXIV)I am jumping back a sentence in the text due to my lack of mindfulness ...Also, today's sitting and talk is especially dedicated to the fellow who wrote the other day to say that his son had passed...

Tuesday April 28, 2009

'Sitting With'

A member of our Sangha posted this comment on our Forum ...I have only learned since (recently) beginning to study Zen [that one can sit with one's problems]. Before, I had the notion that problems must be gotten rid...

Monday April 27, 2009

Silent Sitting

We should never forget the silence ...No words needed today, only sitting. (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Saturday April 25, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday April 24, 2009

Grasses and Trees, Fences and Walls

(BENDOWA XXIII)One of the great Ancestors of Soto (Caodong) Zen in Song Dynasty China, Hongzhi Zhengjue, wrote this in his Mozhao Ming (Inscription on Silent Illumination) ...All the myriad things in the universeemit radiance and speak the dharma [the...

Wednesday April 22, 2009

Letting the Ocean be the Ocean

(BENDOWA XXII)In other words ... The grand chain reaction of Inter-being Inter-dependency Inter-support that is this world manifests ... --not-- by our thinking about it, nor by our analyzing it, nor by our having some small views or perspective about...

Tuesday April 21, 2009

More Nurturing Seeds

A simple daily plan for nurturing the wholesome seeds of our mind ...   (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here.  ...

Monday April 20, 2009

Nurturing Seeds

A very ancient Buddhist model of the human mind and psychology includes something called the Store Consciousness (Alaya-vijnana). Thich Nhat Hanh has compiled several verses which give a sense of its workings ... here are part:Mind is a field...

Saturday April 18, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday April 17, 2009

Inter-being Inter-dependency Inter-support

(BENDOWA XXI)As the chain reaction brought about by Zazen continues, we see all the world ... earth, grass and trees, stones, wind, water, fire, other sentient beings ... aid the person who sits Zazen to exhibit realization and know...

Wednesday April 15, 2009

A Wondrous Chain Reaction

(BENDOWA XX)In this section of Bendowa, Master Dogen is using some powerful images to describe a kind of chain reaction brought about by Zazen ... The person who sits Zazen "drops body and mind", thus attaining, experiencing and understanding...

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Gratitude Trust & A Willingness to Yield

(for technical reasons, there will be no sitting broadcast today) This is something I preach from time to time, but I thought it worth saying again. Perhaps it is good to shout it clearly. Namely, in Buddhism, we have a...

Monday April 13, 2009

Making the Buddha's Wisdom Real ...

(BENDOWA XIX)Last time we saw how a moment of Zazen --is--Buddha sitting, makes all the world right, just the way everything should be.   But it is not so simple as just saying that, for it must also work the...

Saturday April 11, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Thursday April 9, 2009

The Buddha's Wisdom Made Real ...

(BENDOWA XVIII)In other words ...    In a moment of sitting Zazen, you and all things of the universe are no less than the Buddha sitting Zazen under the Bodhi Tree, attaining realization and commencing to teach (the meaning of...

Wednesday April 8, 2009

Cinnamon Applesauce and the Bodhi Tree

(BENDOWA XVII)In very poetic language below, using many Buddhist images, Master Dogen is expressing a taste of the deep inter-connection of all the world and all beings.  Well, recently someone in our Sangha wrote of a similar taste, but...

Tuesday April 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Dear Buddha!

(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf Zen" click here....

Monday April 6, 2009

EMBRACE, CELEBRATE and SINK RIGHT IN!

I sometimes talk about an aspect of our Zen practice I call "acceptance without acceptance" ...By that I mean an approach to all the ugly and painful aspects of life and this world which are just so hard (perhaps...

Saturday April 4, 2009

April 4-Hour 'Live' 'Zazenkai' Zen Meditation Netcast

DUE TO VIDEO RECORDING ISSUES (the recording stopped in the middle) ... COMBINED WITH A CASE OF THE FLU (I fell off the Zafu twice and sneezed through my talk) ... THIS IS A REBROADCAST OF THE MARCH ZAZENKAI...

Friday April 3, 2009

Zen and the Flu (Ah chooo)

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} How to "sit Zazen" when...

Wednesday April 1, 2009

Master 'Su su'

The start of April is the day when we traditionally celebrate in the Zen world the birth of that great Vietnamese Zen Patriarch, Master 'Duc Tho' (or as he is more commonly known to those who love him 'Su...

Tuesday March 31, 2009

nobody in need of savin' ... so let's get to work

(BENDOWA XVI)The "Six Realms" refer to the six heavens, hells and earthly states into which one may be reborn in traditional Buddhist thought. SIX REALMSBut, even if we do not take that literally, we can also say that this...

Monday March 30, 2009

Thus Come One Thus Gone One Thus One

(BENDOWA XV)"Tathāgata" is a name which can have several meanings and interpretations, including one who has thus gone and one who has thus come, or one who has found the truth. It may also be taken as the one...

Saturday March 28, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday March 27, 2009

Spring Away

Just the other day, we could celebrate the warm coming of Spring ....It's spring! But now, Spring is hiding itself, and a cold wet wind is blowing. All things come and go ...I am reminded of this Koan (Blue...

Thursday March 26, 2009

Buddha Mudra ... And All Space In The Universe Completely Becomes Enlightenment

(BENDOWA XIV)"Mudra" means a spiritual or powerful gesture, often performed with the whole body. In this case, "Zazen". Uchiyama Roshi explains ... "When one displays the buddha mudra with one's whole body and mind" means with one's three kinds...

Wednesday March 25, 2009

As You Sit ... The Buddhas Sit

(BENDOWA XIII)We'll spend a few days with the words of this passage from Bendowa.Here, Master Dogen presents his view that, as you sit Zazen, the stones, grass, trees and stars are sitting Zazen. All the Buddhas and Ancestors sit...

Tuesday March 24, 2009

How Do I Know If I'm Doing Zen Right?

..Almost every day, somebody asks me to judge whether they are making "progress" in their Zen practice ... a practice that's based on dropping all idea of "progress".Yet, there are some ways to know that there's been some "progress",...

Monday March 23, 2009

You Want Investment Advice ... FROM A BUDDHIST PRIEST?!!

..More frequently than ya might think, no kidding ... folks ask me for advice on things like what to do in the stock market? HUH? I think the picture below about captures my surprise! Do they ask their stock broker...

Saturday March 21, 2009

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday March 20, 2009

Dropping Away Body and Mind

(BENDOWA XII)According to Master Dogen's account of his time in China, one morning his teacher Ju-Ching found a monk dozing during Zazen. Dogen heard his teacher scold the sleeping monk, "The practice of zazen is the dropping away of...

Thursday March 19, 2009

It's Spring ...

Just a simple celebration today of the coming of Spring. Don't feel like talking much today ...It's spring! (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to "Treeleaf...

Wednesday March 18, 2009

More ... ZAZEN ( that's ZEN MEDITATION ) IS ALL YOU NEED!

(BENDOWA XI)Master Dogen continues to tell us that "Zazen" ( that's Zen meditation ) is all we need ... enlightenment itself ...And that means we don't need to bother with all that other Buddhist stuff ... like burning incense,...

Tuesday March 17, 2009

ZAZEN (that's ZEN MEDITATION) IS ALL YOU NEED!

(BENDOWA X)Today, Master Dogen begins to lay out his case that Zazen (a moment of Zen meditation) is all you need! AND HE WAS RIGHT!If you can come to see an instant of Zazen as complete, the only place...

Monday March 16, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Cars

I was going to just share some happy news with everyone today: I passed my Japanese driver's license test (considered one of the hardest in the world, by the way, and I failed twice! They make it tough to...

Saturday March 14, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zen Meditation

[DUE TO A WEAK SIGNAL IN MY PRESENT LOCATION, TODAY'S ZAZENKAI IS PRE-RECORDED. HOWEVER, I WILL BE SITTING AT THE APPOINTED TIME]Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho),...

Friday March 13, 2009

A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words

.For all the talking we do around here on Zen Practice, the meaning of what's shown in the following picture can never, ever be forgotten ... look closely ... very closely ....Understand?(PS - There is no netcast today)...

Thursday March 12, 2009

A Graduation Meditation

Tomorrow, our son Leon has a little graduation ceremony from Kindergarten, and he's about to start 1st grade. It is a day of joy, also mixed with a touch of sadness at passing time.How should we approach such moments...

Tuesday March 10, 2009

Master Bodhidharma Comes to the East (Bendowa IX)

In this section of Bendowa, Master Dogen recounts the tale of Zen Buddhism's coming from India to China ...Much of the story, we now know, is fictional ... centered on historical characters who (if they lived at all) are composites...

Monday March 9, 2009

Great Ambition (Bendowa VIII)

.One might think that, in attaining the realization that he attained in China, Master Dogen would drop all thought of ambition, goals, something he needed to achieve in life. However, as the below section of Bendowa shows, he sure...

Saturday March 7, 2009

March 4-Hour 'LIVE from TREELEAF' ZAZENKAI!

Hi,Please join our MARCH MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following link:ZAZENKAI Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' and 'then' ... we are sitting all together!Our Zazenkai consists...

Friday March 6, 2009

Empty Handed (Bendowa VII)

.In today's Bendowa, Master Dogen voyages to China (not a simple journey in the 13th century) searching for Truth ...What did he gain while there?Soon after his return he was asked this very question.He responded ... I have come...

Thursday March 5, 2009

When the "Teacher" gets stressed ...

There will be no video today for technical reasons (rather stressful!), so I would like to post a little essay I wrote that continues our theme from last week ... on how "Zen teachers" sometimes get out on the wrong...

Wednesday March 4, 2009

Of Rinzai and Soto (Bendowa VI)

In today's Bendowa, Master Dogen recounts the story of his travels to China, searching for Truth ...First, his years of study with Rinzai Zen Master Myozen, before heading to China and beginning the Soto Zen path.What is the difference...

Tuesday March 3, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Life is Our Temple

The "slogan" of our Sangha is Life is our Temple.I truly believe that, perhaps for the first time in history, it is more fruitful for us to practice and learn Buddhism outside of a monastery than inside. In the...

Monday March 2, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Baby Sitting-Sitting

Well, today's sitting won't be too quiet. In fact, its pretty crazy and noisy.My wife is away for the day, so I am watching our son Leon. But that doesn't mean I can't get a bit of sitting in ...

Saturday February 28, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zazenkai Meditation

WARNING: THE SIGNAL FOR TODAY'S NETCAST CUTS OUT MIDWAY THROUGH ZAZEN. SO, PLEASE KEEP GOIN' ON YOUR OWN TODAY (SITTING TIME: 40 MINUTES), FOLLOWED BY KINHIN, VERSE OF ATONEMENT & FOUR VOWSPlease join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai...

Friday February 27, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Snowing

.it is snowingtwo poems by dogen zenji about the snow ... about sameness and difference ...A snowy heron on the snowfield where winter grass is unseen hides itself in its own figure.Snow is falling far and wide, Each snowflake neither...

Thursday February 26, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Flowing

We abandon all need for life to be as we would make it ... we drop all thoughts of purpose, goal, attainment and meaning ... we strip ourselves naked and jump into a river, abandoning all demands that the...

Wednesday February 25, 2009

Of Buddhas & Ordinary Beings (Bendowa V)

We'll talk about Buddhas and ordinary living beings ... living in one reality, yet conceiving and perceiving that fact so differently. _____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:"";...

Tuesday February 24, 2009

... Let Go ... (Bendowa IV)

When you let go, the dharma fills your hands ... no restriction in any direction ... _____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt;...

Sunday February 22, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Back On My Bike, Ready to Ride

After a couple of days' being knocked a bit off my seat ... we're back in the saddle again! (remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended) To subscribe to...

Saturday February 21, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zazenkai Meditation

[DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, TODAY'S ZAZENKAI IS PRE-RECORDED]Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about 40 minutes...

Friday February 20, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Still Off My Game

I'm still feeling quite off my game today. This thing in my life really knocked me for a loop. Some folks think that one is never ever supposed to have a bad day or days if one is a...

Thursday February 19, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Even Buddhas Get the Blues

It is much easier to be at peace with a disaster or war on the other side of the world ...... than with the little troubles in one's own home or family. The people we are closest to, and...

Wednesday February 18, 2009

Practice Makes Perfect (Bendowa III)

You are already perfectly you, and life is already perfectly life ... ... but it's not a matter of merely saying so. _____________________________ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes;...

Tuesday February 17, 2009

Jijuyu Zanmai (Bendowa II)

Continuing with Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Bendowa ... Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 I would like to talk a bit more about Jijuyu zanmai, "the samadhi, the Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4...

Monday February 16, 2009

Zazen ... Supreme Perfect Enlightenment Attained! (Bendowa I)

We begin our series of talks on Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Bendowa ... Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0pt 5.4pt 0pt 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0pt; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New...

Saturday February 14, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zazenkai Meditation

[DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, TODAY'S RECORDING IS A REPLAY]Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about 40...

Friday February 13, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : High Anxiety!

Today's subject is "sitting with Anxiety" ...  Is it true that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" ??(and thank you very much to all the folks who wrote to ask about my son Leon. He...

Thursday February 12, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : The Sick Child Sutra

I was going to start a series of talks yesterday on an old Zen writing ... Master Dogen's Bendowa (sometimes called "A Talk about Pursuing the Truth") ...But our son, Leon, started throwing up at 4am ... and I've been...

Tuesday February 10, 2009

Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) XIV - Words & Letters

Zen is sometimes described as "A special transmission outside the scriptures, not relying on words or letters." Yet historians of Zen Buddhism almost unanimously agree these days that the 'Zen way' rarely, if ever, left the words and letters...

Monday February 9, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : A Zen Monk in Love ...

Well, it is nearly Valentine's Day, and love is in the air ...A few days ago I spoke about how most "Zen Monks" in Japan marry:MARRIED MONKand today you will meet this monk's "better half"!!What is a Zen Buddhist...

Saturday February 7, 2009

February 4-Hour 'Live from Treeleaf' Zazenkai!

Hi,Please join our FEBRUARY MONTHLY 4-hour 'Live from Treeleaf' ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following link:ZAZENKAI Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' and 'then' ... we are sitting all together!I have a...

Friday February 6, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo: 'No Time' Like The Present (REDUX)

I BELIEVE WE FIXED THE SOUND  FROM YESTERDAY [THERE WAS NO SOUND!]. So, today I will talk a second time about 'no time' ...Let's taste some other ways that Zen teachers, like 'ol Master Dogen, have looked at time...

Wednesday February 4, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo: What will be will be ...

Continuing our discussion of time ... we go back to the future ... What's a Zen 'approach' to the future?  Well, again, we experience the future many ways at once!Today's sitting is dedicated to Chan Master Sheng Yen, who...

Tuesday February 3, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo: The Past is Past

How do Zen Buddhists experience the 'past' ?Well, we let the sad times be sad times, the happy times be happy, the painful moments painful, the joys joyful ... each moment just what it was. We don't run from...

Monday February 2, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo: In the Moment?

Here's the incredible medical case of H.M. ..._____________________________He knew his name. That much he could remember.He knew that his father's family came from Thibodaux, La., and his mother was from Ireland, and he knew about the 1929 stock market crash...

Saturday January 31, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zazenkai Meditation

Please join our weekly "Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...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,...

Friday January 30, 2009

Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) XIII - Don't Forget to Breathe!

... Just Breathing ... how do we breathe during Zazen meditation?This diagram (kindly provided by a temple in Japan) might seem pretty obvious ... but what more do you want to know about 'just breathing'?...

Thursday January 29, 2009

Zazen Meditation with Jundo : Married Monk?

Most Buddhist Clergy in Japan marry. That may surprise some folks. Buddhist clerics marrying is very unusual in the rest of Asia....

Wednesday January 28, 2009

Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) XII - Kensho Schmensho

Shikantaza 'Just Sitting' is profound 'Non-seeking' ...... to attain that which cannot be attained....

Tuesday January 27, 2009

Reclining Buddha

The Buddha, when really very sick and unable to sit in the Lotus Posture, "sat" like this ...The subject came up today in our Forum ...FORUM: SITTTING WITH CHRONIC PAINWhat about sitting with chronic pain? What if you just cannot...

Monday January 26, 2009

Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) XI - Insta-Zazen©

Although we usually practice Zazen sitting quietly, facing a wall ...... we can practice Zazen anywhere. It is not limited by time or place. Nor is it simply a matter of sitting cross legged, standing, reclining, floating in a pond...

Sunday January 25, 2009

BIG MIND small mind

John from Australia, a Sangha member, asked if I would talk about "BIG MIND small mind" ...... Hmmm.  That's BIG!The same fellow suggested I put a "sit-a-long suggestion box" on our forum ...TREELEAF SANGHA FORUM... for anyone who would like...

Saturday January 24, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zazenkai Meditation

DUE TO TECHNICAL REASONS, TODAY'S ZAZENKAI WAS PRE-RECORDED. OH WELL.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...

Friday January 23, 2009

Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) X

.In Soto style, we 'face the wall' ... we sit with our backbone slightly forward of the center of the Zafu,  ... back straight, as if a tiny thread were running to the ceiling through the crown of the...

Thursday January 22, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) IX

I am about to break a cardinal rule of 'Soto Zen' (not the first time): However, I hereby officially state that I do not think that the 'Lotus' Postures (although ideal if you can) are necessarily the best postures for...

Tuesday January 20, 2009

All Things Change!

It is a fundamental Buddhist teaching that "All Things Change" ... Some of those changes can be in ways we want, some in ways we surely do not want.But Buddhists learn to be 'Masters of Change'  ... going with...

Monday January 19, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) VIII

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,...

Saturday January 17, 2009

JUKAI! JUKAI! JUKAI!

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...

Friday January 16, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: A little more about Buddhist Precepts

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 ......

Wednesday January 14, 2009

An Invitation: To Our "ALL ONLINE" Jukai Precepts Ceremony (This Saturday!)

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...

Tuesday January 13, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) VII

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...

Monday January 12, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) VI

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...

Saturday January 10, 2009

Weekly 'SATURDAY LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Zazenkai

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...

Friday January 9, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) V

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...

Thursday January 8, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) IV

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...

Tuesday January 6, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) III

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...

Monday January 5, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) II

We are so often chasing after things, rarely still ... whether it is attainments, dreams and goals, fame and fortune and possessions, whatever we think will 'finally' make us happy and content in life (once we get there, if...

Friday January 2, 2009

New Years 4-Hour 'Live' Zazenkai Netcast

Hi,Please join our NEW YEARS/JANUARY MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI, recorded in "real time" and available at the following link:ZAZENKAI Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' and 'then' ... we are sitting all together!Our Zazenkai consists of our...

Friday January 2, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Solving the 'Techno-KOAN'

Sitting Zazen all together online, and having a video 'Zencast', can present some technical conundrums sometimes.Zen teachers back in the 13th Century, for example, probably only had to face running out of ink for their writing brushes ... while now...

Thursday January 1, 2009

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners) I

We begin 'Zazen for Beginners (We're All Beginners)' ... We'll talk the basics of 'Just Sitting' Shikantaza Zazen ... ... There's a bit more to it than 'just sitting' !! In a series of talks over the coming days,...

Wednesday December 31, 2008

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Happy New Moment!!

How do Zen Buddhists celebrate the passing of time? HAPPY NEW MOMENT !! May this be a moment of peace for all. PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO JOIN THE SITTING: TODAY'S SITTING (if you cannot see the screen...

Tuesday December 30, 2008

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Here and There

Today, we are celebrating having a new home for our Zazen netcast, right here on Beliefnet! For folks new to our sittings ... I'm Jundo, a Soto Zen Buddhist priest living in Japan. Our community, and these meditation sittings, are...

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About Treeleaf Zen

Jundo Cohen is a Soto Zen Priest and founder and teacher of the Treeleaf Zendo--a Zen sangha (community) located in Tsukuba, Japan. Jundo was ordained in 2002 and subsequently received Dharma Transmission from Master Gudo Wafu Nishijima. He is a member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and American Zen Teachers Association . His blog, Treeleaf Zen, was designed specifically for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or childcare and family needs.

On Treeleaf Zen, Jundo provides Zazen sittings, guided meditation, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist sangha, all fully online. Members now sit in over 20 countries. The focus is Shikantaza "Just Sitting" Zazen, as instructed by the 13th Century Japanese Master, Eihei Dogen.

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