Ordinary Zen Sangha - Dharma Talks

Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch says, “one day a shopkeeper ordered a load of firewood brought to his store. After he took the delivery and paid me, I walked toward the door and met a customer reciting the Diamond Sutra out loud. As soon as I heard the words, my mind felt clear and awake, and I asked the man, ‘Where did you get this scripture you're reciting?” And so began the journey of one of Zen's most revered teachers.

Attempting to be the problem solver is the source of anger.

The three principles of practicing the Middle Way.

You have never lost it. Why are you seeking it?

What causes the tangled messes we find ourselves in? How do you untangle the mess?

 What keeps us coming back to our practice? Experienced practitioners respond to the question in this podcast. 

What is your original face before your father was born?

Silence on a retreat and Kongans, what do they have in common?

The immeasurable and the relative.

Our practice is getting to know ourselves, which is forgetting the self, and being actualized by all dharmas.

Here, our essential self is compared to an ox. We seek the ox, grasp it, tame it, and finally the self which has always been seeking becomes completely one with the ox. But this is also forgotten, so that we now simply carry on our ordinary lives.

We all have mothers; motherhood and Buddhahood are not different, yet not not different.

The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are the three treasures. How to take refuge.

How is our practice center different from a Buddhist Temple?

 Communication, it's not what you think! Do you really know your mind? 

What is the thread that weaves through all of existence?

 The secret to living the eight-fold path and ending suffering. 

Why are there Buddhist Precepts?

Seeking leads to the rabbit hole of misinformation.

Why do we act like everything remains the same even as everything is always changing?

The relative and the absolute, are they different or the same? Where are you now?

Being authentic, genuine, and reflecting true wisdom.

 Bearing witness instead of turning your back on life. 

Dropping off body, mind.

Smile as the mockingbird sings.

When all distinctions drop away, “alles ist gut”

Empathy and compassion in everyday life. 

The Ordinary Zen Sangha discusses our Zen practice. Is zazen the whole experience?

Non-violent resistance, what is it?

What is this? There is nothing to gain.

 Andrea shares with us some reflections on compassion, mercy, and love. 

A good news message and prediction for the New Year!

 Beyond beginnings and endings. 

 Zen's fundamental question! 

A message for the Holiday Season — Abbot Will (Hae An) Rauschenberger

Do our attachments define us?

The Six Perfections and Thanksgiving.

Life's Limitations and Boundlessness, are they the same or different?

Beyond the algorithms of delusion.

Opening the hand of thought to the natural attributes of compassion, intuition, and the wisdom of our original nature.Our upcoming Retreat is on November 15, 2025.

Why do we meditate?

Practice is continuous, Mountains are Mountains, and Rivers are Rivers.

Beyond Thinking Is Compassionate Mind.

What is emptiness in Ordinary Zen?

 What is meditation?

The Samadhi of the perfume of the universe.

The Dreamscape and doing the right thing.

Who is it that sees, hears, tastes, smells, feels, thinks?

What are you? Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.

How would you like to be involved without being involved? Rising above the din.

The Boddhisattva path.