Serene Reflections: From the Heart That Seeks the Way

The Serene Reflections Podcast is a series of Dharma Talks from the Wallowa Buddhist Temple in the mountains of Northeast Oregon in the United States. Reverend Clairissa Beattie, a Zen Buddhist monk and priest, invites you to join in listening from your own place of stillness, from the Heart That Seeks the Way.Each talk lasts about half an hour or less. Settling down to hear these clear and quiet teachings through the gateway of the ear may serve as a general introduction to Chan or Zen Buddhist practice within your inquiry into Mahayana Buddhism, or as a supportive adjunct to your own unfolding spiritual work.These gentle, introspective recordings flow from one monk's personal reflections on the myriad facets of Zen practice. Episodes of the Serene Reflections Podcast are prepared with the help of the monks and congregation of the Wallowa Buddhist Temple, offered throughout the seasons for the benefit of all beings, including you, wherever you may be.

On this final weekend in July, Rev. Clairissa offers “Full Creek, Tall Grass, Bright Sun.” She comments on teachings gleaned over these last five weeks of exploring together the Buddha's Eightfold Path. She opens to the teaching offered to us by the summer itself in its glorious expression of life – in the roaring high waters, growing grasses, and bright sunlight illuminating all.

Rev. Clairissa completes her series of reflections on the four Bodhisattva Vows with the fourth and final vow, which reads “However infinite the Buddha's Truth is, I vow to realize it.” Exploring the connection between the four Bodhisattva Vows and the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, her reflections illuminate both sets of four in the process. For those who are just encountering the Buddha's teaching as well as for those who have been walking the path for some time, she offers clarification on our purpose for practicing Buddhism. The Bodhisattva Vows:However innumerable beings may be, I vow to save them all,However inexhaustible the passions may be, I vow to transform them all,However limitless the Dharma may be, I vow to comprehend it completely,However infinite the Buddha's Truth is, I vow to realize it.

Rev. Clairissa continues to contemplate the teaching of the Bodhisattva Vows, this time referring to the third of the four Bodhisattva Vows. She considers the various meanings of the term “Dharma” which is so central to Buddhism, and the importance of our willingness to continue opening to the teaching as it unfolds throughout a lifetime of spiritual practice. The Bodhisattva Vows express our true heart's intention to help beings, especially through the offering of our inner spiritual work. In our tradition of Sōtō Zen, these fundamental vows are recited three times in succession during our regular Renewal of Vows ceremony:    However innumerable beings may be, I vow to save them all,However inexhaustible the passions may be, I vow to transform them all,However limitless the Dharma may be, I vow to comprehend it completely,However infinite the Buddha's Truth is, I vow to realize it.

Rev. Clairissa discusses a Buddhist approach to the arising of strong emotions in response to events in the world and in the world inside of us. She refers to the second of the Bodhisattva Vows. These four vows are the expression of the wish to help all beings. In our tradition of Sōtō Zen, they are part of our regular Renewal of Vows ceremony, and are read as follows:However innumerable beings may be, I vow to save them all,However inexhaustible the passions may be, I vow to transform them all,However limitless the Dharma may be, I vow to comprehend it completely,However infinite the Buddha's Truth is, I vow to realize it.

Contemplating the Kesa verse, Rev. Clairissa offers reflections on our natural pure intention, the wish to help all beings. The Kesa is the monk's robe which symbolizes the Buddhist Precepts, our vow to cease from harm, to do only good, to do good for others. The Kesa verse is recited daily in a Sōtō Zen temple when putting on the Kesa at the start of day, and also at home by lay Buddhists when meditating in the morning. This small ceremony is the daily renewal of our vow to follow the Buddha's path, and the recognition of the Buddha Nature we share with all things. The Kesa verse reads as follows: How great and wondrous are the clothes of enlightenment, Formless and embracing every treasure; I wish to unfold the Buddha's teaching That I may help all living things. 

As three of the temple's congregation get ready to travel in a few days to the monastery, where they will participate in Jukai, Rev. Clairissa offers some thoughts for us all to consider on the joyous occasion of their significant spiritual step of becoming lay Buddhists. Jukai is the Japanese term for the five ceremonies of receiving the Precepts in our tradition of Sōtō Zen. During Jukai, a weeklong retreat is held at the monastery for the purpose of searching one's own heart and committing to follow the Buddhist path. 

Rev. Clairissa explores how our practice of seated meditation means becoming still, flexible, and clear in all conditions. Through this, we help ourselves and all beings to the balance beyond the opposites, joining in the endless flow of all existence. She begins by reciting Meditation Master Wanshi Shōgaku's poem “My Friendly Advice for Seated Meditation” from Chapter 26 of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman.

Rev. Clairissa reflects on how sitting in meditation leads to becoming truly seated in our place of meditation, made possible by not letting anything get in the way of our doing the practice of meditating and living the life of the Precepts, in all conditions. She refers to the teaching of Great Master Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), specifically Chapter 26 from the Shōbōgenzō, the collection of Dōgen's lifetime of recorded Dharma talks. This is the chapter titled “On Wanshi's ‘Kindly Advice for Doing Seated Meditation'” (“Zazen Shin” in Japanese), written down in April of the year 1242 C.E. in Japan. 

Rev. Clairissa describes the ordinary practice within our Sōtō Zen tradition of sweeping pathways clear of debris. Just as we do this and other simple activities with presence and care, so may we clear the way for ourselves to do the spiritual work within the heart – thus helping to clear the way for all beings. 

Rev. Clairissa points out that when we open to being honest with ourselves as to how we may be doing harm, and take refuge in the heart of the Precepts within, the way to true peace and freedom appears naturally. 

In light of our intention to help beings, which is at the heart of the Three Pure Precepts, Rev. Clairissa considers a facet of the first of the Ten Great Precepts, the guideline on not killing. She explores the daily practice of sparing tiny bugs who cross our path. She looks at how to be with ourselves and others when we don't manage to follow this aspect of the Dharma, and reflects on the benefits to us and all beings when we nurture the habit of not killing our insect friends. 

Rev. Clairissa looks at the Buddha Nature of material things. She invites us to reflect on how we are with the things that surround us in everyday life. It's wonderful to work for the good of all sentient beings. How might we help non-sentient things, as well? How might the non-sentient help us to see Buddha? This simple, everyday practice of taking care with physical things unlocks the heart of the Precepts, the heart of the Buddha's teaching. 

“What is Buddha Nature?” Rev. Clairissa responds to this and two other helpful questions that were posed this past week by some of our friends near and far. 

“Why Train?” Rev. Clairissa considers how it can help to ask ourselves this question, at times. When considering taking up a practice, when first setting out on the path, or when the going gets rough, it may be of use to reflect on our motivation for doing our spiritual practice. She offers a glimpse of where the path of Zen Buddhist training may lead those who are willing to follow it. In the talk, Rev. Clairissa describes the shape of the Sōtō Zen “Sumeru” style altar and explains some of its symbolism.  

In this Dharma talk titled “Stories,” Rev. Clairissa reflects on how stories of various kinds may be of benefit in our spiritual training, and how they may also become impediments, depending on what we do with them as they arise. She tells us a story or two, as well. 

Rev. Clairissa explores the offering of great Love in the form of friendship toward oneself and others. Recounting the words of the Buddha to his followers on this topic, she considers how good friendship functions as both the source and fulfillment of our practice. 

In the Dharma talk titled “Other Than They Are” Rev. Clairissa explores the conditional mind frame, the one in which we wish things were somehow not as they are. She reminds us of how we may live from our place of stillness which neither grasps nor pushes away things as they are. 

In “Waiting is Awakening,” Rev. Clairissa looks at what it can be to wait wholeheartedly, and also what the offering of such a way of waiting has to do with our realization of enlightenment.

Rev. Clairissa offers an opportunity to reflect on life's deeper purpose, which may clarify when we let go of the human tendency to judgement and respond to the beckoning of That Which Is.

After the recent experience of a day without electricity at the temple, Rev. Clairissa reflects on what may be gained when in the course of Zen practice we unexpectedly find ourselves prompted to let go of personal individual “power” and respond to conditions as needed.

On the first Sunday of the New Year, Rev. Clairissa points toward reminders of our Original Buddha Nature which reverberates through all beings. She speaks of the various forms of Maitreya, the Buddha Yet to Come, and she invites us to join her in listening to Keizan's teaching on Kayashata and his teacher Sōgyanandai, two Ancestors in our Sōtō Zen lineage.

As we approach the turning of the year, Rev. Clairissa considers the teaching on keeping vigil which is intrinsic to our practice of meditation, following the Precepts, and being fully present with ourselves.She explores examples from the spiritual journey of ordinary life, pointing out how our willingness to be resolute links us together with all beings.

In “Finding a Way” Rev. Clairissa explores the bodhisattva attitude of mind available to all by meeting whatever arises with an open heart: responding to conditions, willing to help beings. She relates the inspiring examples of three ordinary bodhisattvas who appeared one after the other to help here at the temple on an unexpectedly heavy snow-day in mid-December, when monks had recently emerged from the stillness of a weeklong retreat.

During this season of the Buddha's Enlightenment, as we enter the dark of winter, Rev. Clairissa illuminates some of the teaching on Great Compassion from our festival offertory. Compassion appears in many varying ways in Buddhist iconography, scripture, and practice. Rev. Clairissa reminds us that compassion -- however you define it, pronounce it, or spell it in whatever language -- is the very root and ground of being, from which even enlightenment originates.

In “The Buddha's Enlightenment” Rev. Clairissa introduces possibilities for practice and reflections at home during the upcoming weeklong Searching of the Heart retreat, when Buddhists commemorate the Buddha's Enlightenment from December 1st until the morning of December 8th. She speaks of the teaching on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, and of our own inherent Buddha Nature which makes it possible for all beings to realize enlightenment.

In “The Sixteen Buddhist Precepts” Rev. Clairissa reads aloud the late Rev. Master Daizui MacPhillamy's expression and commentary on the Precepts as passed down in the Sōtō Zen tradition. It includes the Three Treasures Precept, The Three Pure Precepts, and The Ten Great Precepts. These Sixteen Precepts are our deepest Refuge and the Buddha's practical guidelines for living life in accord with our deepest wish by ceasing from harm, doing only good, doing good for others. It is through formally receiving and living these Precepts wholeheartedly that one may become a Buddhist, if one so wishes. And, as Rev. Master Daizui put it, Precepts are simply a description of how to be a decent human being.This version of the Precepts was first published in 2001, as one part of Rev. Master Daizui's small booklet/series of pamphlets titled The Eightfold Path of Buddhism. This recited version with minor edits is gratefully offered here by the Wallowa Buddhist Temple with the kind permission of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives.Here is a link to download a pdf of this booklet in its entirety: https://wallowabuddhisttemple.org/pdfviewer/the-8-fold-path-of-buddhism/

In the talk on “Meditating While Unsettled” Rev. Clairissa looks at a feeling not unusual in an established practice, that sense of being unable to come to stillness in meditation. It sometimes seems like a resistance to meditation. What can we do, when the unsettled mind arises? She explores various angles of how to approach this situation, assuring us of our ability to meditate in all conditions.

In “Becoming Buddhist” Rev. Clairissa explores the place of the Buddhist Precepts in practicing Zen meditation, reminding us that Buddhism is not only a meditation practice, but equally the living of an ethical life. On the occasion of this 25th anniversary of Reverend Master Jiyu-Kennett's death, among other stories Rev. Clairissa recalls what it was like to take the Precepts from Rev. Master Jiyu at Jukai. She passes on Rev. Master Jiyu's advice on choosing a single one of the Ten Great Precepts to work on, and where working with the Precepts may lead.

In “Look With Care” Rev. Clairissa looks more closely at this advice from the Kyojūkaimon, and how we might approach spiritual practice without worrying whether we are doing well or doing poorly.

Rev. Clairissa looks at what it means to undertake the spiritual journey, outwardly and inwardly, as we open to setting out into the unknown and following the path as it unfolds before us – a “Pilgrimage of the Heart.” She refers to the teaching of Reverend Master Jiyu-Kennett on the purpose of meditation, and to the Rules for Meditation set out for us by Great Master Eihei Dōgen, founder of Sōtō Zen Buddhist practice in medieval Japan.

“Silence Beckons” – We consider together this central aspect of our Zen Buddhist practice. In a mix of musings, stories, and invited silent reflections, Rev. Clairissa explores in some depth how we experience silence in spiritual life, in the abstract and in the actual.

In “Deciding” Rev. Clairissa looks at The Scripture of Great Wisdom (also known as the Prajñaparamita or Heart Sutra), which points us toward the heart of Buddhism. She considers how this scripture's teaching can help us in making the difficult choices inherent in living, finding our refuge in the Great Wisdom beyond our habitual human ways of thinking.

Nearing the Autumnal Equinox, which is also the time of the Festival of Avalokiteshwara, Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, Rev. Clairissa reflects on the compassionate nature within the inevitable truth of impermanence in “Transitions.”

“How Do I Feel?” This episode explores the role of emotions in Sōtō Zen Buddhist meditation and practice. In response to a question from someone who has been practicing for many years, Rev. Clairissa reflects on Dōgen's teachings on the arising of feelings. She considers how our deep feelings about the state of the world can be a gateway to the Dharma, opening us to our own pure wish to help all beings from the heart of Compassion, Love, and Wisdom.

“Walking Through” includes instructions on how to do walking meditation in the Sōtō Zen tradition, and also offers much more. Beginning with the opening words from Keizan's Instructions on How to Do Pure Meditation, Rev. Clairissa reflects on how the mind of meditation may transcend the position in which we do it, permeating everything, as we walk through life and everything that arises.

In “A Brush with Impermanence” Rev. Clairissa tells the sobering story of her close encounter with wildfire on her journey to attend a funeral at the monastery, and explores the compassionate teaching offered by this example of a clear and present reminder of the truth of impermanence.  (She was fortunate to come through unscathed; later news reports indicated that the people she mentions in her story were okay as well.)

Rev. Clairissa offers a glimpse into the compassionate intention at the heart of Sōtō Zen Buddhist ceremonial for one who has died, in this discussion of “The Buddhist Funeral Ceremony.” She clarifies how taking the opportunity to “pay our respects” – in whatever way we do it – can point us all toward the Buddha Nature within all things, including the newly dead one, each other, and ourselves. 

A friend came to the temple this week to ask a question about how to meditate while scattered thoughts are arising. This sincere question prompted a number of useful reflections on our practice, which began as we explored the topic together on the temple's front porch and continued to clarify into this week's recorded Dharma for you.Rev. Clairissa begins “The Scattered Mind” with a line from Dōgen's Rules for Meditation (in Japanese, Fukanzazengi 普勧坐禅儀), which is recited daily in Sōtō Zen temples. It is a foundational guide for both our formal seated meditation and our practice in ordinary daily life. Rules for Meditation is available for download on the Wallowa Buddhist Temple website: https://wallowabuddhisttemple.org/pdfviewer/rules-for-meditation/

Rev. Clairissa has a good look at what regrets really are, and how we may benefit from the arising of regrets over our past actions, which can help motivate us to change harmful patterns of behavior. In “Regrets,” she begins with a passage from Keizan's Denkōroku on The Sainted Barishiba, a monk who entered monastic training late in life and excelled in practice despite skepticism from others based on his late entry.

In “Coming and Going” Rev. Clairissa considers the teaching offered by all that comes and goes in life, inseparable from That Which Is. She considers how, in realizing fully that all that arises passes away, our grief itself may help us to open to our own True Nature and that of all existence. In the talk, Rev. Clairissa refers to Immo, Chapter 28 of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman as “On That Which Comes Like This.”

In “What is a kōan?” Rev. Clairissa clarifies the gift of the arising of the kōan, the spiritual question that each of us carries through life, and reflects on how we train with the kōan in Sōtō Zen practice. She relates a kōan story from Dōgen, in which a monk and Zen master explore the spiritual question together. In this practice that we share, she says, “this work with the kōan is gentle work, persistent, kind, compassionate work, the work of a lifetime.”

During this week's extreme heat wave, Rev. Clairissa explores the teaching of Great Master Tōzan Ryōkai on finding the place beyond heat or cold, in “Give Yourself Up.” Tōzan Ryōkai (in Chinese: Dongshan Liangjie, 807-869) was the founder of the Caodong Chan way of practice in China, later known as Sōtō Zen when brought by Dōgen to Japan. Rev. Clairissa begins her talk with a story from Tōzan's teaching as relayed by Dōgen in 1244 in his talk Shunjū, now Chapter 64 of the Shōbōgenzō, translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman.

Rev. Clairissa explores the deeper meaning of this word, “Serenity.” She looks at the idea of stillness, at how we seek peace of heart, and at how all may come to know true Serenity within the conditions of everyday life.To view the 1989 archive documentary video mentioned in the talk, here is its link on the website of our Order's monastery in Northern England:https://throssel.org.uk/throssel-blog/soto-zen-buddhism-archive-video/

Rev. Clairissa digs a little deeper into the meaning of the well-known saying “Chop Wood, Carry Water,” which is attributed to the eighth-century Chinese Zen Buddhist practitioner Layman Pang (740-808), in a poem he composed and recited for a master in our ancestral lineage. She looks at how a willingness to roll up our sleeves and get to work can serve us well as we practice Zen, encouraging us all to continue to “persevere brightly.”

In “Think Deeply,”Rev. Clairissa considers the opportunity open to us for reflection when we take up the practice of reciting the Five Thoughts of the mealtime verse each time we eat, especially how the first thought (on thinking deeply of the ways and means by which the food has come) reminds us of our very real connection with all beings. At the start of the talk, Rev. Clairissa recites the mealtime verse as used in our tradition of Serene Reflection Meditation, or Sōtō Zen. (Please note that here the word “must” means “Oh, let us take care.”) Here are the Five Thoughts:We must think deeply of the ways and means by which this food has come.We must consider our merit when accepting it.We must protect ourselves from error by excluding greed from our minds.We will eat lest we become lean and die.We accept this food so that we may become enlightened.

We are near the time of Wesak, the yearly celebration which honors the birth, enlightenment, teaching and death of the historical Buddha. Rev. Clairissa offers a perspective on the life story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama and those close to him. In the telling, she gently beckons us to consider what the example of their lives together may offer us today, in our own awakening to Nirvana within this very world of Samsara in which we live. 

On this Memorial Day weekend, Rev. Clairissa invites us to reflect on the offering we may receive through remembrance of those who have gone before us, and what we in turn may offer in the living of our lives. In “Remembrance” she refers to Adoration of the Buddha's Relics, a daily scripture also often recited at Buddhist funerals and memorials, as well as the yearly Festival of Remembrance on Memorial Day.

How may I come to know the peace and strength of will to meet whatever arise, and live with a heart free of fear? On this May day when rain has softly soaked the earth, Rev. Clairissa reflects on the opening lines of our evening office scripture to Kanzeon, The Litany of the Great Compassionate One, as well as other teachings on becoming “the One Who leaps beyond all fear.”

In “Beyond Heaven”  Rev. Clairissa considers the importance of remembering what matters whatever the conditions, even when we find ourselves caught up in the heavenly world of fleeting pleasures, as can happen in the realm of the devas (heavenly beings), in the Buddhist teaching on the Six Worlds. She refers to the teaching of Great Master Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253) in the Shōbōgenzō, translated by Rev. Master Hubert Nearman, Chapter 8 Keisei Sanshoku  - "On 'The Rippling of a Valley Stream, The Contour of a Mountain.'"

Rev. Clairissa considers what it means to give rise to the intention to realize enlightenment – the awakening of our Buddha Heart – amidst all conditions. She approaches through discussion of the term Bodhicitta, which is Sanskrit for “the mind (and/or heart) that seeks the Way.”  This encouraging reminder to “Remember Bodhicitta” is inspired by teachings offered by Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), founder of Sōtō Zen in Japan, and by the Thirtieth Ancestor Chien-chih Seng-ts'an/Kanshi Sōsan (d. 606, in China). For those who may be drawn to look further into Dōgen's and Seng-ts'an's teachings: Dōgen's recorded Dharma talks, from which Rev. Clairissa reads selections, are translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman in Shōbōgenzō: The Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching (Shasta Abbey Press, 2007). The chapters mentioned here are: Chapter 6 Soku Shin Ze Butsu “On ‘Your Very Mind Is Buddha'” and Chapter 85 Hotsu Bodai Shin “On Giving Rise to the Enlightened Mind.”  Verses offered from Seng-ts'an/Sōsan's Dharma poem That Which Is Engraved Upon the Heart That Trusts to the Eternal (C. Hsin Hsin Ming; J. Shinjinmei) are also translated by Rev. Hubert Nearman. The full poem is in the book Buddhist Writings on Meditation and Daily Practice: The Serene Reflection Meditation Tradition (Shasta Abbey Press, 1994).