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40 episodes with our monthly
We will continue our series of reflections on the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyo). Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: March 5th-6th OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »
We will look today at one passage of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji (Being-Time), rapping and riffing on a famous Koan. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Nov 6-7 2020 OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI- Book Tour Kickoff/DAYLIGHT SAVINGS »
The VERSE OF ATONEMENT All harmful acts, words and thoughts, ever committed by me since of old,On account of beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,Born of my body, mouth and mind,Now I atone for them all The FOUR VOWS To save all sentient beings, though beings numberlessTo transform all delusions, though delusions inexhaustibleTo perceive Reality, though Reality is boundlessTo attain the Enlightened Way, a Way non-attainable Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Oct 2nd-3rd, 2020 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »
Our Zazenkai is in Special Celebration and Welcome of the Commencement of our 2020 ANGO & JUKAI Season Today's Talk will reflect on our "Dedication of Merit" Recital. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Sept 4th-5th, 2020 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Commencing Jukai & Ango! »
Our Talk today will be on a few Cases of the Book of Serenity. Koan 86: "Rinzai's Great Enlightenment" Koan 87: "Sozan's With or Without" Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:July 31th-August 1st, 2020 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI »
Our Zazenkai is in Special Celebration and Welcome of the Commencement of our 2019 ANGO & JUKAI Season Today's Talk will reflect on "ANGO: NOW & THEN" - What is Ango in our day and time, for householders in the modern West? Is it Ango as the Buddha, Dogen and all the Ancestors Practiced? Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Sept 6th-7th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - COMMENCING JUKAI & ANGO! »
Our Talk today will be on a few Cases of the Book of Serenity that we recently danced in our "No Words" Book Club : Case 81 - Gensha Comes to the Province Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:SPECIAL SUNDAY Aug 4-5th - Our MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI (No Zazenkai Fri-Sat) »
Rev. Sekishi's talk on Building a House and the Four Seals: the four characteristics (or "seals") are sometimes seen as a sort of "litmus test" to see if a teaching reflects true Buddha Dharma. But they can also be viewed as part of the core teachings of Buddhism: All compounded things are impermanent All emotions are Dukkha All phenomena are empty; they are without inherent (or "self") existence Nirvana is beyond extremes / concepts / description Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:July 5th-6th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - featuring Sekishi ! »
Rev. Kyonin's talk on the Outline of Practice of Master Bodhidharma (also known as the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices/ 二入四行論) (Translated by Red Pine) MANY roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:June 7th-8th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - featuring Kyonin! »
Today's Talk is by Rev. Shokai, who will speaks on Vesak and the Buddha's Birthday. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:May 3rd-4th, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - featuring Shokai! »
Today's Talk will look at a variety of STORIES and ISSUES IN THE NEWS today. Recently, there has been much discussion in the Buddhist world about "leaving politics at the door" of the Buddhist Sangha, where we encounter a way beyond opinions and debates. Generally, I very much agree. Zazen is beyond "right left and middle," and points to something beyond mere worldly concerns. However, I also believe that Buddhist teachings and values do guide us in certain directions in daily life, and toward certain outlooks and behavior, that must impact how we approach some social issues and stories in the news. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:March 1st-2nd, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - IN THE NEWS! »
Our Monthly visit from the Cal Poly Police Chief. George Hughes stopped by to talk about what's up.
Our Monthly worldewide prayer group, talking about human trafficking and all Satan's sacraments.
Our Monthly shoot where we discuss all things pro wrestling leading up to mania!
It's beginning to look a lot like - Our Monthly! Maggie and Kristine are revealing their picks for best gifts and gets this holiday season.
Today's Talk is the second part (we began last month) of reflections on portions of the 'Tenzo Kyokun' (典座教訓) or "Instructions for the Cook," Master Dogen's celebration of work (作務) and all our responsibilities in life, as we continue our Jukai and Ango Season for this year. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:November 3rd-4th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »
Today's Talk will honor portions of Master Dogen's "Instructions for the Cook," a celebration of 'Samu' Work Practice and all our duties in life. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:October 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »
Today's Talk will reflect on a portion of Master Dogen's 'Shobogenzo-Jukai' as we commence our Jukai and Ango Season for this year. In the Western Heavens and the Eastern Lands, wherever the transmission has passed between Buddhist patriarchs, at the beginning of entering the Dharma there is inevitably the receiving of the precepts. Without receiving the precepts we are never the disciples of the buddhas and never the descendants of the ancestral masters—because they have seen “departing from excess and guarding against wrong” as “practicing [za]zen and inquiring into the truth.” The words “the precepts are foremost” already are the right Dharma-eye treasury itself. To “realize buddha and become a patriarch” inevitably is to receive and maintain the right Dharma-eye treasury; therefore, ancestral masters who receive the authentic transmission of the right Dharma-eye treasury inevitably receive and maintain the Buddhist precepts. There cannot be a Buddhist patriarch who does not receive and maintain the Buddhist precepts. Some receive and maintain them under the Tathāgata, which in every instance is to have received the lifeblood. The Buddhist precepts now authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha and from patriarch to patriarch were exactly transmitted only by the ancestral patriarch of Sūgaku [Master Bodhidharma] and, transmitted five times in China, they reached the founding patriarch of Sōkei [Master Hui-Neng].The authentic transmissions from Seigen, Nangaku, and so on have been conveyed to the present day, but there are unreliable old veterans and the like who do not know it at all. They are most pitiful. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Aug 31st-Sept 1st, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! - COMMENCING JUKAI & ANGO! »
The Talk this time will be on "Book of Equanimity" Koans we have recently danced in our "No Words Book Club." These are available to read on our current Book Club thread at: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?55-BEYOND-WORDS-LETTERS-BOOK-CLUB-TREELEAF-ART-CIRCLE CASE 76: Shuzan's Three Verses CASE 77: Kyôzan: As Befits His Portion Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:July 6th-7th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
We will finish this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:June 1st-2nd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Our Zazenkai today is in CELEBRATION of BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY, traditionally APRIL 8th in Japan. Today's Talk will dance with Dharma Hall Discourses by Master Dogen in Celebration of the Buddha's Birthday (from the Eihei Koroku, trans. Leighton and Okumura). We also CELEBRATE the Dharma Transmission of our Treeleaf Priests: Kyonin, Shingen and Shokai. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:April 6th-7th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! - CELEBRATING BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY! »
I thought that we might spend a few months with the text, taking it a few pages at a time. Not all the advice is something one need agree with in modern times, maybe (based on his own later Teachings) some of it even Dogen did not take to heart. However, let us see what we can find. I am going to read from page 21 through the first few lines of 24 today if there is time. It is a grabbag of topics, so let's see what we find. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:March 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Today's Talk is based on the Sandokai (Identity of Relative & Absolute) that we chant each month. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:February 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
We continue this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances of much of the advice and guidance he received on those questions from his own Teacher. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:January 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! (Welcoming the New Year & Jukai) »
Our Reading Text for Today's Talk: Hokyoki (Journal of My Study In China) by Master Eihei Dogen - Part II (Pages 8 to 12). We continue this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances of much of the advice and guidance he received on those questions from his own Teacher. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:November 3rd-4th, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
For today's Metta (Loving Kindness) Recital, in the section of offering Metta to people difficult in our lives or in this world, I will be offering in my heart to "people like Stephen Paddock", the man who killed 58 people, and wounded hundreds more, in Las Vegas this week. I feel I need to explain why, and the meaning of this. Someone might misunderstand or be confused. I am sorry that it is a little complicated. Our Metta chant states: May he be free of suffering; may he feel safe and still. May he be free of enmity; may he be loving, grateful and kind. May he be healthy and at ease in all his ills. May he be at peace, embracing all conditions of life. We must somehow not turn away, not forget ... yet see the real culprit as the "greed anger and ignorance" that infects human beings. Perhaps it is too hard to ask people to forgive, but at least, let us strive not to meet anger with further anger of our own. The best response to hate is ... peace. Hostilities aren't stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth.(Dharmapada 3-5) Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:October 6th-7th, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Having returned from my own travels by plane, car and train, I thought to begin a series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances of much of the advice and guidance he received on those questions from his own Teacher. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:September 2nd-3rd, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Buddhist meditation has commonly been considered an instrumental technique aimed at obtaining a heightened mental or spiritual state, or even as a method for inducing some dramatic "enlightenment" experience. But in some branches of the Zen tradition, Zazen (Zen seated meditation) has been seen not as a means to attaining some result, but as a ritual enactment and expression of awakened awareness. This alternate, historically significant approach to Zen meditation and practice has been as a ceremonial, ritual expression whose transformative quality is not based on stages of attainment or meditative prowess. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:June 31st-July 1st, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Our Talk this Month is "What I Know about the Ino" (the Supervisor of Monks) ... a monastic office, but not that far from our own lives, jobs and family duties ... It is from Master Dogen's "Pure Standards for the Temple Administrators (Chiji Shingi)" for Eiheiji Monastery (translated by Taigen Leighton and Shohaku Okumura) Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:June 2nd-3rd, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
The Talk this time will look at the Heart of the Heart of the Heart Sutra, form and emptiness in a nutshell ... We will reflect on the wording of the Heart Sutra as we chant for Zazenkai in English most weeks. However, I will touch briefly on the somewhat longer version used by Tibetan Practitioners and some others, with adds a little more at the startless start and endless end. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:March 31st-April 1st, 2017 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! (NOT APRIL FOOLS!) »
Our talk is about the zen poems of the Great Fool: Ryōkan Taigu (1758–1831). This famous hermit monk lived a simple life but rich in practice and reverence for the present moment. After leaving the monastery he spent his life helping people in villages, begging, playing with kids and writing poems. More about Ryōkan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dkan Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! The zen poems of Ryokan Taigu »
This talk looks at aspects of the wording and content of our upcoming Jukai "Undertaking The Precepts" Ceremony, to be held next week ... Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:January 6th-7th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! Reflections on Jukai! »
To Commence Jundo's month-long travels & pilgrimage to India, this talk is on Satsangs the Bhagavad-gītā (and various Zen Teachings on India). Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:November 4th-5th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! NAMASTE INDIA! »
Koans for this talk are from The Book of Serenity: CASE 67 - THE FLOWER GARLAND SUTRA’S WISDOM, and CASE 68 - KYUHO’S HEAD AND TAIL. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:October 7th-8th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Koans for this talk are from The Book of Serenity: CASE 62 - Biko's No Enlightenment, CASE 63 - Joshu Asks About [Great] Death, CASE 64 - Shisho's Transmission, and CASE 65 - Shuzan's New Bride. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: Sept 9th-10th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI - COMMENCING this ANGO & JUKAI! »
Koans for this talk are from The Book of Serenity: CASE 58 - The Diamond Sutra's Reviling, CASE 59 - Seirin's Deadly Snake, CASE 60 - Ryutetsuma's Old Cow, and CASE 61 - Kempo's One Stroke. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:August 12th-13th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Koans for this talk are from The Book of Serenity: CASE 54 - Ungans Great Compassionate One, CASE 55 - Seppo the Rice Cook, CASE 56 - Mishi's White Rabbit, and CASE 57 - Genyo's One Thing. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:July 1st-2nd, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Koans for this talk are from The Book of Serenity:CASE 51: Hogen's "By Boat or Land"CASE 52: Sozan's DharmakayaCASE 53: Obaku's DregsCASE 54: Ungans Great Compassionate OneFurther reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: June 3rd-4th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
TODAY'S SITTING MARKS OUR CELEBRATION OF TREELEAF'S 10th ANNIVERSARY!Shōbōgenzō Ikka-no-myōju by Master Dogen One Bright Pearl In [this] sahā world, in the great kingdom of Song [China, there lived] Great Master [Gensha]. One day [while still a young monk, a student of Master Seppo], in order to explore widely the surrounding districts, he leaves the mountain, carrying a [traveling] bag. But as he does so, he stubs his toe on a stone. Bleeding and in great pain, [Gensha] all at once seriously reflects as follows: “[They say] this body is not real existence. Where does the pain come from?” He thereupon returns to Seppō. Seppō asks him, “What is it, [tough guy]?” Gensha says, “In the end I just cannot be deceived by others.” Seppō, loving these words very much, says, “Is there anyone who does not have these words [inside them]? [But] is there anyone who can speak these words?” Seppō asks further, “Why do you not go exploring?” [Gensha] says, “Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Lands [of China]; the Second Patriarch did not go to the Western Heavens [of India].” Seppō praised this very much. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: April 1st-2nd, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI for TREELEAF'S 10th ANNIVERSARY! »
Today's Talk is dedicated to a fellow who historically got a bad rap. It is also shows how much our Shikantaza Zazen ways resonate with the Teachings of the ancient Masters in the earliest days of Zen ... Heshang Moheyan (和尚摩訶衍)) was a late 8th century Chan monk (Chan is the Chinese name for Zen). He became famous for representing Chan in the so called "Council of Lhasa," a debate held in Tibet between adherents of the Indian teachings of "gradual enlightenment" and the Chinese teachings of "sudden enlightenment," which according to tradition was won by the "gradual teachings", causing Moheyan and all Chan Teachings to be expelled from Tibet. However, recent research has disclosed that the story is not so simple, and may represent a rewriting of history and what actually happened by those later advocating the esoteric teachings we now know as Tibetan Buddhism. It is now known that Moheyan and Chan Teachings were very influential and widely accepted in long ago Tibet for a long time before they were purged. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:May 6th-7th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Because “this place is where something ineffable exists,” it is through the realization of these words that Buddhist patriarchs are caused to be. And because the realization of these words of Buddhist patriarchs passes naturally from rightful successor to rightful successor, the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, realized as “a whole body,” are “hanging in space.” This space is beyond such categories as the twenty kinds of space [such as inside, outside, over, below, etc.]. In general, how could space be limited to only twenty kinds of space. There are eighty-four thousand kinds of space, and there may be countless more besides. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:March 4th-5th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
To open this New Year, our reading will be the prologue to Master Dogen's Bendowa (On the Endeavor of the Way, Kaz Tanahashi Translation), written in 1231, one of the first pieces on Zen Practice written by Master Dogen following his return to Japan from China:www.lionsroar.com/just-wholeheartedly-sit Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:January 1st-2nd, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! WELCOME THE NEW YEAR! »
For this talk, we will reflect on some of the Verses, Vows and Dedications we are heard to Chant around here for each Zazenkai and at other times. For further reading on these and other Chants, I highly recommend "Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts, by Shohaku Okumura, Wisdom Publications, 2012."Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:November 6th-7th, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
Reading: "Wild Ways of the Precepts in Japan" It is not known if the precepts in sixteen articles resulted from Dogen’s own innovation or if he borrowed this group from another source. [Dogen, in a writing describing the ordination ceremony for his priests] states that the ordination ceremony described therein is exactly the same as the one conducted by [Dogen's Teacher in China] Ju-ching in 1225 when he administered the precepts to Dogen. The reliability of that assertion, however, seems doubtful. [from "Dogen and the Precepts" by Prof. Steven Heine] Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:October 2nd-3rd, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »
What is Ango in our day and time, for householders in the modern West? Is it Ango as the Buddha, Dogen and all the Ancestors Practiced? The meaning of the Japanese word Ango [安居] (Skt : varsha or varshika; Pali: vassa ) is “tranquil dwelling”. The origin is the “rainy-season retreat” , the period when Buddhist monks in India stopped their travels and outdoor activities for the duration of the rainy season and gathered at some sheltered location to devote themselves to Practice, study and discipline. One practical reason was because the heavy rainfall made traveling and outdoor activities impractical. But it was also a time when the individual monks in Buddha’s time, spending most of the year scattered here and there in small groups or individually, could gather and unite as a community and Practice together. During the rainy season in India, monks traditionally dwelt in a cave or a monastery for three months—from the sixteenth day of the fourth month to the fifteenth day of the seventh month. During this period the monks learned the Buddha's teachings, engaged in meditation and other practices, and repented their harmful behavior and weaknesses. The tradition is said to have begun during the time of Shakyamuni, was brought to China, and in Japan the three-month retreat was first observed in 683. Now it comes to us. Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum: September 4th-5th, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! ANGO SEASON BEGINS! »
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