Podcasts about shohaku okumura

Norman gives the eleventh and final talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series on 'The World'  to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Living-by-Vow-Talk-11-2025-Seies-The-World.mp3

Shuso Laura Trippi gives the eighth talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series on 'Forms in the Expanded Field"  to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. These lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Living-by-Vow-Talk-8-2025-Series-Shuso-Laura-Trippi-Forms-in-the-Expanded-Field.mp3

Norman gives the seventh talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series on 'The Verse for Opening the Sutra'  to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." The Verse for Opening the Sutra is usually chanted before a zen teacher's Dharma talks. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Living-by-Vow-Talk-7-2025-Series-The-Verse-for-Opening-the-Sutra.mp3

Norman gives the sixth talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series on The Three Refuges  to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." This talk focuses on "The Robe Chant." https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Living-by-Vow-Talk-6-2025-Series-The-Robe-Chant.mp3 Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you!

Norman gives the fifth talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series on The Three Refuges  to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Living-by-Vow-Talk-5-2025-Series-The-Three-Refuges-Part-Two.mp3

Norman gives the fourth talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series on The Three Refuges  to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Living-by-Vow-Talk-4-2025-Series-Three-Refuges.mp3

Shuso Laura Trippi gives the third dharma talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. Her talk is on "Vowing Through Forms" referencing Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Living-by-Vow-Talk-3-2025-Series-Shuso-Laura-Trippi-Vowing-Through-Forms.mp3

Norman gives his second talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Living-by-Vow-Talk-2-2025-Series.mp3

Norman gives his first talk of the "Living by Vow" 2025 Series to the Dharma Seminar as the focus of the Everyday Zen 2025 Practice Period. His lectures reference Shohaku Okumura's book "Living by Vow; A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Living-by-Vow-Talk-1-2025-Series.mp3  

DOGEN ON ZAZENUpon returning to Japan from China in 1227, at the age of 27, Master Dogen composed the first draft of Fukanzazengi, the tract in which he outlines the principles of seated meditation, or zazen, that he had learned under the tutelage of Master Rujing. In one of the English translations, about two-thirds of the way through the text, he asks a question of the reader: Now that you know the most important thing in Buddhism, how can you be satisfied with the transient world? Our bodies are like dew on the grass and our lives like a flash of lightning, vanishing in a moment. At this point in the piece, he has said many things about the physical method of meditation, interwoven with suggestions of the philosophy, attitude adjustments and correctives to conventional wisdom that accompany the practice. So what he means to indicate as the most important thing is subject to speculation. This may reflect a translator's choice anomaly, a known issue in the art of interpreting ancient teachings. To home in on this most important thing more closely, let's look at a brief, pointed poem, “Zazenshin,” that Dogen paraphrased from a Chinese version. It means something like “Acupuncture Needle” or “Lancet” – a very sharp instrument – for or about zazen: Zazen-shin - Shohaku Okumura, trans. The essential-function of each buddha and the functioning-essence of each ancestor.
Being actualized within not-thinking.Being manifested within non-interacting.Being actualized within not-thinking, the actualization is by nature intimate.Being manifested within non-interacting, the manifestation is itself verification.The actualization that is by nature intimate never has defilement.
The manifestation that is by nature verification never has distinction between Absolute and Relative.The intimacy without defilement is dropping off without relying on anything.The verification beyond distinction between Absolute and Relative is making effort without aiming at it.The water is clear to the earth; a fish is swimming like a fish.
The sky is vast, extending to the heavens; a bird is flying like a bird. So from this we may take it that the most important thing has something to do with not thinking and non-interacting, and not distinguishing between the absolute and relative. It is pointing at something intimate, undefiled by conventional wisdom, and that has nothing to do with our reliance on common understanding, and goal-oriented efforts. To which we can only respond, “Hmmm. Thank you Dogen, for clearing that up.” MATSUOKA ON DOGENClearly, this message is about something beyond words, that language can only point at, if it is beyond thinking itself. Let's explore some more contemporary quotes from Matsuoka-roshi to see if we can zoom in on the meaning of these passages. O-Sensei simplified Dogen Zenji's instructions for his American students, condensing them into three discrete areas: posture, breath, and attention. The following are three expressions he would use frequently, addressing questions about zazen: Keep aiming at the perfect posture never imagining that you've achieved it You have to work your way through every bone in your body When your posture is approaching the stage of perfection, it will feel as if you are shoving your head against the ceiling The first, about aiming without achieving, makes Dogen's “making effort without aiming at it” a bit more concrete by narrowly defining “it” as the upright posture. This is in keeping with the Zen premise that the zazen posture is the full expression of enlightenment, not merely a means to the end of enlightenment. It also reminds us that there can be no separation of body and mind in Zen, nor, indeed, in reality. And that the natural process of Zen is open-ended, based on aspiration as opposed to expectation. The second indicates that this is going to be a steady, slow process on a visceral level, sitting “with muscle and bone,” as my senior dharma brother in Chicago, Kongo-roshi, titled one of his talks. There are a lot of bones in your body. And the bones, of course, are not separate from the skin, flesh, and marrow, the connective tissue, as Master Bodhidharma taught. “Working your way through” recalls the famous dictum from the poet Robert Frost, paraphrasing, “the only way out is through.” The third seems to contradict the first, when Sensei describes what he frequently referred to as the “sitting-mountain feeling” that eventually comes from zazen. We are to aim at it without concluding that we've achieved it, because “Zen goes deeper,” as he would often say. No matter how seemingly complete and transcendent our immediate experience, it is not the end of the process, an attitude adjustment first articulated by Buddha himself in the “Fifty False States” section of the Surangama Sutra. The main admonition is that, no matter what happens in your meditation, not to imagine that you are now completely enlightened. Even Buddha returned to meditation for the fifty years of his life following his profound insight. But this “shoving your head against the ceiling” sensation is something that I can personally attest to from my modest experience on the cushion. I suspect that when we pull back on the chin, stretching the back of our neck with strength, a specific detail of the posture emphasized by Matsuoka-roshi, it has the effect of shoving our skull against the scalp, which would then feel like the resistance of a solid, external surface like a ceiling. The entire body is a tension-compression structure, much like a camping tent, where the bones of the skeleton are the compression members under stress from the surrounding membrane of musculature, tendons and ligaments, like the canvas and ropes of the tent. HAKUIN'S GAS PEDALThe other end of the “tentpole” is the base of the spine, connecting to the coccyx, or tailbone. Hakuin Zenji, a famous Rinzai priest whose life span bridged the 17th and 18th centuries, from 1686 to1769, recommended that we push forward and down on the lower spine until we feel a bit of pain there. That sensation derives from stretching the hard tissue of the discs between the large lower vertebrae. Even more today than in his time, our posture tends to be c-shaped, sometimes referred to as a “cashew,” when we sit in the driver's seat of our vehicles on the expressway, or the chair at our desk. The natural position of the spine is an “S-shape” curve, bending the lower back in the opposite direction, like a cobra rising from the floor, dancing to the tune of the snake-charmer's flute. I call this Hakuin's gas pedal. Like the accelerator of your car or truck, if you keep your foot on it, pressing forward and down, the vehicle moves. If you let up on it, it slows to a stop. On the other hand, if you go pedal to the metal, it speeds out of control. The Middle Way again, in all its manifestations. So the most important thing, as regards the posture, at least, may be keeping these two pressure points in play while sitting. If you do so, you can't go far wrong in terms of sitting upright. Breathing and attention also come into the picture, but that may be a subject for another UnMind. Let me close this segment with a couple of aphorisms that have come to me in my practice. ME ON ZAZEN I do not claim to have the depth of insight and understanding of our ancestors, and recognize that context, while not determinative of Zen experience, certainly counts. What Buddha, Bodhidharma, the great ancestors in China, and Dogen himself managed to accomplish under relatively primitive conditions in no way compares to what we may expect to realize under relatively cushy but geometrically more complex circumstances. But as they did in their times we must do in ours — namely use what we know to inform our efforts in exploring what we do not know, and cannot know, in any ordinary sense. So, here, I want to introduce two terms that may have no counterpart in their language. PROPRIOCEPTION MEETS VERTIGOProprioception is a term from modern physiology, defined as: Perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body Vertigo is defined as: A sensation of whirling and loss of balance, associated particularly with looking down from a great height, or caused by disease affecting the inner ear or the vestibular nerve; giddiness. In terms of our experience in zazen, then, proprioception would be akin to samadhi, or at least its early stages, when, as Matsuoka-roshi said: When posture, breath, and attention all come together in a unified way, that is the real zazen. Now, if there is “real” zazen, it implies that there must be “unreal” or “fake” zazen, or the false impression that we are doing zazen when we are not, really. Samadhi is a jargon term that I hesitate to use, as it implies that I know what it means while suggesting that you probably do not. Which sets up the false dichotomy of “you and I,” “us and them,” the in-group cognoscenti versus the great unwashed. Sensei also pointed out, at the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago, paraphrasing, “When you become dizzy, concentrate on your knees.” And “When you get nauseous, concentrate on your forehead.” Or it may have been the other way around. The main point is that you probably will get dizzy, and you probably will get nauseous, in zazen. This brings up another coinage, for which I claim authorship: Let not the spiritual be the enemy of the practical I detect a vestigial strain of puritanism in the American culture that can infect our understanding and presentation of Zen, as a kind of belief system, a set of doctrines that one must subscribe to, in order to penetrate the inner sanctum of Zen's purported spiritual secrets. This is anathema to the real Zen, as I understand it. All of Master Dogen's instructions in Fukanzazengi are physical, not mental, as Carl Bielefeldt points out in his “Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation,” a wonderful, incisive line-by-line analysis of Dogen's two extant revisions compared to the Chinese original. So let's stay focused on the physical, and not get distracted by any woo-woo “spiritual.” If we continue sitting without expectation, implementing the two pressure points until we feel tMatsuoka-roshi's “sitting mountain feeling” of great stability — our head “pressed against the ceiling” — the body and mind will take us where we need to go. We trust our teachers' intent and wisdom, and we trust our Original Mind, as indicated in the title of Hsinhsinming, the earliest Ch'an poem chanted in Soto liturgy. If we sustain this posture — sitting still enough and straight enough for long enough — it will work its magic. Equilibrium will set in in the tension-compression system of muscle and bone of the body, leading to equipoise of the mind. Sustained for some time, the constancy of our proprioception will inevitably lead to vertigo — the flip side of solidity. “Mountains are always walking” — the planet is falling through space. There is “not even a toehold.” Emptiness is innately form, form innately emptiness. In the next segment of UnMind, we will put a cap on “Election Year Zen,” my tenth and final concluding commentary on the 2024 campaign, now that we know how it all turned out. But like a centipede, or millipede, there are surely many more shoes to drop.

Once again, allow me to address the sentiment prevalent amongst many Zen groups that the political realm is, and should remain, outside the pale - when it comes to topics appropriate to the scope of Buddhism and Zen. The “tongue of the Buddha” represented by the short, curled ceremonial stick carried by Zen priests (J. nyoi or katsu) is said to be “long and wide,” encompassing all four spheres of influence and action in my semantic model of real world Zen practice: the personal; the social; the natural; and the universal. In the social sphere, the political climate surely played a huge role – in Buddha's life and his decision to form the original order of Buddhist monastics – as well as in China, Japan, and other countries of origin.In our present situation, the incoming flack from the campaign looks more and more like the damaging hail from the record-setting onslaught of tornadoes and hurricanes being visited upon an ever-wider swath of the United States each year, in an ever-lengthening storm season, leaving major and minor damage in its wake. Unintended karmic consequence on a geologic scale.Looking into the rear-view mirror of history, we find that this — the issue of political leadership — has been a “known issue” throughout the development of Zen. From Taoism's roots in China, in “The Way of Life, According to Lao Tzu” (Capricorn Books, 1962), translated by Witter Bynner:17A leader is bestWhen people barely know that he exists,Not so good when people obey and acclaim him,Worst when they despise him.‘Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you';But of a good leader, who talks little,When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,They will say, ‘We did this ourselves.'Compare to protestations of wannabe leaders competing in the current campaign.Peering even further back into the fog of time, from “The Teaching of Buddha” we find the Buddha challenging philosophical and astrophysical speculation, as well as questioning the design intent of the optimum social order. In a shorter quote within a quote from last segment:In the search for truth there are certain questions that are unimportant. Of what material is the universe constructed? Is the universe eternal?... In what way is this human society put together? What is the ideal form of organization for human society?He follows with the admonition that:If a man were to postpone his searching and practicing for Enlightenment until such questions were solved, he would die before he found the path.In other words, whatever the political situation in which you may find yourself, get your personal priorities in order. Like everything else in life, the present political realm is impermanent, imperfect and insubstantial, the three marks of dukkha, the universal principle of change. Which change we find, more often than not, not to our liking.Then, after relating the famous metaphor of the man pierced with a poison arrow, he reminds us that: When a fire of passion is endangering the world, the composition of the universe matters little; what is the ideal form for the human community is not so important to deal with.Consider the various “fires of passion” now threatening our world on all fronts, and demanding a majority of our available bandwidth.Later, putting a fine point on it, the sage focuses squarely on personal training, while not ignoring the social, natural, and universal matrix of problems in which a person, then or now, is firmly enmeshed:The Buddha's teaching contains what is important to know and what is unimportant.Therefore, people should first discern what is the most important, what problem should be solved first and what is the most pressing issue for them. To do all this, they must first undertake to train their minds; that is, they must first seek mind-control.We have received our marching orders. “Mind-control” in this context does not carry the modern connotation of “brain-washing,” but the “discipline” side of the Eightfold Path: right effort, mindfulness, and meditation. In discerning the “problem that should be solved first,” we can not simply ignore causality – including proximate causes of political influence upon our lives. Perhaps the best way to deal with the repugnant pettiness of partisan politics is to continue comparing to the prescripts of Buddhism and Zen.The Repentance Verse, as translated by Shohaku Okumura-roshi in the Soto Zen Journal in February of 2004, on the Bodhisattva Precepts, is a good place to begin:All the twisted karma ever created by me, since of oldThrough beginningless greed, anger and ignoranceBorn of my body, speech and thoughtI now make complete repentance of it all“Twisted” may have overwrought undertones of neurosis, unlike the translation we usually chant. We repent our “past and harmful” karma – the litany of unhelpful, self-centered actions, and unintended consequences thereof – that we now “fully avow.” In other words, we are ‘fessing up, admitting that “mistakes were made.” Note that all this, however, comes with the territory of being a human being subject to the “three poisons,” various forms of greed, hatred and delusion that, though “born of this body, mouth, and mind,” comprise the “three actions” that can get us into trouble.How genuinely are our favorite candidates for public office manifesting this kind of self-awareness, accepting responsibility? How well are we, ourselves, doing in this regard?Okumura-roshi highlights the next steps in the traditional Precepts ceremony:The Three RefugesWe then take refuge in the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The Buddha is the one who awakened to reality. The Dharma is reality itself, the way things truly are. The Sangha are the people who aspire to study and living according to the teaching of the reality of all beings.Taking refuge means, literally, returning to our true origins: our awakened nature; the reality in which we find ourselves; and like-minded folks struggling on the path. In today's political climate, the very notion of a shared reality seems under assault.The Threefold Pure [Precepts]Next, we receive the threefold pure precepts: (1) the precept of embracing moral codes, (2) the precept of embracing good deeds, (3) the precept of embracing all living beings. These three points are the direction we walk on the Bodhisattva path.Morality, as conventionally understood, also seems to be on the chopping block, or at least up for sale, in this election year cycle. Perhaps it was ever so, with one party's “good deeds” being another's social injustice. How do we embrace “all living beings,” when there are so many of them, competing for the same resources? And where, we might ask, have all the bodhisattvas gone?The Ten Major PreceptsThe ten major precepts are: (1) do not kill, (2) do not steal, (3) do not engage in improper sexual conduct, (4) do not lie, (5) do not deal in intoxicants, (6) do not criticize others, (7) do not praise self and slander others, (8) do not be stingy with the dharma or property, (9) do not give way to anger, (10) do not disparage the Three Treasures.We also express these prohibitory precepts with their positive side – “affirm life,” “be giving,” “honor the body,” “manifest truth,” and “proceed clearly” respectively – for the first five above, given to new initiates, for example. The second five are given to those who enter the formal path, with respect to the social consequences of representing Zen to the public, and so bear more scrutiny in the context of our political social servants. How closely are candidates for office at every level adhering to these admonitions, setting aside the Three Treasures, of which they may have little or no awareness.We could go on, with endless examples from the written record of Buddhist principles. For example, if we look at the Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva path, we find:Beings are numberless; I vow to free themDelusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end themDharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter themThe Buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize itCompare to various positions, platforms and policies proposed by pols and pundits – on immigration; income disparity; education; conventional truth; and the place of religion – in our efforts toward a “more perfect union.” How we doin' on those fronts?Jeffrey Lyons, a political science professor at Boise State University, found that “roughly three-quarters of kids who have two parents of the same party will fall on the same end of the political spectrum as their parents. As kids are growing up, their parents have an enormous amount of power in shaping their views.” (From: “Are Politics Hereditary?” – The Atlantic Jun 1, 2018).If true, this demographic factoid simplifies the picture enormously. We might conclude that the vast majority of voters are going to be biased in favor of their family and social history from childhood – nature and nurture – and not likely to be persuaded by rational or ideological argument, to switch allegiances. So much for independent thinking.So, once again, we return full-circle to the cushion. Do your own research, draw your own conclusions from your findings, and make your own recommendations to yourself for improving your chances of acting compassionately and wisely in the marketplace of politics, as well as within the community of folks who would rather not have to deal with politics at all. The ability to do so is surely more dependent upon our personal approach to meditation, than upon our social skills. Only if we are independent of the influence of ideology and partisan political pressures can we act interdependently for the good of all.We will revisit the political scene in July, when we celebrate Jukai, true independence. Until then, “Don't give up!”* * *Elliston Roshi is guiding teacher of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and abbot of the Silent Thunder Order. He is also a gallery-represented fine artist expressing his Zen through visual poetry, or “music to the eyes.”UnMind is a production of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the Silent Thunder Order. You can support these teachings by PayPal to donate@STorder.org. Gassho.Producer: Shinjin Larry Little

In the last UnMind segment on “Election Year Zen,” we stressed Zen's emphasis on thinking independently and acting interdependently, as a kind of rule of thumb for approaching the quadrennial campaign and politics in general. Returning to the main theme running through the UnMind podcast, the intersection of design thinking and Zen, the importance of independent thought and interdependent action to the future of Zen in America, and the world at large, takes on an even more central role. Especially in the context of Buddha's teaching of the codependent origination of all things sentient – the comprehensive model of the Twelvefold Chain. Physics might agree that even the insentient universe is co-arisen, despite the singularity of the “Big Bang.” The following thoughts were first shared in my opening remarks for the Silent Thunder Order's annual conference in 2022, themed “Clarifying Interdependence.” The title of my address was “Future Zen: Thinking Independently; Acting Interdependently” Buddha himself was clearly an independent thinker, the original Order of monks and nuns, an example of interdependent action, choosing to relinquish their place in the social order and hierarchy of the time, with its rigid caste system. Buddha was also a problem-solver of the highest order, having defined the problem of existence itself in terms of suffering, and prescribed a solution based on the real-world context, articulated as the Middle Way, and modeled as the Four Noble Truths, including the Eightfold Path as the plan of action. Simply stated, the propagation of genuine Soto Zen practice in America is the logical extension of that plan, but in order to realize that potential, we must adapt the design intent of the Zen mission to the cultural and technological evolution that has taken place over two-and-a-half millennia. Nevertheless, the basic challenge to practice has remained the same. As we chant in the Dharma opening verse: The unsurpassed, profound and wonderous Dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million kalpas. Now we can see and hear it, accept and maintain it. May we unfold the meaning of the Tathagata's truth. Accepting that the unsurpassed Dharma is rarely realized, even under the best of circumstances, we proceed with the Zen mission with lowered expectations, commensurate with geometrically expanded distractions currently on offer. These days, Buddha would not draw the typical crowd that attends a professional sports venue, nor even smaller concert venues. He might attract a considerable following online, however. Seeing and hearing the Dharma is now often first encountered online, via searching the plethora of web sites devoted to posting the teachings of Buddha and his successors, by following podcasts, or downloading audiobooks. “Doing your research,” as we say. For my generation, television may have been the medium in which one first discovered the hoofprints of the ox, in the form of the “Kung Fu” series of the 1970s. Seeing and hearing the true Dharma – as well as accepting and maintaining it – is still, however, a low-tech enterprise, requiring only the instrument of the human body, sitting upright and still in meditation. Unfolding the meaning of it, however, is another matter altogether, a near-impossible order of difficulty. In effect, it has to reveal itself to us. Meanwhile, we face a variety of conflicting interpretations of Zen, from the cultural milieu and idioms of today. For example, Zen is not really, or merely, a social program, as many of its proponents seem to feel. Interdependent action certainly entails the recognition of suffering in the form of social injustice, and the principle of karmic retribution does not explain or justify ignoring the suffering of others. The teachings of Buddhism are meant, first and foremost, to provide a mirror to ourselves, reflecting the good, bad, and the ugly without discrimination; focusing our attention upon our own follies, foibles, and foolishness; definitely not to be held up to criticize others. Our implementation of the “design of Zen” to-date – including the incorporation of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center (ASZC) in 1977, and the umbrella organization of the Silent Thunder Order (STO) in 2010 – has been intended to establish and maintain a stable training center, along with a service organization as we attracted affiliate centers, to facilitate the process of propagating what is called “Dogen Zen,” with the same intent of its 13thcentury founder, and his successors, especially Keizan Jokin Zenji. I use the term “design,” as this has been an intentional design process. ASZC is the home temple & training center of the STO network of affiliates, resulting from a group process of the individual efforts, financial support, and community service of hundreds of people over the past half-century or so. In carrying out this design intent, we are extending the legacy and lineage of our founding teacher, Matsuoka-roshi, who would frequently remind us that “Zen is always contemporary.” In a book surveying the origins of Zen in America, “Zen Master Who?” (2006), by James Ishmael Ford, we learn: Soyu Matsuoka ranks with Nyogen Sengaki and Sokei-an as one of the first teachers to make his home and life work in North America. He also seems to be the first teacher to clearly and unambiguously give Dharma transmission to Western students. I would add that these pioneers of American Zen also belong in the rarified ranks of those ancestors who traveled great distances and crossed cultural boundaries to bring the genuine practice to another country, a whole other continent, like Bodhidharma, and Dogen Zenji. Sensei, as he modestly asked us to call him, also is credited with opening the first Zen meditation hall, or zendo, for westerners. Needless to say, I was one of those Western students he transmitted, though he did so informally, rather than by the formal standards of Soto Shu, the headquarters in Japan. We inherit his estimable legacy and lineage, as well as those of the Kodo Sawaki-Uchiyama lineage, thanks to Shohaku Okumura-roshi. We also enjoy a link to that of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi through Seirin Barbara Kohn-roshi, who graciously agreed to be my Preceptor for my formal Transmission, or “Shiho” ceremony, after hosting my 90-day training period at Austin Zen Center in 2007. We may be somewhat unique in the American Zen cohort, having received formal recognition from three recognized priests, including pre- and post-WWII generation Japanese patriarchs, as well as an American Zen matriarch. Let us do what we can to honor our predecessors. We honor them most appropriately by thinking independently and acting interdependently. Before considering the future of Zen in America, we could do worse than to take a look at its past. In the Shobogenzo Zuimonki, collected and compiled under the direction of one of his dharma successors, Koun Ejo Zenji, some of Master Dogen's more offhand comments and spontaneous inspirations are recorded, apparently with little editing, much like our publications of “The Kyosaku” and “Mokurai,” the collected talks of O-Sensei. Dogen instructed, 4 — 13It is said in the secular world that a castle falls when people start to whisper words within its walls. It is also said that when there are two opinions in a house, not even a pin can be bought; when there is no conflict of opinions, even gold can be purchased. Even in the secular world, it is said that unity of mind is necessary for the sake of maintaining a household or protecting a castle. If unity is lacking, the house or the castle will eventually fall. Much more, should monks who have left home to study under a single teacher be harmonious like the mixture of water and milk. There is also the precept of the six ways of harmony.* Do not set up individual rooms, nor practice the Way separately either physically or mentally. [Our life in this monastery is] like crossing the ocean on a single ship. We should have unity of mind, conduct ourselves in the same way, give advice to each other to reform each other's faults, follow the good points of others, and practice the Way single-mindedly. This is the Way people have been practicing since the time of the Buddha. Echoes of Honest Abe's house divided against itself… a footnote explains the “six ways” reference: *The unity of the three actions – those of body, mouth, and mind, keeping the same precepts, having the same insight, and carrying on the same practice. This same precepts, insight and practice includes the harmony of sameness and difference, not an absolute identity. The milk-and-water bit reminds me of Sri Ramakrishna's expression that, like the swan, you have to be able to drink only the milk, mixed with water, to grasp the truth of this existence. This is the nonduality of duality. So here is the great unifying principle underlying Zen practice from the time of Buddha and Dogen down to the present. The past is prologue to the present, as is the present to the future, of Zen. This may not be true of our contemporary cultural and political institutions, however, as we are witnessing. Let us turn to Zen for something more substantial to hang our hopes on for the future. We will have to leave it here for now. Be sure to join us for the next three segments of UnMind, which will round out this contemporary take on the design intent of future Zen.* * * Elliston Roshi is guiding teacher of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and abbot of the Silent Thunder Order. He is also a gallery-represented fine artist expressing his Zen through visual poetry, or “music to the eyes.”UnMind is a production of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the Silent Thunder Order. You can support these teachings by PayPal to donate@STorder.org. Gassho.Producer: Shinjin Larry Little

“If all of you have access to the same wisdom, and you all hear it in your own distinct ways, that also implies that no one's ever gonna hear it like you. Whenever you feel that beautiful swell of connection, that's for you alone. You don't get to share that. I don't know. It both like swells and breaks my heart at the same time.” - Dave Cuomo   Mountains walk and rivers talk as Dave delves into Dogen's classic Mountains and Waters Sutra with the help of Shohaku Okumura's classic commentary on this poetic and profound piece. How is Mahayana Buddhism so unapologetically based on a lie? (#fakebuddhaquotes amiright?). How do we do not understanding? Is turning off your phone during zazen and turning your back on your loved ones a heartless way of turning toward the truth? And why is Zen's advice about dealing with anger making Dave so angry?? Find out here!

Taiun Michael Elliston began practicing Zen in 1966 With Matsuoka-Roshi at the Chicago Zen Buddhist Temple.  He was ordained as a Zen priest in 1970 by Matsuoka-Roshi and in 1983 received full Dharma transmission.  Has also studied with Sayrin Barbara Kohn of the Austin Zen Center and Shohaku Okumura of the Sanshin Zen Community.  He is the founder and current about of Atlanta Soto Zen Center.More about Atlanta Zen Center:- https://www.aszc.org/More about Simplicity Zen Podcast:- https://simplicityzen.com/

In this podcast Dayamati and I begin study of Shohaku Okumura's commentary on chapter 14 of Dōgen's magnum opus, Shōbōgenzō, 'The Mountains and -Waters Sutra' (Sansuikyō). After contextualising the chapter itself and Okumura's commentary we begin to touch on some of its principal themes, including the idea of the always-incompleteness of practice and the condition of 'no-knowing' as a creative relation with experience. We confine our comments to chapter 1 of the commentary.

Rev. Shinmon Michael Newton began Zen practice in 1983 as a university student in Japan, with a Rinzai priest at an ancient temple on Mount Tsukuba, later moving to Kyoto and practicing Soto Zen with Shohaku Okumura. Since returning to Vancouver in 1987 he has practiced with Zoketsu Norman Fischer. He received priest ordination from him in in 2003 and dharma transmission in 2011. He was installed as a guiding teacher of Mountain Rain Zen Community in May 2017.Michael teaches Asian studies and religious studies at Simon Fraser University. He is committed to supporting Mountain Rain as a lay practice community in connection with the wider community, the arts, and the natural world.

Rev. Myoshin Kate McCandless began Zen practice in 1983 as a university student in Japan, with a Rinzai priest at an ancient temple on Mount Tsukuba, later moving to Kyoto and practicing Soto Zen with Shohaku Okumura. Since returning to Vancouver in 1987 she has practiced with Zoketsu Norman Fischer. She received priest ordination from him in in 2003 and dharma transmission in 2011. She was installed as a guiding teacher of Mountain Rain Zen Community in May 2017.Kate has worked as an organic farmer, ESL teacher, translator and as a clinical counselor in women's health and hospice/bereavement care.

Hoshi Kigaku Noah Roen continues Upaya's series on the precepts with a talk on the Three Pure Precepts: doing no harm; doing good; doing good for others. In dialogue with the texts of Bernie Glassman, Reb Anderson, and Shohaku Okumura, Kigaku suggests that rather than looking at these precepts as means to enlightenment, we see […]

Hoshi Matthew Kozan Palevsky explores the nature of atonement in our practice.  Taking cues from Shohaku Okumura's Living by Vow, he discusses zazen as one part vow, one part atonement.  These two aspects arise together as one, like Dogen's expression of practice-realization.  Kozan then turns to the three perspectives of atonement before applying these perspectives to the […]

Zazen is good for nothing, according to Kodo Sawaki. If so, then why do we sit? Also, ice cream sundaes and Möbius strips. Treeleaf Zendo (https://www.treeleaf.org) The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo (https://amzn.to/3reU8H6) Good for Nothing, interview with Shohaku Okumura (https://tricycle.org/magazine/good-nothing/) Theme music by Kiku Day (http://www.kikuday.com). To submit a question, send an email to podcast@zen-of-everything.com. If you like the podcast, please subscribe in iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-next-track/id1116242606) or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Shohaku Okumura Roshi is the head teacher at the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana. Their website is sanshinji.org.  He also founded the Dogen Institute. 

Im Abschnitt des heutigen Abends erläutert uns Shohaku Okumura die 'Sechs Daseinsbereiche': Hölle, hungrige Geister, Tiere, Asuras (kämpfende Geister), Menschen, himmlische Wesen. Dabei wird klar, dass selbst Wesen, die alles haben, was sie wollen, nicht auf eine absolute Weise glücklich sein können, solange ihr Lebensziel darin besteht, egozentrische Wünsche zu befriedigen. Buddha fand heraus, dass die eigentliche Ursache des Leidens auf Unwissenheit (avidya) basiert, d.h. dass wir die Wirklichkeit des Lebens nicht erkennen können und deshalb falsche Ziele verfolgen, die uns nicht glücklich machen können. Dieses Dharmastudium hat am 14. September 2021 stattgefunden. Support this podcast

Der erste von sieben Abenden, an denen wir anhand des Buchs von Shohaku Okumura, "Durch Gelübde leben - Die vier Bodhisattva Gelübde", gemeinsam untersuchen, welche Bedeutung die buddhistischen Gelübde für unser Leben und unsere Praxis haben können. Folgende Fragen stehen dabei im Mittelpunkt: Was ist der Unterschied zwischen christlichem Gebet und Zen-Meditation? Was ist ein Bodhisattva? Welche Bedeutung haben Gelübde für unsere Praxis? Was ist der Inhalt der Vier Bodhisattva-Gelübde? Enthalten diese Gelübde nicht einen grundlegenden Widerspruch? Dieses Dharmastudium hat am 7. September 2021 stattgefunden. Support this podcast

Shohaku Okumura, Roshi - via Zoom, Zen Mountain Monastery, Sunday 07/18/21 - Teachings from  "Opening the Hand of Thought" (by Okumura Roshi's teacher Kosho Uchiyama) - In today's talk, presented to the MRO Sangha via Zoom, Okumura Roshi begins with the children's story of the "Squabbling Squashes", a parable about connectedness and interdependence. He goes on to teach that Zazen is a practice of opening up to life, of actualizing our True Self.

In this talk I am going to discuss the Heart Sutra, the most important teaching in the Zen Buddhist world. I want to emphasise that this sutra is all about enlightenment as a verb – enlightening. The realisation of emptiness or boundlessness is freeing – it lightens us up and fills us with great joy! First, I will once again situate ourselves within Modern Buddhism. I will then give some brief historical and philosophical background to the sutra. Then I will give a line-by-line commentary, which is the body of the talk. Then if I have time, I will discuss differing ways of interpreting or understanding the sutra and how to practice the sutra. My main sources for today’s talk are Dogen, Shohaku Okumura, Jay Garfield and Barry Magid.

Seconda puntata: Quattro passi con Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifania (Bari, 1953). Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifania si diploma all’Accademia Nazionale di Danza e lavora con Carla Fracci e Rudolf Nureyev. Nel 1985 inizia il suo viaggio nel buddismo zen con Thich Nhat Hanh, Corrado Pensa e Stephen Batchelor; nel 1999 diventa monaca di scuola Sōtō nel 1999 al tempio La Gendronniere in Francia e nel 2016 erede nel Dharma del maestro Shohaku Okumura. Assieme al marito, il reverendo Guglielmo Doryu Cappelli, fonda e gestisce a Roma il Centro Zen Anshin. È inoltre danzaterapeuta e insegnante di Tai Chi-Qi Gong, e autrice del saggio °Se respiri, stai danzando. L’arte di arrendersi al movimento° (Lindau, 2020).

Seconda puntata: Quattro passi con Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifania (Bari, 1953). Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifania si diploma all’Accademia Nazionale di Danza e lavora con Carla Fracci e Rudolf Nureyev. Nel 1985 inizia il suo viaggio nel buddismo zen con Thich Nhat Hanh, Corrado Pensa e Stephen Batchelor; nel 1999 diventa monaca di scuola Sōtō nel 1999 al tempio La Gendronniere in Francia e nel 2016 erede nel Dharma del maestro Shohaku Okumura. Assieme al marito, il reverendo Guglielmo Doryu Cappelli, fonda e gestisce a Roma il Centro Zen Anshin. È inoltre danzaterapeuta e insegnante di Tai Chi-Qi Gong, e autrice del saggio °Se respiri, stai danzando. L’arte di arrendersi al movimento° (Lindau, 2020).

Seconda puntata: Quattro passi con Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifania (Bari, 1953). Annamaria Gyoetsu Epifania si diploma all’Accademia Nazionale di Danza e lavora con Carla Fracci e Rudolf Nureyev. Nel 1985 inizia il suo viaggio nel buddismo zen con Thich Nhat Hanh, Corrado Pensa e Stephen Batchelor; nel 1999 diventa monaca di scuola Sōtō nel 1999 al tempio La Gendronniere in Francia e nel 2016 erede nel Dharma del maestro Shohaku Okumura. Assieme al marito, il reverendo Guglielmo Doryu Cappelli, fonda e gestisce a Roma il Centro Zen Anshin. È inoltre danzaterapeuta e insegnante di Tai Chi-Qi Gong, e autrice del saggio °Se respiri, stai danzando. L’arte di arrendersi al movimento° (Lindau, 2020).

For this episode, host Daniel Aitken speaks with Shohaku Okumura Roshi, Japanese Soto Zen priest and revered writer and translator. Shohaku Okumura is also the founder and current abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana. In this conversation, you'll hear Okumura Roshi tell powerful stories, not only from his own life, but from […] The post Shohaku Okumura Roshi: Stories from Modern Zen Masters appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

Brad gives a reading from his favorite Zen author, Shohaku Okumura, The Mountains and Waters Sutra. It’s a talk about mountains studying mountains, how the universe is using us to study itself, and why even if you’re certain you’re right it is still never wise to argue with an ox.

Taigen Dan Leighton is a Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He first studied Buddhist art and culture in Japan in 1970, and began formal everyday zazen and Soto practice in 1975 at the New York Zen Center with Kando Nakajima Roshi. He moved to San Francisco in 1978 and began to work full time for the San Francisco Zen Center in 1979. Taigen was ordained in 1986 by Reb Anderson Roshi. From 1990-1992 he practiced in Kyoto, Japan translating Dogen with Rev. Shohaku Okumura. Taigen has taught widely at the university level, both in the United States and Japan, and is the author of 19 books and numerous articles. Today he lives on the north side of Chicago with his wife and serves as the Guiding Dharma Teacher for Ancient Dragon Zen Gate sangha Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/  

JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies. REFERENCES Dogen Zenji, [Genjokoan](http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/DogenTeachings/GenjoKoan8.htm)_ Shohaku Okumura (http://www.sanshinji.org/) and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana Peter Sloterdijk, [You Must Change Your Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouMustChangeYourLife) Weird Studies, Episode 8 (http://www.weirdstudies.com/8): "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'" Gilles Deleuze, [Cinema 1: The Movement Image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema1:TheMovementImage) Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, [In Praise of Shadows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InPraiseofShadows)_ Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SummaTheologica)_ Henri Bergson, [Matter and Memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MatterandMemory) Søren Kierkegaard, [Fear and Trembling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FearandTrembling) Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature) (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/35341/against-nature/) Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (https://www.shambhala.com/cutting-through-spiritual-materialism-458.html)

'Rhythms of Practice: Settling Within and Expression in the World' Taigen Dan Leighton is a Soto Zen priest and teacher, academic, and author. He is an authorized lineage holder and Zen teacher in the tradition of Shunryu Suzuki, and is the Founder and Guiding Teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate Soto Zen Centre in Chicago. Taigen was ordained as a Zen priest in 1986 and received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2000. He lived in Japan between 1990-1992 and is a translator (together with Shohaku Okumura) of Dogen's 'Eihei Koroku' and other Dogen texts. He holds a PHD from Berkley. He is also the author of numerous books, including 'Zen Questions: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry', 'Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression', 'Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness' and 'Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra'. He was also asked to provide the forward to John Daido Loori's classic compendium on Zen meditation 'The Art of Just Sitting : Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikan Taza' Taigen has long been active in various US Engaged Buddhist programs for social justice, including Environmental and Peace activism. He is on the International Advisory Council of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. He is frequently asked to speak on how Buddhists can engage in protest and activism whilst maintaining the Buddhist principles of no-harm and kind speech.

'Rhythms of Practice: Settling Within and Expression in the World' Taigen Dan Leighton is a Soto Zen priest and teacher, academic, and author. He is an authorized lineage holder and Zen teacher in the tradition of Shunryu Suzuki, and is the Founder and Guiding Teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate Soto Zen Centre in Chicago. Taigen was ordained as a Zen priest in 1986 and received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2000. He lived in Japan between 1990-1992 and is a translator (together with Shohaku Okumura) of Dogen's 'Eihei Koroku' and other Dogen texts. He holds a PHD from Berkley. He is also the author of numerous books, including 'Zen Questions: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry', 'Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression', 'Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness' and 'Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra'. He was also asked to provide the forward to John Daido Loori's classic compendium on Zen meditation 'The Art of Just Sitting : Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikan Taza' Taigen has long been active in various US Engaged Buddhist programs for social justice, including Environmental and Peace activism. He is on the International Advisory Council of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. He is frequently asked to speak on how Buddhists can engage in protest and activism whilst maintaining the Buddhist principles of no-harm and kind speech.

'Rhythms of Practice: Settling Within and Expression in the World' Taigen Dan Leighton is a Soto Zen priest and teacher, academic, and author. He is an authorized lineage holder and Zen teacher in the tradition of Shunryu Suzuki, and is the Founder and Guiding Teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate Soto Zen Centre in Chicago. Taigen was ordained as a Zen priest in 1986 and received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2000. He lived in Japan between 1990-1992 and is a translator (together with Shohaku Okumura) of Dogen's 'Eihei Koroku' and other Dogen texts. He holds a PHD from Berkley. He is also the author of numerous books, including 'Zen Questions: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry', 'Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression', 'Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness' and 'Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra'. He was also asked to provide the forward to John Daido Loori's classic compendium on Zen meditation 'The Art of Just Sitting : Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikan Taza' Taigen has long been active in various US Engaged Buddhist programs for social justice, including Environmental and Peace activism. He is on the International Advisory Council of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. He is frequently asked to speak on how Buddhists can engage in protest and activism whilst maintaining the Buddhist principles of no-harm and kind speech.

'Dazed and Confused: Trying to make sense of Dogen's philosophy if you're not as smart as Taigen Dan Leighton' In this final part, Alan offers a framework for understanding Dogen's teachings, with the Zen Master's main philosophies spelt out, and a path for further readings. Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is one of the most important teachers in the history of Zen Buddhism. Dogen's philosophy has been incredibly influential on generations of Zen practitioners, including many important modern day teachers, such as Shunryu Suzuki, Dainin Katagiri, Shohaku Okumura, Taigen Dan Leighton and Brad Warner. Dogen's writings are famous for turning words on their head to try and find a way to explain Buddhist realisation, an experience that is simply impossible to describe using conventional language. This feature of his work, however, makes Dogen incredibly challenging to read. We can tell that profound truths are being explained but are often left totally baffled by the crazy, topsy-turvy way that Dogen writes about Zen. This three part talk from Wimbledon Zen aims to assist the modern student in approaching Dogen's philosophy. In an informal way the talk looks at why we want to study Dogen, some of the reasons why he is difficult to understand and then sets out a summary of Dogen's philosophy, outlining 20 key principles that emerge from his writings. If you've ever wondered why Dogen thinks you should hit the cart rather the ox to make it move, this is the talk for you!

'Dazed and Confused: Trying to make sense of Dogen's philosophy if you're not as smart as Taigen Dan Leighton' Alan deals with how to demystify Dogen's writings, by looking into the Zen Master's influences and the way translators have attempted to bring his writings to life. Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is one of the most important teachers in the history of Zen Buddhism. Dogen's philosophy has been incredibly influential on generations of Zen practitioners, including many important modern day teachers, such as Shunryu Suzuki, Dainin Katagiri, Shohaku Okumura, Taigen Dan Leighton and Brad Warner. Dogen's writings are famous for turning words on their head to try and find a way to explain Buddhist realisation, an experience that is simply impossible to describe using conventional language. This feature of his work, however, makes Dogen incredibly challenging to read. We can tell that profound truths are being explained but are often left totally baffled by the crazy, topsy-turvy way that Dogen writes about Zen. This three part talk from Wimbledon Zen aims to assist the modern student in approaching Dogen's philosophy. In an informal way the talk looks at why we want to study Dogen, some of the reasons why he is difficult to understand and then sets out a summary of Dogen's philosophy, outlining 20 key principles that emerge from his writings. If you've ever wondered why Dogen thinks you should hit the cart rather the ox to make it move, this is the talk for you!

'Dazed and Confused: Trying to make sense of Dogen's philosophy if you're not as smart as Taigen Dan Leighton' In this first section, Alan gives an introduction to the life of Dogen, and why you might be interested in the Zen Master's teachings. Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is one of the most important teachers in the history of Zen Buddhism. Dogen's philosophy has been incredibly influential on generations of Zen practitioners, including many important modern day teachers, such as Shunryu Suzuki, Dainin Katagiri, Shohaku Okumura, Taigen Dan Leighton and Brad Warner. Dogen's writings are famous for turning words on their head to try and find a way to explain Buddhist realisation, an experience that is simply impossible to describe using conventional language. This feature of his work, however, makes Dogen incredibly challenging to read. We can tell that profound truths are being explained but are often left totally baffled by the crazy, topsy-turvy way that Dogen writes about Zen. This three part talk from Wimbledon Zen aims to assist the modern student in approaching Dogen's philosophy. In an informal way the talk looks at why we want to study Dogen, some of the reasons why he is difficult to understand and then sets out a summary of Dogen's philosophy, outlining 20 key principles that emerge from his writings. If you've ever wondered why Dogen thinks you should hit the cart rather the ox to make it move, this is the talk for you!

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! »

Shohaku Okumura, Dharma Talk, Saturday 15 February 2014, Austin Zen Center

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) – Day 5 (afternoon), by Shohaku Okumura (07/28/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) -Day 5 (morning), by Shohaku Okumura (07/28/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) – Day 4 (afternoon), by Shohaku Okumura (07/27/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) -Day 4 (morning), by Shohaku Okumura (07/27/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) -Day 3 (morning), by Shohaku Okumura (07/26/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) – Day 3 (afternoon), by Shohaku Okumura (07/26/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) – Day 2 (morning), by Shohaku Okumura (07/25/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) – Day 2 (afternoon), by Shohaku Okumura (07/25/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) -Day 1 (afternoon), by Shohaku Okumura (07/24/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and abbot of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana. Our audio dharma talks are offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the “Giving” section of our … Genzo-e: Studying Dogen’s Shobogenzo Zenki (Total Function) and Tsuki (Moon) -Day 1 (morning), by Shohaku Okumura (07/24/2013) Read More »

Shohaku Okumura, Dharma Talk, Saturday 11 February 2012, Austin Zen Center