February 1, 2024

Where are we going? “If we want to understand ourselves and help all beings get out of suffering, we must first understand where this world’s suffering comes from. Everything arises from our minds,” -Zen Master Seung Sahn What do we want to do with our lives? Do we want to keep doing what we’re doing? Being deeply self-absorbed, chasing after sense pleasures all the time, harming ourselves and others with our confusion and bad habits, sleepwalking through life and missing... Read more

January 15, 2024

I’m about to do a series of writings about Compass of Zen and I thought I’d take a moment to share about my experience and to also share about who Seung Sahn was. For the record, I am not an expert. Many people have more experience and more useful things to say than me. I first heard of Zen Master Seung Sahn when a Monk approached me to tell me about the Five Mountain Zen Order. His name was Wanji... Read more

January 11, 2024

Make Your Life Meaningful “Now that I have this great ship, a precious human life, so hard to obtain, I must carry myself and others across the ocean of samsara. To that end, listen, reflect, and meditate day and night without distraction, is the practice of a bodhisattva.” – Thogme Sangpo, 37 Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva. I’m sharing a talk I gave at the Rime Buddhist Center on January 7th. Posted on January 7, 2024by podcasts Dharma talk given... Read more

January 1, 2024

“Experience your true self and help this world.” -Zen  Master Seung Sahn Compass of Zen is a book that was created to be a handbook for Seung Sahn’s students. Seung Sahn was a Korean Zen Master who founded the Kwan Um School of Zen, one of the largest Zen organizations in the United States. Since that time several of Seung Sahn’s students started their own communities including Furnace Mountain Zen Center, Golden Wind Zen Order, the Five Mountain Zen Order.... Read more

December 13, 2023

“In my native land waves of attachment to friends and kin surge, hatred for enemies rages like fire, the darkness of stupidity, not caring what to adopt or avoid, thickens – To abandon my native land is the practice of a bodhisattva.” – Togme Sangpo, the Thirty-Seven Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva   The quote above is the second of the 37 Verses, a guide to how we can awaken unbound compassion in our lives. We could easily... Read more

December 11, 2023

“Now that I have this great ship, a precious human life, so hard to obtain, I must carry myself and others across the ocean of samsara. To that end, listen, reflect, and meditate day and night without distraction, is the practice of a bodhisattva.” – Thogme Sangpo, 37 Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva. Do you think your life is meaningful? If not, what would it take to make it so? At the Rime Buddhist Center we’re about to... Read more

December 11, 2023

The preliminaries are our support for practice. We need a solid foundation for our mind training practice and this is where it begins. For the preliminaries we contemplate a teaching called The Four Thoughts That Change The Mind. This is a list of things that motivate and inspire us. That’s our foundation. When we feel discouraged, when the path seems like it won’t be for us, reflecting on these things can help us stay on track and remind us why all of... Read more

October 16, 2023

I was reading a book called “Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech” by Kunzang Pelden and I came across a teaching that I wanted to share. This text, by the way, is a detailed commentary on “Way of the Bodhisattva”. I recommend this book if you’re interested in going deeply into Bodhisattva teachings. The section I’m talking about today is the section on Diligence.   This is a teaching called “the Four Forces” which represents four things that help us in the... Read more

October 15, 2023

I gave this talk at the Rime Buddhist Center on 6/25/23. I talked about love and compassion and I read the Metta Sutta. Dharma talk given by Daniel Scharpenburg, June 25, 2023. Music by Barefoot Bran Music. Check out this episode! Read more

October 10, 2023

In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition we are encouraged to cultivate six transcendent virtues, the paramitas. Paramita is often translated as “perfection” so this teaching is often called “The Six Perfections” In his ‘Letter to a Friend,’ which is an instructional text for lay practitioners, Nagarjuna calls the six perfections the essence of the path. As we train in mindfulness and wisdom, these virtues are reinforced and strengthened. Here’s how Nagarjuna describes them:   Generosity and discipline, patience, diligence, Concentration, and... Read more

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