(At our Empty Moon Zen Rohatsu retreat at the end of the year there were several outstanding talks on our intimate way. I’ve asked the speakers if I could reprint them at my blog, and each graciously agreed. Here I offer the last of these, this from Thomas Wardle, a Dharma Holder within our Zen lineage.) The Case: The priest Xiangyan (Kyogen) said, “It is as though you were up in a tree, hanging from a branch with your teeth.... Read more
“Make of yourself a light” said the Buddha, before he died. I think of this every morning as the east begins to tear off its many clouds of darkness, to send up the first signal-a white fan streaked with pink and violet, even green. An old man, he lay down between two sala trees, and he might have said anything, knowing it was his final hour. The light burns upward, it thickens and settles over the fields. Around him, the... Read more
A friend recently posted on social media ten pointers for engaging with the world and our difficult political and ecological crises. It was from my book, The Intimate Way Of Zen. I’m glad he thought it helpful. Perhaps you will, as well… Ten Zen Pointers 1. Start with generosity of heart. 2. Bind ourselves to standards of conduct that support our aspirations. There are lots of rules, laws, precepts, and guidelines offered by different traditions. Understand what these rules are... Read more
Thus have I heard. And which I repeat. Brigid was born in 451 in County Louth. Traditions say her mother, Brocca was a Christian Pict slave. Baptized, tradition says, by Patrick himself. Brigid was said to exhibit signs of holiness from early on, including giving away her father’s money and goods to the poor. She became a nun, and with seven companions are celebrated as the first nuns in Ireland. She was eventually given “abbatial powers,” authority similar to that... Read more
(Maurine Mo Weindhardt is a Dharma Holder with the Empty Moon Zen Sangha. She delivered this talk at our December Rohatsu retreat. I asked her if I could reprint it here, and she graciously agreed.) For those of you who might need a sincere reminder, hear me. This is a deep and abiding truth: You are worthy. You are sacred. You are loved. Today, we’re going to talk about meeting the struggle. This has many meanings — but whether big... Read more
(On Saturday the 18th of January, Dr Chris Kaishin Hoff, an Empty Moon Zen Senior Dharma Teacher delivered the talk. With his generous permission I’m reprinting it here. I find it particularly timely…) In December, the counseling clinic I direct had a Secret Santa gift exchange. When it came my turn to open a gift, I was surprised by a coffee mug with the phrase “hope betrays” printed on it. I laughed out loud. You see, all the therapists who... Read more
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. There are some things in our social system to which all of us ought to be maladjusted. Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. We must evolve for all human conflict a method, which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. Before... Read more
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Lewis Carrol to the world, died on the 14th of January, in 1898. It was at his sister’s home in Guildford, a small town in Surrey, England. He was two weeks shy of sixty-six. I wrote of this last year. I think it worth revisiting again with a few updates here and there. Dodgson was born at the All Saints’ vicarage in Cheshire, England, today, the 27th of January, in 1832. His family produced military men and... Read more
(At the close of the year our Zen sangha held a Rohatsu retreat. There were several talks I thought should be shared a bit more widely. I’ve gathered permission and here is the first among them. It was given by the Reverend Tetsugen Tom Baker. Tom is a Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a long time teacher at the juncture of recovery and Buddhist meditation.) “Be still and know that I am God.” This... Read more
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, unremembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two... Read more
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