During our nonresidential practice periods at the Minnesota Zen Center in the 1980’s, students took turns giving talks at 4:30 a.m. Katagiri Roshi usually sat very quietly with his inverted half-moon mouth, a world-class frown, and very seldom made any comment about our wobbly efforts to express the dharma. One morning Roy, a longtime student of Katagiri Roshi, began his talk verbally stumbling around. “While I was walking to the zendo I began crossing the street just as a piece… Read more

This summer in the Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training we’ve been focussed on the teaching of Zen Master Dàhuì Zōnggǎo (1089–1163; 大慧宗杲), thanks to the recent translation of The Letters of Chan Master Dàhuì Pǔjué, by Jeffrey L. Broughton and Elise Yoko Watanabe. Dàhuì  is probably best-known today among Zen students for his instructions on what NOT to do in keyword practice (e.g., “mu”). In The Letters there are three overlapping lists of what not to do in (letters #10.5, #14.8, and… Read more

One aspect of Dàhuì’s teachings, probably best-known today among keyword students, are his instructions on what NOT to do, especially in regard to working with the keyword mu. There are actually three overlapping lists of what not to do in The Letters (letters #10.5, #14.8, and #58.2). (1) In this post, I will translate the list from #14.8. You can find my translation of the list in #10.5, as well as more context, here. Broughton and Watanabe’s translation is below. You’ll notice quite a… Read more

Introduction This series is especially directed to students working with a keyword (話頭 huàtóu, Japanese, watō) with Tetsugan Osho and I on the Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training or at the Nebraska Zen Center. I’ve been sharing these posts here for others who might be interested. Close study of the teachings of the ancients can help both students and teachers notice details of the method and refresh their practice spirit. If you are working with a keyword with another teacher, consult… Read more

  The main point of this post is the importance of continuing to work the edge of life-death with the keyword  (e.g., 無, mu/no) even when it gets scary, even when it becomes a matter of letting go of life-death – that is, letting go of old fixed stances, of attachment to body-mind, and dropping body-mind. While digging into this point, though, a common issue arises – “I’m too dumb.” So I’ll address this issue as well, mixing it up… Read more