April ’23 Thank You! Here’s my less-than-four-minute video about what’s been happening at Dosho Port@Patreon, what’s coming up, and a little about a $9,000 three-day mindfulness retreat that I have not been invited to teach at. Oh, and it’s in Cancun. This is NOT an April Fool’s Day gag. For readers of this Wild Fox Zen blog, above is my monthly appeal for your support. You can be a Patreon subscriber for $9 a month. I dual post most of... Read more
In sunshine, the solitary peak is green; under the gaze of the moon, the valley stream is cold. Read more
"Intimately know, intimately loosen thoughts, and for now cut them off, sit, and look!" Read more
Below you will find a dharma talk by an incredible (and largely unknown) Zen master, Miàodào Dǐngguāng (1095-1170), one of only three women Zen masters listed in Outline of the Linked Flames, a transmission of illumination collection published in 1183. Miàodào had been a student of the Cáodòng (J. Sōtō) master Zhenxie Qingliao (1088-1151; Tall Reeds Purity Field; J. Choro Seiryō), but after twenty years of training had not awakened. She switched teachers and began working with the Línjì master... Read more
In this post, you’ll find a selection from Going Through the Mystery’s One Hundred Questions. Also, a few years back, while I was in the midst of translating and commenting on these old cases, I gave a talk about this and included some excerpts from the awakening story of an incredible awakened woman from the 20th century, Yaeko Iwasaki. You can find the unedited version in The Three Pillars of Zen, “Part VI Yaeko Iwasaki’s Enlightenment Letters to Harada-roshi and... Read more
This week in our Vine of Obstacle Zen practice period, we are studying the 46th ancestor, Danxia Zichun (丹霞子淳, Vermillion Mist Pure Child; J. Tanka Shijun; 1064–1117) through Keizan’s Record of the Transmission of Illumination. In this post, I’ll give you a tiny bit of background about Danxia and then quote one passage from his teaching that Tetsugan Sensei and I touched on in our dharma talk on Sunday, but here I’ll quote Danxia more fully. Click here to support... Read more
We’re deep into winter here at the Neyaashi Zen Hermitage. Intense cold and clarity follow the big storm that swept through much of the country last week, and we’re looking at forecasts for more snow this week. What better time for the Iron Grindstone?! Iron Grindstone Liú (9th century) was a successor of the great Guīshān. One morning, she met her teacher … and we’re still talking about what unfolded today. The incident became a kōan that is included in... Read more
In this dharma talk from February 19, 2023, I discuss Question 40 from Going Through the Mystery’s One Hundred Questions and along the way include an episode from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” from 1964 as well as a story about a visit to a fortune teller and asking if I will realize awakening. See below for the excerpt from the text. Click here for much more about Going Through the Mystery’s One Hundred Questions. 40 Who can escape Yangqi’s diamond trap?... Read more
Introduction Because this Dōgen dharma discourse (hōgo) in Eihei kōroku V8.14 was written for householders, includes examples of awakened householders, and offers instructions for householders, I’ve long been curious about it. After all, 99% or so of those engaged in Zen practice now are householders, yet much of the Zen narrative has monastics as the central figures and the instruction also seems directed to monastics. So I recently dug into this Dōgen teaching for householders, translating my own version. You’ll find... Read more
In the fall, I met with Rick McDaniel for an interview for his new book, Further Zen Conversations. Rick has published a bunch of really good books about Zen in recent years (click here for more). He’s such a skilled interviewer that I encouraged him to start a podcast (but that’s not his thing). His reason for wanting to talk with me this time was what we’re doing with the Vine of Obstacles Zen, but to get warmed up, I... Read more
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