http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf Read more

Here’s a talk I gave last month in Omaha at the Nebraska Zen Center that works with “Wu-men’s Cautions” and is intended to put us in a corner where we cannot move an inch (as Katagiri Roshi used to say) – and even Amnesty International cannot help. This is also the point from which the whole world opens up. http://www.divshare.com/flash/audio_embed?data=YTo2OntzOjU6ImFwaUlkIjtzOjE6IjQiO3M6NjoiZmlsZUlkIjtpOjEyNjk1OTIwO3M6NDoiY29kZSI7czoxMjoiMTI2OTU5MjAtZTEwIjtzOjY6InVzZXJJZCI7aToxODg5NzUzO3M6MTI6ImV4dGVybmFsQ2FsbCI7aToxO3M6NDoidGltZSI7aToxMjg2OTczOTAxO30=&autoplay=default Read more

Click here for Venn diagrams and other little doodles with an attitude. Thanks, Steve, for sending this. Read more

 Read more

My first take on this book (click here) was that the intended audience was beginning dharma students. It might be also be good, I thought, as a holiday gift for friends and relatives to help explain practice in a straightforward, contemporary, and friendly (non-weird) manner.  But as I’ve read along, I came to appreciate that Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel has constructed a very intelligent book with several beginning practice themes served up first (i.e., the middle way, oneness, and no words) and... Read more

I’m back from being up north for the funeral of my dad’s next-older brother.  I was quite moved by the service, especially when my uncle’s grandkids got up and spoke about how generous and loving he was and how he was their hero and role model.  The power point slide show with hundreds of family photos from the 1920’s through today, coordinated with country western music, was also a big hit.  My uncle lived a varied life, serving in WWII,... Read more

Once upon a time in ancient India, about when Christ was born a few thousand miles to the west, a woman dreamed of a great spirit holding a mirror. When she awoke she was pregnant and in just seven days she gave birth to a son, Jayashata.  It is said that his skin was clear like crystal but most surprisingly, a mirror was born together with him. This mirror followed him wherever he went and yet his form was not... Read more

First off, the above isn’t me … my refrigerator has a lot more in it and I’ve got fifteen years on the dude. The Question Trevor put forward on his comment to my post about monastic practice for Zen priests has been dinging around for a couple days. “Is this enough? And how would one tell if it is enough?” Trevor has been a monastic and resident in various Zen shops for about 6.5 years and is now looking for... Read more

You might be surprised to learn that many Zen priests in West haven’t done monastic practice and that a number haven’t done a seven-day sesshin.  Some people with dharma transmission have done hundreds of sesshin and years of monastic practice. Others have worked through hundreds of koans and/or studied the Shobogenzo exhaustively. Some have not. Dharma transmission is completely up to a teacher who has received dharma transmission so the range of training among those with dharma transmission varies widely,... Read more

I’m off to Omaha tomorrow for a weekend sesshin and looking forward to seeing Nonin and his students. In June, I forgot my oryoki (major Zen teacher faux pas). And come to think of it, when I went to the Boundless Way sesshin in July I forgot to bring a napkin and the only replacement I could find was a white cloth with big bright carrots and tomatoes. I got to feel a little silly at every meal. So my... Read more