Here’s the recording of the Moon in Reflected in the Water Genjokoan 100 Days Webinar #6. Click here (and when it gets going, select View and Video). Here are some questions I ask in the webinar that you, dear reader/viewer/practitioner (etc.), are invited to respond to as well: What have you received so far that stands out for you now?What aspect of this engages you?What’s your best question about what we’ve covered so far?What still needs to be addressed? Read more

Last night at the study group we started with capping phrases as usual. I shared this audio clip of Alan Ginsberg singing the Gospel of the Fourth Truths (click here) that Mark had brought for me the week before (about the same day that Barry posted Alan’s tune over at OxHerding). One practitioner playfully (I think) challenged me for using somebody else’s offering as my own capping phrase. That’s the life of a so-called zen teacher. Anyway, we finished up... Read more

http://www.divshare.com/flash/playlist?myId=8977219-6c0 Here’s another clip of Katagiri Roshi talking about the firewood and ash simile from the Genjokoan – a nice little summary of his teaching on the Universal Marketplace and really living this great life. Katagiri’s dharma name was Great Patience – Dainin. Opening up the Writers Almanac this morning, I find this poem that fits here too: Patience by Kay Ryan Patience iswider than oneonce envisioned,with ribbonsof riversand distantranges andtasks undertakenand finishedwith modestrelish bynatives in theirnative dress.Who wouldhave guessedit... Read more

“Truly experience the all-inclusive activity of life…,” says Bokusan in commenting on the firewood and ash simile of the Genjokoan. Reading the commentary of this 19th century Soto Zen teacher, what strikes me again and again is his insistence on realization. Somehow in the 20th century, much of Soto Zen seems to have taken a turn away from this emphasis. That brings me to the Ten Ox-herding Pictures, a wisdom-development system that’s been around in various forms for about a... Read more

Here’s the webinar from this morning. We talked more about the firewood and ash simile in the context of the oneness of experience and application, the “I won’t say alive, won’t say dead” koan in terms of protecting that which cannot be transmitted, and a Rumi poem about a women near the temple. Click here (and then go to View and Video). Please do jump into the conversation by posting a comment. Read more

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I learned a bunch on the way to getting these up! All due to forgetting to record. Thanks, Steve, for all your help. Read more

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Daido Loori, founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order, died this morning at about 7:30. The above photo is borrowed from Bernie Glassman’s remembrance. I first met Daido in about 1999 when he accepted an invitation to teach at the Zen Center I was running. Years before I had become acquainted with his taped teachings. In those days I had a consultant-type job with the schools and listened to maybe a hundred of his talks during a several year period... Read more