Nothing in The World — a talk by Leland Shields (September 16, 2025)
Listen to the talk Blue Cliff Record 37 Panshan’s Three Worlds – No Dharma Panshan gave words of instruction saying, “In the three worlds there is no Dharma. Where shall we search for the mind?” (translation: Aitken- Foster) We are settling into the sesshin schedule, the ritual, and zazen. What better place to be on this day, than here with Panshan. In his translation of the koan, Nelson Foster added a note, saying that in Buddhism, there are several meanings to the phrase, “The three worlds”: the worlds of delusion – greed, anger, and ignorance; past, present, and future;...
Read MoreBuddha-nature: A Talk by Madelon Bolling (September 15, 2025)
“If all sentient beings possess the buddha-nature . . . then why must people develop the aspiration for awakening and vigorously engage in austerities in order to realize this truth?” Dogen “[A]wakening is the paradigm of total, unreserved, and artless self-surrender.” C. W. Huntington Jr. “A Pathless Land” Tricycle magazine Aug. 31, 2025 Buddhist traditions claim that the nature of Mind is free, open, and pure awareness. Well, that’s capital “M” Mind, whereas what I’m using now is mostly small “m” mind. I always wondered how we get from here to there. I certainly don’t relate to my mind in...
Read More“No Body” Breaks a Toe — A talk by Leland Shields (September 14, 2025)
Listen to the talk A monk was walking along a path, chanting the Heart Sutra. He accidentally kicked a stone, broke his toe and shouted out in pain. As he did so, the line in the Heart Sutra spontaneously came to mind, “no body.” With this, body and mind dropped away. The related passage from the Heart Sutra is this one: Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, no color, sound, scent, taste, touch, thought; no seeing and so on to no thinking; no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance, and so...
Read MoreFully Engaging Body and Mind — A Talk by Madelon Bolling (May 11, 2025)
There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth; Indeed, it has no form, much less a name; Eyes fail to see it; it has no voice for ears to detect. To call it Mind or Buddha violates its nature, For it then becomes like a visionary flower in the air. It is not Mind, nor Buddha; Absolutely quiet and yet illuminating in a mysterious way, It allows itself to be perceived only by the clear-eyed. It is Dharma, truly beyond form and sound; It is Tao, having nothing to do with words. (Dai-O Kokushi: On Zen) PSC We do not exist as separate beings. All our efforts to rid ourselves of ego are...
Read MoreNo Persons – a Talk by Madelon Bolling (July 14, 2024)
Changqing addressed the monks, saying, “If I truly expound the vehicle of our school, then I should simply close the door to the Dharma hall. Therefore I’ll just say that in the inexhaustible Dharma there are no persons.” 1 PSC As we continue to see one another in zenkai, or at Zoom sitting practice on weekday mornings, gardening once a month on a Saturday, one thing becomes clearer and clearer. No matter our current age and condition, we are all getting older. And here and there, one by one, without exception, we will all die. As much as we may wish otherwise, our bodies and those...
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