Practice and Teaching – TTS and the Diamond Sangha — a talk by Leland Shields, June 8, 2025
Practice and Teaching – TTS and the Diamond Sangha Diamond Sangha Teachers Meeting, Ring of Bone, 2025 Leland Shields, June 8, 2025 I saw myself a ring of bone in the clear stream of all of it and vowed, always to be open to it that all of it might flow through and then heard “ring of bone” where ring is what a bell does – Lew Welch (1926-1971) Today I’d like to talk about the meeting of American Diamond Sangha teachers that I attended at the Ring of Bone Zendo in the rural foothills of the Sierra Nevada, northeast of Sacramento. The poem I read a moment ago is a...
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 MoreTalks from Twining Branches Sesshin, March 2025
Crack! Stone on Bamboo Pai-chang’s Fox He Just Acted as He Was
Read MorePai-chang’s Fox — A talk by Leland Shields — March 2025
Case 2 in the Gateless Barrier: Once when Pai-chang gave a series of talks, a certain old man was always there listening together with the monks. When they left, he would leave too. One day, however, he remained behind. Pai-chang asked him, “Who are you, standing here before me?” The old man replied, “I am not a human being. In the far distant past, in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, I was head priest at this mountain. One day a monk asked me, ‘Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?’ I replied, ‘Such a person does not fall under the law of cause and effect.’...
Read MoreCrack! Stone on Bamboo — a talk by Leland Shields — March 2025
Xiangyan’s Great Enlightenment Zen master Zhixian of Mount Xiangyan [Xideng] was bright in nature. Being at the assembly of Guishan, he was well learned and had extensive memory. Guishan one day said to Xiangyan, “Everything you say is what you’ve memorized from commentaries. Now I am going to ask you a question. When you were an infant—before you could even distinguish east from west—at that time, how was it?” Xiangyan spoke and presented his understanding, explaining the principle, but could not get approval. He went through the texts he had collected and studied, but he could not find an...
Read MoreHe Just Acted as He Was — a Talk by Leland Shields (January 12, 2025)
One day a monk asked Master [Qingyuan Xingsi ]: “What was Master Bodhidharma’s intention in coming to China from India?” [Qingyuan ] said: “He just acted as he was.” The monk said: “Would you tell me again what you just said right now in words that I can understand?” [Qingyuan ] said: “Come here!” The monk approached his master. [Qingyuan ] said: “Remember this clearly!” Gudo Wafu Nishijima , Master Dogen’s Shinji Shobogenzo; 301 Koan Stories, p. 17. This story is taken from Dogen’s Shinji Shobogenzo; 301 Koan Stories. Dogen compiled this collection without commenting on the stories, and...
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