Zen Practice: What About Thinking? – a talk by Madelon Bolling
Zen Practice: What About Thinking? In Zazen Universally Recommended, Dogen says: Think without thoughts. How do you think without thoughts? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. I am assuming that at least some here besides me wrestle with this unwieldy thing called thinking? If not, please just enjoy the story. Some years ago there was a gathering here at Dharma Gate where we were invited to ask practice questions. At last! I thought, and I asked how to deal with thoughts when sitting zazen. One of the senior students, triumphantly quoted Dogen: “Think without...
Read MoreOn Divisiveness – a talk by Madelon Bolling
On Divisiveness Everywhere the fog has blown away revealing what I have been unwilling to acknowledge. Separateness is fiction. In Dai-O Kokushi’s On Zen, we recite, “There is a reality even prior to Heaven and Earth,” Heaven and Earth being the spiritual and material realms, respectively. But this line affirms that there is a reality, a condition of possibility underlying what we call "spiritual" and what we call "material." Saying this reality is prior means it gives rise both to what we call spiritual and what we call material. This reality prior to...
Read MoreTwo-Day Zen Retreat with Jack Duffy (November 12,13 , 2016)
Three Treasures Sangha is hosting a two-day retreat with Jack Duffy Roshi at Dharma Gate zendo on November 12-13th. Jack Duffy will give a talk each day and hold dokusan (practice-related interviews). Everyone is welcome even if you haven’t attended a Three Treasures Sangha retreat. If you’re looking for other opportunities to sit Zen with Three Treasures, check out our Calendar. For more information about this or other retreats, contact ttssangha@gmail.com. SCHEDULE Saturday, August 13th 8:15am — Work period 9:00am — Chanting 9:30am —...
Read MoreThe Practice of Mutual Support — Leland Shields, July 10, 2016
I’d like to start with a story from the Record of Lin-chi When Lin-chi was one of the assembly of monks under Huang-po, he was plain and direct in his behavior. The head monk praised him saying: “Though he’s a youngster, he is different from the other monks.” So he asked:” Shang-tso, how long have you been here?” “Three years,” replied Lin-chi. “Have you ever asked for instruction?” “No, I’ve never asked for instruction. I don’t know what to ask,” replied Lin-chi. “Why don’t you go ask the head Ho-shang of this temple just what the cardinal principle of the Buddha-dharma is?” said the head...
Read MoreThe Great Vows Project -A Talk by Larry Keil (June 12, 2016)
I wanted to share with you a project I have been working on for the past couple of months. This project is a rewording of the Great Vows for All. This came about when I was reading the Diamond Sangha newsletter and noticed that some of the teachers were looking at a rewording of the four great vows. I was not particularly taken with some of what they came up with, so wondered what words I might use if I rewrote the vows. This became an engaging task for me–trying to be as faithful as possible to the meaning of the original Chinese characters and yet using words more familiar and with...
Read MoreOne-Day Zen Retreat (Zazenkai) with talk by Larry Keil (June 12th, 2016)
Please join us for a day of sitting and a dharma talk. Larry will talk about the great vows and his personal project of rewording them a bit to resonate more closely with his own experiences. He hopes to keep the talking part short and then have a good discussion with time for whoever wants to contribute their wisdom. Schedule 9:00am Opening, Five Remembrances, Zazen 9:35am Zazen 10:30am Dharma talk by Larry 11:30am Zazen 12:00pm Informal lunch (Soup will be provided. Please bring food to share.No time to pull together food? – Come anyway.) 1:00pm Sutras 2:00pm Zazen, Interviews 2:50pm...
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