Zenkai (October 8, 2017) with Leland Shields
Beginners who are interested in Zen and experienced Zen students are welcome. Schedule 8:15am Work period 9:00am Opening, Five Remembrances, Zazen 9:35am Zazen 10:00am Dharma talk 11:00am Zazen 12:00pm Informal lunch (Soup will be provided. Please bring food to share.) 1:00pm Sutras 1:30am Zazen, Interviews 2:50pm Closing, Great Vows
read moreTalks by Lee and Madelon during the In-City Retreat, July 7-9, 2017
Observing: A Midsummer Retreat – A talk by Madelon Bolling, (July 9, 2017) To be clear and tranquil about the end of “me” I need to be clear and tranquil about what “me” is, and in general there is a lot of confusion on this point. We often hear teachers say, “you are not what you think you are.” But then what? The mind says, “Oh yeah, yeah—all beings without exception have Buddha nature, I’ve heard. Whatever that means—it’s sort of beyond what I can get.” And it pulls attention back into cloud-identified dreaming. Read full talk....
read moreTwo-Day Zen Retreat with Jack Duffy (August 12-13, 2017)
Three Treasures Sangha is hosting a two-day retreat with Jack Duffy Roshi at Dharma Gate zendo on August 12-13. 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,...
read moreSeven-Day Zen Retreat (Sesshin) with Jack Duffy (September 9-16, 2017)
Three Treasures Sangha holds two, seven-day meditation retreats (Sesshins) each year at Mountain Lamp, a rural practice center near Bellingham, Washington. See our Sesshin page for more information.
read moreObserving: A Midsummer Retreat – A talk by Madelon Bolling, (July 9, 2017)
The predecessor of this midsummer retreat was called “Ancient Bones.” They say it was discontinued because fewer and fewer people could attend at all. Even with allowances for our limitations, it had become too arduous for those with ancient bones. I bought pre-paid cremation services for my dad a couple weekends ago and we scattered my brother-in-law’s ashes on the Fourth of July. We’re all of us facing death from the instant we are born. We can’t face away from it since it is part of life itself. Death is seen as an end,...
read moreGoing to Abandoned Grassy Places – Introduction to long walking meditation (July 8, 2017)
The purpose of going to abandoned grassy places and doing zazen is to search for our self-nature. Now, at such a moment, where is your self-nature? This is the outdoor dojo. Unlike the indoor dojo: NO BELLS NO STRICT TIMING we rise and settle like geese – each alert to the others NO LOOKING INWARD INSTEAD, we walk in continuous attention to the moving intersection of time and space: where PAST meets FUTURE INSIDE meets OUTSIDE . . . at the constantly moving intersection of NOWHERE (now-here) Staying with clear heart and open mind...
read morePurify – Already Pure, A Talk by Leland Shields (July 8, 2017)
In Red Pine’s translation of the Platform Sutra, it begins with these words of Hui neng and then those of a narrator within the text: “Good friends, purify your minds by reciting the teaching of Mahaprajnaparamita.” Then the Master stopped speaking, while he purified his own mind. (Red Pine, The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teachings of Hui-neng, 2006, p. 73) This can be a simple introduction, including a moment of Zazen meditation, or chanting one of the Prajnaparamita Sutras silently or out loud. The Prajnaparamita sutras are the Diamond...
read moreIn-City Supported Personal Retreat (July 7 – 9, 2017)
With Madelon Bolling and Lee Shields Many of us have regimented lives, with infrequent opportunities to ask, with an open mind, how we might deepen practice. Traditionally, Zen training included disciplined training periods alternating with periods of greater free time or travel, even as the spirit and dedication of practice continued. A personal retreats has potential for profound richness in its time, and taken home thereafter. And a personal retreat has its own challenge of practice – with a release of aspects of form, how do you express...
read moreZenkai May 14th, 2017 with Lee Shields
In the talk, Lee will look at the koan, “Tung Shan’s No Cold or Heat,” and how our practice addresses suffering as it shows up in our lives and relationships. Beginners who are interested in Zen and experienced Zen students are welcome. Schedule 8:15am Work period 9:00am Opening, Five Remembrances, Zazen 9:35am Zazen 10:00am Dharma talk 11:00am Zazen 12:00pm Informal lunch (Soup will be provided. Please bring food to share.) 1:00pm Sutras 1:30am Zazen, Interviews 2:50pm Closing, Great...
read moreZenkai (June 11, 2017) with Madelon Bolling
Beginners who are interested in Zen and experienced Zen students are welcome. Schedule 8:15am Work period 9:00am Opening, Five Remembrances, Zazen 9:35am Zazen 10:00am Dharma talk 11:00am Zazen 12:00pm Informal lunch (Soup will be provided. Please bring food to share.) 1:00pm Sutras 1:30am Zazen, Interviews 2:50pm Closing, Great Vows
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