Left to right, Madelon, Lee
Lotus Flowers and Lotus Leaves – A Talk by Leland Shields (July 13, 2024)
A monk asked Chih Men, “How is it when the lotus flower has not yet emerged from the water?” Chih Men said, “A Lotus flower.” The monk said, “What about after it has emerged from the water?” Men said, “Lotus leaves.” (Translation) Thomas Cleary, Blue Cliff Record, p. 139. The story of an unnamed monk asking two questions of Chi Men comes to us from ancient China in the concise language that was the style of Zen then and now. This exchange is not so foreign or far away, though. It is ours this...
read moreHow do you realize the realm where no wisdom can reach? – A Talk by Leland Shields (June 9, 2024)
Upon meeting Shitou, Daowu asked, “By what method do you reveal liberating wisdom to people?” Shitou said, “There are no slaves here. From what do you seek liberation?” Daowu said, “How can it be understood?” Shitou said, “So you’re still trying to grasp emptiness?” Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings, by Andrew Ferguson. (Please sit comfortably) Tianhuang Daowu is you, and is me in this story, as we meet the inseparable condition of being already liberated, and not yet realizing the fact. At this moment we are completely...
read moreZen Talks from the 2024 Spring Sesshin
Relinquish Yourself, a talk be Lee Shields Not Wind, Not Flag, a talk be Lee Shields Wanderring Among the Poor, a talk be Lee Shields Voice of the Bird, a talk by Madelon Bolling The Zazen of the Mahayana, a talk be Lee Shields Blinded by Gold Dust, a talk be Lee Shields
read moreBlinded by Gold Dust – A Talk by Leland Shields (April 5, 2024)
One day the Counselor Wang visited…Master [Lin-chi]. When he met the Master in front of the Monk’s Hall, he asked: “do the monks of this monastery read the sutras?” “No, they don’t read sutras,” said the Master. “Then do they learn meditation?” asked the Counselor. “No, they don’t learn meditation,” answered the Master. “If they neither read sutras nor learn meditation, what in the world are they doing?” asked the Counselor. “All I do is make them become buddhas and patriarchs,” said the Master. The Counselor said: “Though gold dust is...
read moreThe Zazen of the Mahayana – A Talk by Leland Shields (April 6, 2024) – Sesshin Day 5
For all of us children of wealthy homes wandering among the poor, let’s return to Hakuin’s, “Song of Zazen,” Tuesday we left off on this verse: Lost on dark paths of ignorance, we wander through the Six Worlds; from dark path to dark path we wander — when shall we be freed from birth and death? Hakuin then changes course without answering when or if we will be freed– he turns instead to zazen. Oh, the zazen of the Mahayana! To this the highest praise! Devotion, repentance, training, The many Paramitas — all have their source in...
read moreVoice of the Bird, A Talk by Madelon Bolling (April 4, 2024)
Voice of the Bird for sesshin, April 2024. Asan of Shinano lived in Japan in the eighteenth century. She was a sincere student who meditated assiduously. One morning, drifting in and out of sleep and struggling to stay present to her koan, she heard a rooster crow. Her mind suddenly opened, and she exclaimed: The fields, the mountains, the flowers, and my body, too, are the voice of the bird. What is left that could be said to hear? [From Dongshan’s Five Ranks (Bolleter), p.101.] PSC Chinese Zen master Seng-Tsan noted in the...
read moreA Rich Man Wandering Among the Poor, A Talk by Leland Shields (April 3, 2024)
All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha. How sad that people ignore the near and search for truth afar: like someone in the midst of water crying out in thirst; like a child of a wealthy home wandering among the poor. (Hakuin, “Song of Zazen”) Hakuin begins “The Song of Zazen” with a clear statement: all beings are Buddha. As clear as it is, when in doubt we can still equivocate – who or what is Buddha after all? Aren’t we supposed to slay any...
read moreNot the Wind, Not the Flag, A Talk by Leland Shields (April 2, 2024)
Case 29 of the Gateless Barrier: Hui-neng: “Not the Wind; Not the Flag” Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind. One said, “The flag moves.” The other said, “The wind moves.” They argued back and forth but could not agree. The Sixth Ancestor said, “Gentlemen! It is not the wind that moves; it is not the flag that moves; it is your mind that moves.” The two monks were struck with awe. Aitken, Robert. The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan) (p. 228). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition. Step back. Watch...
read moreRelinquish Yourself – A Talk by Leland Shields (April 1, 2024)
Daito Kokushi’s Admonition Oh you [monastics] who are in this mountain monastery, remember you are gathered here for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of clothes and food. As long as you have shoulders you will have clothes to wear. As long as you have a mouth you will have food to eat. Be ever mindful throughout the [twenty-four] hours of the day, to apply yourself to the Unthinkable. Time passes like an arrow, never let your mind be disturbed by worldly cares. Ever, ever be on the look out…Oh [monastics], be diligent, be diligent....
read moreWhat Are We Really, A Talk by Madelon Bolling
What are we, really? The Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng said, Good friends! You already possess the prajna wisdom of enlightenment! . . . Buddha nature isn’t different for the ignorant and the wise . . . (Platform Sutra, section 12) Now, how can that be? You mean, we ignorant folk have the prajna wisdom of enlightenment? Already? Kodo Sawaki said, Zazen is becoming a Buddha while you are a deluded person. So what does that look like? In an online message, Henry Shukman once referred to “A sense of being held by all experience.” By becoming...
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