Left to right, Madelon, Lee
The Moon Brings Forth Two — Leland Shields — Intensive Day 6, April 15, 2022
In Dharma Hall Discourse 168, Dogen wrote this: The moon brings forth one, we pick up a brush and record it as good fortune. The moon brings forth two, the clear intention of the ancestral teachers. The moon brings forth three; a thousand ancient ones submit to Gautama. Although this is the case, is there a dragon or elephant here who can come forth and meet with Daibutsu’s staff? After a pause Dogen said, [Although the same fruit] it is called an orange in Huabei [north of the Huai River], and called a tangerine in Huainan [south of the Huai...
read moreAttention to Myriad Dharmas — Leland Shields, Intensive Day 5, April 14, 2022
Earlier in the retreat I presented Dogen’s often-repeated words from Actualizing the Fundamental Point: To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. Yasutani, Hakuun; (translation) Jaffe, Paul, Flowers Fall: A Commentary on Dogen’s Genjokoan, 1996. Now on the 5th day, please join me in forgetting the self, which is to...
read moreMadelon Bolling, No Self – Resistance and the Mind of War – Madelon Bolling, Intensive Day 4, April 13, 2022
In the opening of Fukanzazengi, Dogen wrote: Fundamentally speaking, the basis of the Way is perfectly pervasive . . . Surely the whole being is far beyond defilement . . . It is never apart from this very place . . . And yet, with just a hair’s breadth of distinction, the gap is like that between heaven and earth. Once the slightest like or dislike arises, all is confused and the mind is lost. Do you feel a squirmy sense of discomfort these days, a sense that I have to do something and I don’t know what to do? Maybe we chose to...
read moreNo Self – Embodied Self – Leland Shields, Intensive Day 3, April 12, 2022
Today I’d like to share some passages from Dogen’s Keisei Sanshoku “The Sounds of the Valley Streams, the forms of the Mountains.” Now with regard to your practice and vows, whether or not you have aroused the thought of enlightenment, whether or not you are practicing, do not let others know about it. Practice in such a way that it is not known. Never speak of it yourself. Dogen, Eihei; (translation) Cook, Francis Dojun. How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo (p. 75). Wisdom Publications. Kindle...
read moreNo Self – No separation – Leland Shields, Intensive Day 2, April 11, 2022
Dogen – Actualizing the Fundamental Point To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. The traces of enlightenment come to an end, and this traceless enlightenment is continued endlessly. When one starts to search out the dharma, one separates oneself far from the dharma. When the dharma has already been rightly...
read moreEvery Moment Zen – Leland Shields, Intensive Day 1, April 10, 2022
The sounds of the valley streams are his long, broad tongue; The forms of the mountains are his pure body. At night I heard the myriad sutra verses uttered How can I relate to others what they say? Dogen, Eihei; (translation) Cook, Francis Dojun. How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo (pp. 69-70). Wisdom Publications. Kindle Edition. As we begin a week of retreat, I’d like to emphasize every-minute Zen; reminding us all to attend to that which is here, with the simplest presence. Our discriminating minds...
read moreThe Three Marks of Existence — a talk by Madelon Bolling (March 13, 2022)
In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are Anicca (impermanence: everything changes, nothing lasts), Anatta (non-self: there is no permanent self in living beings and no abiding essence in phenomena), and Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness). It’s hard to wrap our usual mind around this pervasive statement of fact. But it’s no joke: all of existence is marked by Anicca (impermanence), Anatta (no self or abiding essence), and Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness). Anicca, Anatta, and Dukkha walked into a bar. They didn’t stay for long, had...
read moreJack Duffy talks on the works of Dogen; Steep Mountain Retreat
During the Steep Mountain Retreat, Jack gave 3 talks on the works of Dogen. Two talks on Dogen’s One Bright Pearl, which was actually a saying of Xuan-sha, and a talk on Xuan-sha’s Drainage Stream – that is, “Where can I enter practice? Do you hear the sound of the drainage stream? Yes. Enter right there.” For audio records of the talks, click on these links below: One Bright Pearl – The Drainage Stream Part 1 One Bright Pearl – The Drainage Stream Part 2 One Bright Pearl – The Drainage Stream Part 3...
read moreDo Nothing – a talk by Leland Shields – February 13, 2022
Master Yunmen mentioned the following anecdote: When Yunyan was sweeping the floor, Daowu said to him: “What good is so much petty effort? Yunyan replied: “You ought to know that there is one who doesn’t [make such a useless effort]!” Daowu said: “Well, that’s already a second moon!” Yunyan held up his broom and said: “Which moon is this?” Dauwu shook his sleeves and went out. Master Yunmen remarked: “When a slave meets his peer, they commiserate each other.” Yunmen, trans. Urs App, Master Yunmen, p. 195-6 Yunyan was engaged in...
read moreA Reality Even Prior . . . A Talk by Madelon Bolling
Blue Cliff Record, case 43 A monk asked Dongshan, “When cold and heat visit us, how should we avoid them?” Dongshan said, “Why not go where there is neither cold nor heat?” The monk asked, “Where is there neither cold nor heat?” Dongshan said, “When it is cold, the cold kills you. When it is hot, the heat kills you.” This is the start of a new year, our first zenkai in 2022. It’s so strange that even here, in this gathering dedicated to seeing through delusion, our most casual language...
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