Left to right, Madelon, Lee
Using the Mind to Seek the Mind — Isn’t That a Great Mistake? A Talk by Leland Shields – November 14, 2021
(This is taken from a passage in…) Verse of the Faith-Mind …Using the mind to seek the mind — isn’t that a great mistake? (Attributed to Chien-Chih Seng-ts’an], d. 606) Case 37 of the Gateless Barrier: The Oak Tree in Front of the Garden A monk asked Chao-Chou in all earnestness, “What is the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West?” Chao-Chou said, “The oak tree in the front of the garden.” (Robert Aitken, The Gateless Barrier, page 226) Case 43 of the Gateless Barrier: Shou-shan’s Short Bamboo Staff The priest...
read moreTaking Refuge in the Dharma a talk by Leland Shields – October 10, 2021
In our sutra service, we chant: I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the Dharma; I take refuge in the Sangha. In June I spoke of taking refuge in the Buddha – taken from the chant in our sutra book titled, “Ti-Sarana,” Pali for “three refuges.” As I said in June, the refuges or jewels are used in the initiation ceremonies of the various Buddhist traditions. Thus, they are an expression of participation in, and application of the way that we have come to call Buddhism. Today I’d like to talk about taking refuge in the Dharma. The...
read moreRefuge In the Buddha – a Talk by Leland Shields, June 13, 2021
In our sutra service, we chant: I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the Dharma; I take refuge in the Sangha. And in Pali as: Buddham saranam gacchami; dhammam saranam gacchami; sangham saranam gacchami. In our sutra book this chant is titled, “Ti-Sarana,” Pali for “three refuges.” The same chant can be found with the title, “Ratanattaya,” Pali for the three jewels, or three treasures.[1] The refuges or jewels are used in the initiation ceremonies of the various Buddhist traditions. In that context, I take them to be an expression of...
read moreNothing to Attain – a talk by Madelon Bolling
Case 19, The Gateless Barrier Zhaozhou asked Nanquan, “What is the Dao?” Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is the Dao.” Zhaozhou asked, “Should I direct myself toward it or not?” Nanquan said, “If you try to direct yourself you turn against it.” Zhaozhou asked, “How can I know the Dao if I do not direct myself?” Nanquan said, “The Dao is not subject to knowing or not knowing. Knowing is delusion; not knowing is blankness. When you really reach the Dao beyond doubt, it is as vast and boundless as space. How could affirmation and negation persist?”...
read moreTung-shan’s Crossed Swords – a talk by Leland Shields, March 7, 2021
Within Tung-shan’s Five Ranks is this verse titled, “Proceeding Within Phenomena”: Like two crossed swords, neither permitting retreat;dexterously wielded, like the lotus in the midst of fire -a natural imperative to assail heaven itself. Robert Aitken, The Morning Star, p. 139. Tung-shan Liang-chieh (also translated as Dongshan Liangjie) was a Tang dynasty teacher recognized as the founder of the Ts’ao-tung, Soto, line of Zen. He left us two series of 5 verses each. The first set of verses expresses modes of the fundamental world we share....
read morehands and eyes – a talk by Madelon Bolling
The Blue Cliff Record, case 89: Yunyan asked Daowu, “How does the Bodhisattva Guanyin use those many hands and eyes?” Daowu answered, “It is like someone in the middle of the night reaching behind her head for the pillow.” Yunyan said, “I understand.” Daowu asked, “How do you understand it?” Yunyan said, “All over the body are hands and eyes.” Daowu said, “That is very well expressed, but it is only eight-tenths of the answer.” Yunyan said, “How would you say it, Elder Brother?” Daowu said, “Throughout the body are hands and eyes.” “How does...
read moreWhy Does it Come to This? / I Vow to Free – A Talk Given by Lee Shields, October 11, 2020
After the sittings on Friday mornings, the koan that has been shared recently is case 98 from The Record of Tung-shan (Dongshan) that goes like this: One time when the Master was washing his bowls, he saw two birds contending over a frog. A monk who also saw this asked, “Why does it come to that?” The Master replied, “It’s only for your benefit, Acarya.” Before sitting on Wednesday evenings, we have taken up the translations of the first of the Four Infinite vows, also known as the Bodhisattva Vows. The Mountain Lamp version is: All beings...
read moreDahui, Swampland Flowers: 9 Enlightenment and Delusion (a talk by Lee Shields, September 7, 2020)
Dahui, Swampland Flowers: 9 Enlightenment and Delusion In the last paragraph of lecture 9 of the Swampland Flowers, Dahui directed us with the following: If you want to cut directly through, don’t entertain doubts about buddhas and ancestral teachers, or doubts about birth and death – just always let go and make your heart empty and open. When things come up, then deal with them according to the occasion. Be like the stillness of the water, like the clarity of a mirror, (so that) whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly approach, you don’t make...
read moreThis Moment – A Talk by Madelon Bolling – June 14, 2020
A monk asked, “What is the essential meaning of Buddhism?” Mazu said, “What is the meaning of this moment?” (Ferguson, p. 76) Our world has changed so radically that ordinary routines don’t work any more or are not available. Like any other living thing, when the old ways don’t work, we try to meet our needs in new ways. Deprived of overhead light, an upright tree will begin reaching sideways, growing a new shape. We talk a lot about sudden radical change and unpredictability under the current threats of death, destruction, disease,...
read moreEncouragement for Windblown Plum Home-Based Intensive — a talk by Leland Shields, April 5, 2020
The phrase, “never apart from this very place” takes on new relevance as we are in lockdown for Covid-19, each practicing in our own homes, our own quiet rooms. This week is a chance to truly bring practice home, to the place before we were born, and to the home in which we sleep, cook, clean, and many of us now work. This bizarre practice, assisted by the technology that has existed for only moments within the span of the Buddha-Dharma, is not a backup or compromise. It is the only practice. It is sesshin, without need to parse definitions...
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