Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
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Patheos is the world's leading multi-faith site dedicated hosting the conversation on faith. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! At Patheos, Buddhist Dosho Port writes his blog Wild Fox Zen.
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
9M ago
I’ll get right to the point here – if you buy one Zen book this year, this would be my strong recommendation. Harada Tangen Rōshi (1924-2018) was one of the few truly great Zen masters that I’ve met. Meeting Roshi-sama, as he is called by his students, and training with him at Bukkokuji, changed my ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
9M ago
This is a heads-up for you that we now have a new Vine of Obstacles Zen website on a platform called Ghost that combines the website for our training group and my many writings. This new post, for example, Fishing With A Straight Hook: Messing With Katagiri Roshi, is open for all of those who ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
9M ago
Dogen Zenji famously said that to study the buddha way is to study the self. This post concludes a series of translations and commentaries that dig directly into that point. And the koan that is unpacked below points directly to this “I” consciousness (aka, manas or seventh consciousness) that Dogen was referring to. ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
11M ago
In this post, I’m concluding the series of re-edits of Hakuun Yasutani Roshi’s (1885–1973 – pictured above) comments on the main case of Record of Going Easy (J., Shoyoroku), Case 11 Yunmen’s Two Illnesses, inserting my translation of the case into his commentary. The original version of Yasutani Roshi’s commentary that ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
11M ago
Zen students sometimes seem to think that Zen is a passive process. One just sits and the magic happens. Nonsense! And Sōtō students sometimes dismiss wholehearted application of the method by attributing “hair on fire” training to Rinzai Zen. Double nonsense!! Here’s a bit from the Cáodòng/Sōtō master Wànsōng – his preface to Record of ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
1y ago
I recently posted just the verse for this old case, along with my thank-you message for April for Patreon subscribers. Below you will find the full case in all it’s glory. But first a bit of background. The issue of sound and color is one that comes up a lot in the Zen tradition, because ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
1y ago
The Record of the Transmission of Illumination (J. Denkoroku) by Keizan Jokin Zenji (1264-1325) is one of the most important dharma texts available to us today – so important that the great master Harada Sogaku Roshi (1871-1961) chose it for his reformed koan curriculum. In a recent post, I shared Keizan’s sudden awakening (J., satori ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
1y ago
Sudden, great awakening is the life blood of the Zen school, both Soto and Rinzai. In this post, I’ll share one such great awakening – that of the important Soto ancestor, Keizan Jokin Zenji (1264-1325) – and make a few comments. May awakening stories like this one inspire your process to awaken fully and live ..read more
Patheos Blog » Wild Fox Zen
1y ago
Intimate friendship is such an important aspect of the Zen Way. In the dharma context, an intimate friend (知音, J. “chi-on”) is someone who really gets your music – and vice versa. Such a person can be a peer or a teacher. For more about intimate friends, see Going Through the Mystery’s One Hundred Questions ..read more