I gave this talk at our Full Moon Zen Sunrise Sit on April 10, 2024. A recording follows the text. This is an excerpt from a sutra in the Pali Canon: Monks, there are these three kinds of persons found existing in the world.  What three?  The person who is like a line etched in stone; the person who is like a line etched in the ground; and the person who is like a line etched in water. And what kind of person is like a line etched in stone?  Here, some person often gets angry, and his anger persists for a long time.  Just as a line etched in stone is not ..read more

I gave this talk yesterday at our Full Moon Zen Thursday evening sit. A recording follows the text. This is a passage from the Pali Canon: Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering. Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to re-becoming accompanied by ..read more

I gave this talk today at our Full Moon Zen Sunrise Sit. This is Case 3 in The Gateless Gate: Whenever Chu-Chih (J: Gutei) was asked a question, he simply raised one finger. One day a visitor asked Chu-Chih’s attendant what his master preached. The boy raised a finger. Hearing of this, Chu-Chih cut off the boy’s finger with a knife. As the boy ran from the room, Chu-Chih called to him. When the boy turned his head Chu-Chih raised a finger. The boy was suddenly enlightened. When Chu-Chih was about to die he said to his assembled monks, “I received this one finger Zen from T’ien-lung ..read more

Yesterday Full Moon Zen and Providence Zen Center held a joint retreat at PZC, with about 30 people participating. The theme was Two Traditions, One Family. The late Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, who founded the Kwan Um school of Zen (and PZC as its primary center in North America), and the late Japanese Zen Master Taizan Maezumi, who founded the White Plum Asanga, our lineage, were good friends. Yesterday’s retreat was both a tribute to their friendship and an expression of the abiding friendship between our two Zen families. Yesterday we juxtaposed many of each Zen stream’s forms (chants, ko ..read more

I gave this talk at our Full Moon Zen sit on Thursday, February 1, 2024. A close friend of mine who began practicing a secularized form of mindfulness meditation a couple of years told me last week that he’s become more curious about what he’s been doing.  He has settled into the practice he took up, but that practice is unrelated to any tradition, any historical or social context, that situates it and offers a broader perspective and supportive scaffolding.  He has questions about what he’s doing and experiencing that his meditation coach, who mainly works with companies and busines ..read more

I gave this talk this morning at our Full Moon Zen Sunrise Sit. A recording follows the text. Today is Rōhatsu, when Zen Buddhists celebrate Siddhartha Guatama’s enlightenment. Rōhatsu simply means “the eight day of the twelfth month” in Japanese. Earlier this week, in anticipation of this talk, I reread accounts of the Buddha’s enlightenment in two important compilations of Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon (which is the most complete compilation of early Buddhist scriptures) and a newer translation of the Zen text Records of Transmission of the Lamp (which is an 11th century Chinese compilation ..read more

I gave this short talk at our Full Moon Zen sunrise sit on October 18, 2023. This is a koan included in Genjōkōan, one of the essays in Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō: Ma-ku Pao-ch’e was fanning himself one day when a monk came and asked, “The nature of the wind is abiding and universally present.  Why do you still use your fan?” The teacher’s answer was, “You know only the nature of the wind as abiding; you do not yet know the truth of its being universally present.” The monk said, “What is the truth of its being universally present?” The teacher only fanned himself without a word. And the monk salu ..read more

I gave this talk on November 11, 2023, during our Full Moon Zen sesshin. A recording follows the text. This is Case 98 in The Blue Cliff Record: While on pilgrimage, Tianping visited Xiyuan. He was always saying, “Don’t say you have understood Buddhism. There is no one who can have a dharma dialogue with me or examine me.” One day Xiyuan saw him at a distance and called to him, “Come here, Congyi.” Tianping raised his head. Xiyuan said, “Wrong!” Tianping went on for two or three steps. Xiyuan said, “Wrong!” Tianping turned and came closer. Xiyuan said, “I have just said, ‘Wrong’ twice. Is it I ..read more

I gave this brief encouragement talk on Friday, November 10th, during a Full Moon Zen sesshin. Our theme was “wandering” and the text we examined is Case 98 in the Blue Cliff Record: While on pilgrimage, Tianping visited Xiyuan. He was always saying, “Don’t say you have understood Buddhism. There is no one who can have a dharma dialogue with me or examine me.” One day Xiyuan saw him at a distance and called to him, “Come here, Congyi.” Tianping raised his head. Xiyuan said, “Wrong!” Tianping went on for two or three steps. Xiyuan said, “Wrong!” Tianping turned and came closer. Xiyuan said, “I ..read more

I gave Dharma transmission (Denbo) to Fran Jindō Ludwig on Saturday, November 4th, having given Fran Preceptor transmission (Denkai) a bit earlier.  Dharma transmission is the process by which one becomes a Zen teacher. Roshi Kevin Jiun Hunt and Roshi Cindy Kin Ryu Taberner and Zen Master Tan Gong (a guiding teacher of the Providence Zen Center in the Kwan Um school) were present for the Denbo ceremony, as were about 15 members of our sangha.  Two pictures from this happy occasion are attached. Fran lives in Connecticut and is actively involved in our Full Moon Zen sangha b ..read more