October 21, 2014
“In order to be sure that a certain person is not present, you must know the absent person. Likewise, in order to be certain of the meaning of ‘selflessness’, or ‘the lack of intrinsic existence’, you must carefully identify the self, or intrinsic nature, that does not exist. For, if you do not have a clear concept of the object to be negated, you will also not have accurate knowledge of its negation.” -Tsongkhapa : Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
Samatha – Fire Kasina
90 minutes combined | 1.5 hours total
October 20, 2014
I see in the world
people with wealth
who, from delusion,
don’t make a gift
of the treasure they’ve gained.
Greedy, they stash it away,
hoping for even more
sensual pleasures.A king who, by force,
has conquered the world
and rules over the earth
to the edge of the sea,
dissatisfied with the ocean’s near shore,
longs for the ocean’s
far shore as well.Kings & others
— plenty of people —
go to death with craving
unabated. Unsated,
they leave the body behind,
having not had enough
of the world’s sensual pleasures.– Buddha, MN 82: Ratthapala Sutta
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
Samatha – Fire Kasina
90 minutes combined | 1.5 hours total
October 19, 2014
“There is no self residing in body and mind, but the cooperation of the conformation produces what people call a person. Paradoxical though it may seem, there is a path to walk on, there is walking to be done, but there is no traveler. There are deeds being done, but no doer. There is blowing of air, but no wind-god behind it doing the blowing. The thought of existing self is an error, and all existences are as hollow as the plantain tree and as empty as twirling water bubbles.” – Buddhaghosa
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Zen Center: Zazen, Kinhin, Zazen
Dokusan – Mu Koan
Heart Sutra, Bodhisattva Vows, Metta Sutta
Dharma Talk by Sensei
Prostrations
Precepts class with Sensei
Metta Bhavana to conclude the day
240 minutes combined | 4 hours total
October 18, 2014
One-day Sesshin
“You should know that this sudden teaching abandons the use of language to reveal the truth. How, then, can it be established as a teaching that can be expressed in words?” – Fazang
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Zazen, Kinhin, Zazen, Kinhin, Zazen, ad infinitum
Heart Sutra, Bodhisattva Vows, Metta Sutta
Dharma Talk by Sensei
Dokusan – Mu Koan
Prostrations
420 minutes combined | 7 hours total
October 17, 2014
“The equality of the Buddha’s preaching is like a rain of a single flavor, but depending upon the nature of the living being, the way in which it is received is not uniform, just as the various plants and trees each receive the moisture in a different manner.” – Lotus Sutra
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 16, 2014
“Set aside all involvements and let the myriad things rest. Zazen is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad. It is not conscious endeavour. It is not introspection. Do not desire to become a buddha; let sitting or lying down drop away. Be moderate in eating and drinking. Be mindful of the passing of time, and engage yourself in zazen as though you are saving your head from fire.” – Dogen Zenji
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 15, 2014
“(The metaphor of) comprehending a dream’s illusion means that the physical manifestations which our deluded minds consider to exist are under examination seen to be as unreal as a man conjured up by magic. The case is indeed like awaking from a night dream to the realization that everything in it was non-existent.” – Fazang
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 14, 2014
“To those who see [the world] clearly and properly, the separation between that which perceives and that which is perceived ceases; there is no such external world…When the Mind is agitated by habit-energy (or memory) there rises what appears to be an external world; when the dualistic imagination ceases there grows [transcendental] knowledge, the realm of suchness, the realm of the wise, which is free from appearances and beyond thought.” – Lankavatara Sutra
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
Metta Bhavana evening practice
120 minutes combined | 2 hours total
October 13, 2014
“Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.” – Dogen Zenji
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 12, 2014
“Like it or not, if you look at your own mind you will discover it is void and groundless; as insubstantial as empty space.” – Padmasambhava
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Zazen (concentration), Kinhin, Zazen (mindfulness), prostrations, Heart Sutra, Metta Sutta, Dharma talk.
Precepts class with Sensei
150 minutes combined | 2.5 hours total
October 11, 2014
“The mind does not perceive the mind. Just as a sword cannot cut itself, so it is with the mind. A lamp does not illuminate itself, for it is not concealed by darkness…Just as an illusion can be seen even though it does not truly exist, so it is with the observer, the mind.” – Shantideva
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Anapanasati for the morning
Vipassana/Shikantaza for the evening
120 minutes combined | 2 hours total
October 10, 2014
“That you carry yourself forward and experience the myriad things is delusion. That the myriad things come forward and experience themselves is awakening.” – Dogen Zenji
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 9, 2014
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.” – Ajahn Chah
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 8, 2014
Uposatha Observance
“The ocean is manifestly seen dancing in the state of waveness…As the waves appear instantly on the ocean, or [images] in a mirror or a dream, so the mind is reflected in its own sense-fields…” – Lankavatara Sutra
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Attha Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
Anapanasati
88 Prostrations, 88 Buddhas Repentance
Satipatthana
165 minutes combined | 2.75 hours total
October 7, 2014
“Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not the Way. The sky clears, the sun shines brightly; rain falls, the earth gets wet. He fully opens his heart and expounds the whole secret; but I fear he is little appreciated.” – Mumonkan
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 6, 2014
What language expresses is nonexistent.
The sphere of thought is nonexistent.
Unarisen and unceased, like nirvana
Is the nature of things.
Everything is real and is not real,
Both real and not real,
Neither real nor not real.
This is Lord Buddha’s teaching.
– Nagarjuna
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
30 minutes Metta Bhavana, 30 minutes Satipatthana Vipassana.
120 minutes combined | 2 hours total
October 5, 2014
“Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things. You will see many strange and wonderful things come and go, but you will be still. This is the happiness of the Buddha.” – Ajahn Chah
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
45 minutes Metta Bhavana, 45 minutes Satipatthana Vipassana.
90 minutes combined | 1.5 hours total
October 4, 2014
“If you wish to differ in no way from the patriarch-buddha, just don’t seek outside. The pure light in a single thought of yours—this is the dharmakaya buddha within your own house. The nondiscriminating light in a single thought of yours—this is the sambhogakaya buddha within your own house. The nondifferentiating light in a single thought of yours—this is the nirmanakaya buddha within your own house.” – Linji
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Begin intensive study of precepts.
Metta Bhavana at conclusion of the day.
90 minutes combined | 1.5 hours total
October 3, 2014
“In a mind clear as still water,
even the waves, breaking,
are reflecting its light.”
– Dogen Zenji
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
October 2, 2014
“The petal of a blossom never comes forth alone, but unimpededly takes in all related parts of the blooming tree…This petal must dissolve itself, thus entering into all and taking in all” -Fazang
Homage | Buddha Vandana
Three Refuges | Tisarana
Precepts | Pañca Silani
Morning Shikanta-Zazen, Kinhin, Shikanta-Zazen, Chanting of Bodhisattva Vows and Heart Sutra, Prostrations
60 minutes combined | 1 hour total
Lotus Blooming From Mud 