Episodes
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Muso Soseki's Life and Poetry
Muso Soseki (1275-1351) was a towering figure of Japanese Zen. He was a teacher, painter, calligrapher, gardener, and poet. For him, none of these things were idle pastimes. They were vital means of expressing what cannot be expressed. In this talk, we meet Muso and follow him from childhood into...
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Muso Soseki's Haze and Mist
In this talk we meet Muso Soseki, the great Zen teacher, painter, calligrapher, gardener and poet of 12-13th Century Japan. Muso was a deeply humble and solitary figure who found himself installed in one of the greatest temples in Kyoto, Nanzen-ji. In this talk we take up one of his poems to see...
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Changsha Goes Picnicking
Zen practitioners have always enjoyed wandering in the mountains. On one occasion, the great Changsha, who was revered for his unorthodox teaching methods, returned to the temple to discover the Head Monk waiting for him at the gate. The words they exchanged have had a lasting impact on Zen lore...
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Zen And Poetry
From the very beginning, Zen has acknowledged poetry as the clearest and most generous form of dharma expression. Rather than cut the dharma into parts, poetry pays obeisance to the whole. In this talk we track some of the major developments and poets in our tradition, reaching right into our...
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The Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance
We’re living in a time of great transition. It can sometimes feel like we’re stepping out of an old world into a new one. Before Dogen moved his assembly from Kyoto to Echizen, he wrote “The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods Of Guidance”, which clarifies the most important practices in times of...
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Dawn Dojo
When we sit in the early morning we sit with all of the ancestors in our tradition, reaching all the way back to Shakyamuni Buddha himself. This talk was given at the conclusion of 108 days of morning practice, in honour of the morning star and our capacity to wake up together with all beings.
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Nanquan's Flower
In this talk, we explore the spectre of AI with the help of Nanquan Puyuan (748-835), who popularised the saying, “Ordinary mind is the Way.” There’s no question that AI is extraordinary. But can it be ordinary in the sense that Nanquan offers? What are we missing if we remain dazzled in the…
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Where Did All the Dharma Protecting Deities Go?
Zen was forged in the fire of change. In 10th Century China, the old teacher Fengxue asked, “When Buddhism was destroyed during the Huichang persecution (9th Century), where did all the dharma protecting deities go?” He wanted to know why so many monks and nuns were forced from their temples into...
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The Robe Of Liberation
Each morning at sesshin we chant the verse of the rakusu: “I wear the robe of liberation / the formless field of benefaction / the teachings of the Tathagata / saving the many beings.” What is this about? What is it pointing to? And what might this mean in our contemporary world? This talk was...
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Waking Up With Layman Pang
In this talk, we explore what it means to journey with a “genjokoan”, and how Layman Pang merrily blurred the boundaries between east and west, inside and outside, ordinary and holy, difficult and easy. This talk was given on the third night of the winter sesshin in Hobart 2026.
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Escape Into A Boiling Cauldron
Zen Master Caoshan was once asked, “The world is so hot, where can I go to escape?” Caoshan responded, “Escape into a boiling cauldron, into the coals of a furnace.” What sort of escape is this? Why would we want to go into the heat instead of running away from it? This talk was given on the…
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Mu (Non-Attained Buddha)
On the first night of the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, we take up the koan Mu, fall through the Heart Sutra, and affirm what it is to be a non-attained buddha.
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The Eight Winds
In this talk, we examine the true nature of “bearing witness”. This is not some sort of detached, impervious position found “outside” our circumstances, but a willing capacity to “bear with” whatever comes. To explore this more deeply, we wake up the old Chinese formulation of "The eight winds",...
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Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani
In this talk, we take up the “Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani”. DT Suzuki famously said that, “Properly speaking, the dharani has no legitimate place in Zen.” So why do we chant it? What is a magic spell for “averting calamities” doing in our sutra book? And if nobody knows what the words actually…
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Know The Tune
The world can be a noisy place. We battle for attention, but in the process can lose our capacity for listening. In this talk, we examine what it means to become a zhiyin - someone who “knows the tune”. Do we really know the tune of our partners, children, friends, neighbours and fellow workers,...
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5. Great Ocean Sesshin 2026 - Character
When Yamada Roshi was asked what Zen practice is for, he said, “The perfection of character.” In this talk we track the evolution of the teacher Deshan, from young firebrand to mellow custodian of the Way, to explore the importance of character in a world that often seems to sneer at gentleness…
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4. Great Ocean Sesshin 2026 - Just Enough
Laotzu taught that “knowing enough’s enough is enough to know". How do we practice this “knowing enough”? And what might we learn from our own meal ceremony and liturgy to help us live a simpler and more embodied life?
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3. Great Ocean Sesshin 2026 - Alive or Dead?
On the third night of sesshin we meet Daowu and his student Jianyuan, who are off to conduct a funeral in the nearby village. Things take an unexpected turn when the student Jianyuan raps on the coffin and demands, “Living or dead?” Daowu takes his student’s question and cares for it in the most...
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2. Great Ocean Sesshin 2026 - Go Straight Ahead
On the second night of sesshin we encounter an old woman who says, “Go straight ahead!” What does she mean? How do we go straight ahead? And how does this practice fit hand in glove with the crooked path of genuine awakening?
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1. Great Ocean Sesshin 2026 - Mu
On the first night of sesshin we take up three encounters from Shitou Xiqian (700-790) to see how they illuminate “Mu”, the great syllable of emptiness. We also spend a bit of time with dogs, who never fail to shake off the very human temptation to “have or have not”.
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Bring the Rhinoceros
In a world being torn apart by war, it’s impossible not to think of the brokenness of our time, and how we might respond to this brokenness. Zen Master Yanguan offered his own unlikely response when he said, after discovering that his precious rhinoceros fan was broken, “Well, if the fan is…
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Yanguan Qi'an
In this talk, we meet Yanguan Qi’an, one of Mazu’s primary dharma heirs. Yanguan lived right up until the Huichang Persecution of 840-845, where 4,600 Buddhist temples were destroyed and 260,000 monks and nuns were displaced. Not only did his teaching endure, but his influence led to a…
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Ordinary Mind
This talk was offered into a round of silent meditation during Zen Open Circle’s Taking Part in the Gathering. It explores the Chinese characters for “ordinary mind” and opens them up for contemplation. This talk preceded a much longer talk on Yanguan Chi’an, one of Mazu’s colourful dharma heirs.
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The Relaxed Gaze
Birds have always been great Zen teachers. In this talk, we take up the miscellaneous koan, “My relaxed gaze freely follows the tracks of flying birds” and examine what implications this might have for our practice today. We also meet Niutou Farong, a fascinating figure from the 6-7th Century…
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Someone
At the start of 2026, it’s time to get back to basics. That’s what Zen is all about, after all. Instead of spending our time curating a perfectly polished “self”, we learn to let this “self” go and draw closer to what Zen masters of old called “someone”. This someone, who has no name or form, is...
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The Motley Bodhisattva
With our end-of-year Jukai Ceremony fast approaching, we take up the questions, “What is a Bodhisattva? How does a bodhisattva act in the world? And how do the precepts liberate wise action in the world?” To bring this forth we meet Mahasattva Fu, a younger contemporary of Bodhidharma, who became…
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Linji's Shout
One of the great pleasures of immersing yourself in Zen is getting to know the ancestors. In this talk we meet Linji, the inspiration behind Rinzai Zen, who opened up the path of practice with a great shout, beyond words and letters. This talk was given as part of a wider series on the Zen...
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One Blade of Grass
What does it take to build a temple, right where you are? When Shakyamuni Buddha was walking with Indra, he announced that, “Here would be a good place to erect a temple.” Indra immediately took a stem of grass, inserted it in the earth, and said, “The temple is erected.” Just one blade of grass...
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The Flowing Bridge
When a monk came to visit Zhaozhou he said, “For a long time I’ve heard about the famous stone bridge of Zhaozhou, but coming here I see only a common wooden bridge.” What is the stone bridge of Zhaozhou? And what does it span? This is a talk that asks us to see the stone bridge flows, and that…
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Mu - Unblemished by Understanding
What is Mu? Why do we constantly return to this not-quite-a-syllable in our Zen practice? In this talk, given at the Zen Open Circle Spring Sesshin, we look at how Mu undoes our habitual thinking and liberates a life of not-knowing. In Japan there is a word, “sa’pari”, which means something like...
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The Hermit's Staff
What is power for the Way? Why does sitting in solitary peace fall short of genuine realization? In this talk we meet the Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak, a mysterious figure from Mount Hua who ventures into the dharma hall to rattle his staff and wake us up to gift of difficulty. This teisho was…
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Furong's Death Poem (Fourth Night)
Before he died, Furong Daokai left a death poem. On this fourth and final night we investigate this poem to see how it might illuminate our own life and death. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.
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The Stone Woman (Third Night)
After Zen Master Furong Daokai announced, “The green mountains are always walking,” he added “A stone woman gives birth to a child at night.” If the first sentence highlights the bright, energetic side of experience, the second welcomes us into the dark, receptive side. What do we see in the…
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Green Mountains Walking (Second Night)
Zen Master Furong Daokai walked into his assembly and said, “The green mountains are always walking.” What did he mean? What was he pointing to? In this talk we scale the highs and lows of our own life to seek not just the stability of mountains, but their living dynamism. This talk was recorded…
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Mu (First Night)
What is Mu? On this first night of sesshin, we take up this question and let it take away everything we have - and have not. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.
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Turning Over The Tea Kettle
How are you with mistakes? What do you do when something goes wrong? In this talk we join three Zen adepts as they bumble their way through a tea ceremony, exploring what it’s like to own mistakes without being owned by them. This talk was given as part of our monthly Teisho and Inquiry at...
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What A Dangerous Place You're Sitting In
With two sangha members about to begin the process of Jukai, we explore The Three Vows of Refuge and The Three Pure Precepts with some help from an old monk sitting high up in an old even older pine tree. Is it really possible to take refuge in precarity? Is it really possible to praise the...
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We Wake Up Together
When Shakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star he cried, “I and all beings of the great earth have in this same moment attained the Way.” He was not describing an experience limited to one human being. He was describing an experience that leaves nothing out, affirming the true human being. So how do...
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Personally
The young Wuzu was vexed. He’d heard about Zen and he’d heard about the teachings, but he did not know how to embody them “personally”. So he set off on a great adventure to taste the dharma for himself, bringing all of us along with him. This talk was given on the fourth day of the Great Ocean...
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True Chien
It’s easy to feel that something has been lost in childhood - something precious that we yearn to reclaim or embrace as we get older. The Chinese folk story “Chien and her Soul are Separated” brings this matter into direct focus, questioning whether anything is truly lost and how we might...
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Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha
Great Master Ma was unwell. The accountant monk came up to him and asked, “How is your Reverence feeling these days?” The Master responded, “Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha.” What are these mysterious words pointing to? And how might we realise them in our own lives? This talk was given on the...
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Homecoming (Mu)
We can travel a long way to discover ourselves right where we are. That’s one of the strange realities of Zen practice. The koan Mu, offered to us by Zhaozhou in 8th-9th Century, is an invitation to come home with every step, with every breath. This talk was given on the first day of the Great...
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Know A River
In this talk we take up a story from the Nipata Sutta, which follows a group of monks looking for the perfect place to sit over the summer. Where is the perfect place to sit? And what happens when it turns out to be less perfect than we imagined? Instead of running away from such a place, the...
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Liberation Within Obstruction
In this talk we take up the sutra “Liberation Within Obstruction” and explore the words “I choose”. What does it mean to choose this moment, whatever it is? Is “I choose” a passive act, or a radically creative one? And what does this practice teach us about navigating even the most perilous…
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Playfulness
In this talk offered to the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne we explore the vitality of playfulness with the help of Keizan, Ryokan and Petrus Spronk.
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Red Earth Zen
In this talk offered to the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne we explore the affinities between Zen and Indigenous Australian forms of wisdom.
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Me and You
We’re living in a time of great change. So much of what we’ve taken for granted has been rattled, both nationally and internationally. So what does this moment want us to see? What does it want us to realise? And what can sangha teach us about what is most important?
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Zen Fundamentals
In this talk offered to the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne we explore the fundamentals of Zen, beginning with Nanquan’s “Ordinary Mind is the Way.” We then examine how “Ordinary Mind” illuminates our daily lives with an emphasis on care and attendance to the…
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Black Lacquer Buckets
Zen is a steady, patient practice that does not seek to attain anything. It can sometimes feel like nothing is happening, but as the nun Chiyono realised when she was walking with a water bucket, sometimes the bottom can fall out to reveal a gleaming truth that was right before our eyes all…
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The Dragon King's Daughter
In this talk, we darken our minds to see the stars, asking if it’s possible to see in dark times. We also pay homage to our own self nature, which, like a dragon, is ready to soar and rest with circumstances, no matter what they are. “The Dragon King’s Daughter paid her personal homage to the...
About this show
A selection of emerging dharma talks from Kynan Sutherland Roshi and Castlemaine Zen
Hosted by
Kynan Sutherland Roshi
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