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Master Kyogen said: 'My poverty last year was not real poverty, but this year my poverty is real. Though last year there was no place even for an awl to stick into, this year have no awl either'.  The Wisdom of the Zen Masters by Irmgard Schloegl   In this talk: •   We hear the story of Master Kyogen who came to awakening by hearing a pebble strike a bamboo trunk. •   The root of 'I' clings to status and to have that being threatened evokes an existential crisis. In Kyogen's story he lays violent hands on his master and was cast out to wander for ten years. •   But inside him something was slowly developing which took a further ten years to mature and fully ripen. •   This story and the above passage reminds us how the 'empty heart' or mushin, as it is called, is highly prized in Zen. Just this is the holy of holies on the path because it is the fount of wisdom and compassion and the 'mother' of all the buddhas.

32 - One (monk) asked: "What is the meaning of (Bodhidharma's) coming from the West?" The master said: "Had he had a purpose, he could not even have liberated himself." the monk asked: "If he had no purpose, how could the Second Patriarch attain the Dharma?" The master said: "To attain is not to attain." The monk asked: " if it is not to attain, then what is the meaning of not to attain?" The master said: "It is because you are running about seeking everywhere and cannot put your heart at rest that the patriarchs say 'My, the fellow with his head on his shoulders is looking for his head!' When on hearing this you turn your own light in upon yourself, and do not seek for anything special, you will know that in your body and heart you do not differ from the patriarchs and Buddhas.  All at once you will have nothing further to seek. That is what is called attaining the Dharma!"   The Zen Teachings of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..   In this podcast:   Why our constant planning, planning, planning becomes an obstacle to attaining 'oneness'. Listening and obeying the situation gives meaning not purpose to life, which always lies as a promise for the future. Our role in life is a discovery not an artifice.  Mutual arising and interdependence is the root of reality. How Zen practice is a 're-linking' into that reality.  

'From the High Seat, the master said: "One is on the way for aeons without leaving his house; one  leaves his house without being on the way. Which one is worthy to receive the offerings of men and gods?" And he came down from the seat.'   The Zen Teachings of Rinzai - tr. Irmgard Schloegl …………………………………………………………………….. In this podcast: Reflecting on Rinzai's question from the High Seat, this talk explores what it means to be truly "on the Way," and how desire grows from a feeling that something is missing. Dukkha is understood as inner restlessness, and practice as learning to stay with that restlessness rather than discharging it into the world.

Q. Does taking the bodhisattva vow mean that they have to be reborn in one of the six realms again? Does whatever it is that is reborn have to be reborn in the six realms? …………………………………………………………………….     In this podcast:   The development of the bodhisattva - the path and the vow? The arhat in the remote forest and the bodhisattva in the market place The example of Vimalakirti - Huyakujo and the monastic rule 'A day without work is a day without food'. Nirvana and the escape from Samsara (6 realms), in early and later Buddhism Emptiness and the dangers of nihilism, empty emptiness - 'making my mind a blank'.

In this talk:   Daiko - Osho san: 'A world that cannot be grasped. A world of change. A vast, open empty sky' 'ku' = emptiness/sky in Japanese - from the Heart sutra. Background to the Rohatsu sesshin - Buddha's great effort prior to Enlightenment. True emptiness - what is this emptiness? Reflections on why the Enlightenment is commemorated in December rather than Wesak in May? The Power of Letting-go - The past is gone, the future is not yet here, the present is a fantasy…  The empty heart is resilient because it is empty. 3 temptations of Mara.  The space in a cup is its utility and service to the world. Form = Emptiness - the two worlds. - The world of phenomena and the Eternal. Rinzai's 'man of no status'. 

Master Sokei-an, who lived half of his life in the United States, stated humorously: 'If you are in a powerful car in the middle of the Gobi Desert, you can step on the gas pedal and go any speed you like, any direction you fancy. But if you are in New York at a busy Broadway crossing, you better look out for the traffic lights.' (Wisdom of the Zen Masters by Irmgard Schloegl) ................................   In this podcast: What is the form? How does it interact with circumstances? The relationship between them and why it is important in Zen training. The power of discernment in the cultivation of mindful awareness.    

36. Venerable ones, committing the Five Heinous Crimes, deliverance can be attained. One monk asked: "What are the Five Heinous Crimes?" The master said: "To kill the father, to harm the mother, to spill Buddha's blood, to break the peace of the Sangha, and to burn scriptures and statues, these are the Five Heinous Crimes."   The monk asked: "What is the father?"   The master said: "Basic ignorance is the father. In the concentrated heart you cannot find the place of arising or ceasing. Like the echo which responds to emptiness and thus reaches everywhere. When you have nothing further to seek, this is called killing the father."   The monk asked: "What is the mother?'   The master said: "Desirous coveting is the mother. If you enter the realm of desire with concentrated heart and see everything empty of forms and that nowhere is there anything to be attached to, this is harming the mother."   The monk asked: "What is the spilling of Buddha's blood?'   The master said: "In the realm of purity, if you do not give rise to any itch of interpretation, all is darkness; this is spilling the Buddha's blood."   The monk asked: " What is breaking the peace of the Sangha?"   The master said: "If with concentrated heart you truly understand that the passions, these emissaries which bind you, are empty and without support then you break the peace of the Sangha."   The monk asked: "What is the burning of scriptures and statues?"    The master said: "To see that the causal relations are empty, that the heart is empty, and that the Dharma is empty - and in one stroke decisively to cut it all off in order to transcend all, and to have nothing further to seek, this is burning the scriptures and statues."   (The Zen Teaching of Rinzai - tr. Imgard Schloegl pub. Shambhala Berkeley) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..     In this podcast:   The use of language in Zen Turning the tables to attract attention How Zen masters use all means to awaken their students The attainment of the empty heart (mu-shin) as primary all other things as merely skilful means Once attained then protecting the empty heart from becoming filled up once more.      

'All the evil Karma created by me from of old, Out of beginningless greed, anger and delusion, Committed with body, speech and thought, Of all this I now make full and open repentance.'   ……………….     In this podcast:   Introduction to some of the chants that are chanted in Zen Temples and monasteries and what they are about. How to understand the Repentance Sutra we must understand something about Karma and how the Buddha saw the existence of all beings. The connection with Karma to agrarian culture and why it is such a useful symbol. How the present is created by the past, just as the future is created by the present and why Karma is not Fate. Cycles of time as different to linear 'one-off' time. How intentional actions of body, speech and mind are the true agents because of the link to desire and grasping. The difference between repentance and guilt. It isn't enough to repent from unskilful actions.

This short audio is an extract from: Gentling the Bull: The Ten Bull Pictures - A Spiritual Journey with comments by Myokyo-ni. The title of the Chapter - Bull Forgotten Man Remains - concludes the full integration of the Bull energy into the human form. It signals the end of that part of the gentling process and begins the final ascent 'up the mountain' which is the religious path proper. It also highlights the importance of reverence in the face of the deep mysteries that are to be encountered on this part of the journey and the necessity for 'I' to be softened up so as not to be shattered by it. You can buy this book here.

No portraits or sculptures existed of the Buddha. After he died, a great longing arose to know what he had looked like. Anybody who was ancient enough to have met him was sure of an attentive audience.   Just such a person was a nun, now over 100 years old. To procure some solitude, she had moved out of the town into a little Hermitage, but anyone wishing to enquire would soon come to hear of her. One day a sincere seeker, a highly attained Elder monk, sent a message to her requesting a meeting. She agreed, but having her own ways of assessing her visitors, set up a large jar with water by the side of the rope curtain that functioned as the front door. The visitor arrived, pulled aside the curtain, striding in, accidentally kicked over the jar. The nun scolded, "There goes the greatly attained one, so exulted that he can't even keep from messing up this poor abode." To the credit of the Elder, who in rank certainly was well above the venerable nun, he apologised and then entreated her to tell him about the Buddha.   The nun, well aware of this, now assured him, "In spite of your carelessness, you deserve hearing the story and will profit by it. You see, my parents were devout followers of the Lord Buddha, and when he once again came to our neighbourhood to preach, they went there and took me with them. I was a flighty teenager not a bit interested in his teachings, but was content enough to come along all dressed up in my Sunday finery and pleased with my appearance.   A huge crowd had assembled and sat respectfully facing the Buddha. I hardly listened and soon got bored, but not daring to fidget, I began to play with my ornaments. Suddenly my hairpin, a family heirloom, worked loose and slithered Down into the long grass out of sight. I was horror-struck; not daring to make a commotion, I surreptitiously searched as far as my hands could reach but, however I tried, the pin had vanished. I was in despair-what was I to do?   Suddenly I was aware of a radiance and looking up beheld the Buddha's eyes upon me, from between his eyes a ray shone directly in front of me and in its light I caught the sparkle of my pin in the long grass. With a sob I retrieved it and my heart turned. The World Honoured One himself preaching to such a large audience, had perceived the plight of an inattentive girl, fidgeting about, and yet had taken pity on her plight and compassionately helped her out of it. At that moment I knew that all I wanted was to devote myself to him and his teaching, and have done so ever since"   The old nun smiled at the Elder and added, "You see, if even the World Honoured One was not above beholding a flighty girl's commotion about a lost hairpin and extended his kindness to help her you might also exercise the same and not kick over my water jar again. So when you leave, step carefully, if you please."   (Look and See: Buddhist Teaching Stories with Commentaries by the Venerable Myokyo-ni)   ……………………….   In this talk Martin explores the subject of the heart's aspiration, and how it may be awakened in an encounter with the Buddha and his teachings, leading to a life affirming turn - around of the heart.

Randolph Whitfield has been a lifelong Zen Buddhist practitioner, studying under Master Daiyu Myokyo in London and Soko Morinaga Roshi in Kyoto.   He originally studied classical guitar and piano at London's Trinity College of Music and then later studied classical Chinese at Leiden University.    In recent years he undertook a Herculean task to translate the source texts for many of the later Zen Koan Collections - The Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, an early Medieval Chan/Zen text written in China.    In this interview Randolph and Martin discuss all things to do with translating ancient Zen texts into English. Why these texts are so important and influential to the development of Zen, plus something of the underlying Mahayana philosophy present in this text which purports to give histories of the Zen lineage from the time of Gautama Buddha through the Indian patriarchs to the Chinese patriarchs at the time of composition.   Toward the end they discuss and additional translation project by Randolph, the Records of the Ancestral Mirror where they examine what these texts tell us about the nature of consciousness itself.

TEXT: Rinzai's Attention to the Smallest Detail   'Followers of the Way, as the Zen school sees it life and death are under a certain order. In interviews the student should consider the smallest details. When host and guest appear, there is an exchange of discourse. Sometimes form is shown as corresponds to things. Sometimes the whole body (essence ) is borught into function. Sometimes the full power of solemn authority is exercised to evoke awe. Sometimes half the body (essence ) is revealed. Sometimes the lion is mounted, sometimes the elephant (respectively Manjustri's and Samantabhadra's mounts, wisdom and compassion).    (The Zen Teaching of Rinzai - Tr. from the Chinese by Irmgard Schloegl) ……………………………..     In this podcast:   How the living pay respects to the dead and the dead hold the wisdom and traditions of the people which help the people face day to day problems. The Zen master becomes the obstacle in the life of his students. It is the arising of such challenges that allow opportunities for transformation of heart and ripening of insight. Master Rinzai goes on to give examples of how a teacher might use circumstances to wake students out of their slumber.  

How do the bodhisattvas reconcile the saying that 'samsara is nirvana' when there is also suffering in the world. If nirvana is peace then how can that peace include suffering? ……………….     Samsara is Nirvana, Nirvana is Samsara. The problem of evil Doctrinally, the view from emptiness - ocean and wave - Tozan's 30 blows Projection of values - liking & disliking Definition of Dukkha Confucius - three men walk past an event Inner strength - in practice Fear = I

Martin gives a commentary on the following passage from The Zen Teachings of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl.   'Venerable Ones, do not delay and spend your days idly. In former days wen I could not yet see clearly, all the world seemed dark to me. I could not get beyond light and shade. I ran around with fever in my belly and with my heart in a flurry, asking about the Way. Later I gained strength and now I am here, preaching deliverance to you, followers of the Way. My advice is not to come here for just your food and clothes. Life in the world passes quickly, and it is difficult to meet good teachers; the Udambara plant only flowers once in a while.'

This is an extract from The Zen Way by Irmgard Schloegl who spent 12 years training in Zen Buddhism at Daitokuji. In this extract Martin Goodson reads an extract from the book detailing the daily routine of the monks plus the ordeal of entrance begging undergone by all monks to gain entry to the monastery. 

In this talk Master Rinzai explains that he sorts the students who come to him into three sorts. This introduces us to the notion that is there in early Buddhism that the path is made up of stages. The Arhat path has five stages that go from the earliest stirrings of interest to Arhatship and the attainment of Nirvana. The Mahayana Path has the 'One Way' as explained in the Lotus Sutra that sees the earlier Arhat Path as the stage prior to the Bodhisattva Path to Full And Perfect Enlightenment.   In Zen too, the masters made distinctions in what is called 'root ability'. What is required is for us to devote the training to fulfilling that potential that is already there. It does not matter if two people learning to play the piano one goes on to a career as a great concert pianist whilst the other becomes a music teacher in a school. In the Dharma, Rinzai explains, the Dharma is 'equal and even' in all things. In the above case both the concert pianist and the music teacher have fulfilled their path in the Dharma and will live fulfilling lives. So it is in the Zen Training. Hence the Zen Poem:   In the landscape of Spring, There is neither better nor worse. The flowering branches grow Both long and short.

In this talk we hear the story of a young man who, becomes disillusioned with life and turns to a Zen Master for help.  The master then challenges him to a game in which if the young man loses he will also lose his head. In the process he discovers the inner strength of his own Buddha-Heart. This story in many ways is similar to the story of the Buddha who as a young prince also became deeply disillusioned with the world and set out to find an answer.   This state of disillusionment, is a state of dukkha (suffering), and it becomes the spur to follow the spiritual life, but it is fraught because it can also become an angry rejection of the world.  This talk unpacks this story and explores the conditions, born out of necessity, for awakening.   The first week of December in the Zen tradition commemorates the Buddha's Enlightenment. This story provides a backdrop to this memorial and points to the truth that the Buddha's story is our own story as we embark along the Zen Way.

In this talk, which coincides with Halloween, a young man on his wedding day finds himself standing in front of Yama, Lord and Judge of the Dead.   The man bitterly complains having been taken away before his time and Yama in an unusual gesture of compassion agrees to send him back and also offers to send the young man three messengers so that he will be reminded that is time will come. What happens when the now older man finds himself once more before Yama teaches us that facing the truth of our own impermanent nature is so easily forgotten. Not because we are not surrounded by Yama's messengers but because something inside us does not want to acknowledge this central truth of the Buddha's own message.   The story is taken from a collection of training stories called 'Look and See' by Ven. Myokyo-ni.

Jamie Shavdia (www.jamieshavdia.co.uk) and Martin Goodson discuss the hugely popular book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.  In this podcast, they discuss where this book sits in the development of contemporary spirituality and psychotherapeutic treatments which introduce the present moment as a psychological medicine for many of our modern complaints. Eckhart Tolle had what he described as an 'enlightenment experience' spontaneously, following bouts of deep depression and suicidal ideation. Jamie and Martin discuss the fact that there are some people who, without any prior spiritual training, do have such genuine revelations and transformations of consciousness. In this wide-ranging discussion, Jamie and Martin investigate Tolle's concepts of 'Now' and 'Time' as well as 'the pain body' and how anyone can enter into this transformative state of 'Now'.

'Followers of the Way, if you want to become Buddha, do not follow the ten thousand things. When the heart arises the ten thousand things arise too. When the heart is stilled, the manifold things cease. And when the heart does not rise, the ten thousand things are without blame. In the world and beyond the world, neither Buddha nor Dharma manifest themselves nor do they disappear. Though things exist they are only as names and words, sentences and catch phrases to attract little children; or expedient remedies for treating diseases, superficially revealed as names and phrases.'  The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. Imaged Scholegl ……………………….. In this podcast: •   How the heart and 'things' arise in a co-dependent way. •   The heart as the seat of consciousness the one which knows. •   How the teachings themselves are skilful means and not to be grasped, not even Buddha!

In this podcast:   What are the characteristics of delusion and delusive seeing? What is the connection between suffering and delusion? How truth can become toxic. Karma and habitual thinking and seeing.   ---------       A man who has left home should know how to see clearly and calmly, should know Buddha from Mara, the true from the false, the worldly from the sacred. If he has got this knowledge, he can truly be called a leaver of home. If he does not know Buddha from Mara, then in effect he leaves one home only to enter another, and is what is called a karma-producing living being. He cannot yet be called a true leaver of home. For if Buddha and Mara happen to appear in one form, he could not differentiate them. Yet, as the gander king knows how to drink only the milk from the mixture of milk and water, so does the clear eye, (know how to differentiate).  Followers of the Way, just beat up both Buddha and Mara. For if you love the sacred and hate the worldly, you go on floating and sinking in the ocean of birth and death.    The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl

Q) Will all the problems go away when I stop thinking about them? ….. In this podcast: •   The context for this question - mental health crisis over climate change etc. •   The disciple who reads the Vedas three times (introvert approach) •   Problem solving and the difference between the extrovert and the introvert approach •   God, grant me the serenity to accept the things •   I cannot change, •   The courage to change the things I can, •   And the wisdom to know the difference. (The Serenity Prayer Reinhold Niebuhr) •   Sitting with the dying and emptiness of the heart.

Followers of the Way, the Dharma of the heart has no form and pervades the Ten Directions. In the eye, it is called seeing; in the ear, hearing; in the nose, smelling; in the mouth, talking; in the hands, grasping; in the feet, walking.  Fundamentally, it is one light; differentiated , it becomes the six senses. When one's whole heart comes to a full stop, one is delivered where one stands. Why do I speak thus? It is only because I see you, followers of the Way. All running about with an agitated heart, quite unable to stop, fretting yourselves over the playing's of the old masters. (The Zen Teachings of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl. Pub. Shambhala 1976) Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for weekly articles on Zen practice and Buddhism https://www.thezengateway.com/join If you don't have a local temple or group to practice with you can join our online training Center led by a Zen teacher with over 30 years of experience https://www.thezengateway.com/dharma 

"Venerable Ones, get to know the one who plays with these configurations. He is the original source of all the Buddhas. Knowing him, wherever you are is home.  Your physical body, formed by the four elements, cannot understand the Dharma you are listening to; nor can your spleen, stomach, liver or gall; nor can the empty space. Who then can understand the Dharma and can listen to it? The one here before your very eyes, brilliantly clear and shining without any form - there he is who can understand the Dharma you are listening to. If you can really grasp this, you are not different from the Buddhas and patriarchs. Ceaselessly he is right here, conspicuously present.  But when passions arise, wisdom is disrupted; and the body separates from the changing pictures. This the cause of transmigration in the Three Worlds with its concomitant suffering. But as I see it; there is nothing that is not profound, nothing that is not deliverance."   (The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schoegl  pub. Shambhala 1975)  

In this podcast: The Grimm's fairy tale of Lucky Hans Why is our heart so restless - an experiment The Buddha's diagnosis of this restlessness The estrangement of the Heart as cause - what the Buddha said on his awakening The false self and the True Nature of the Heart.

One day, while wondering in the mountains, Shi Tou said to Shishi, "'just lop off that branch of the tree in front of me - its hindering me" "I didn' t bring a knife",'replied Shishi.' Shi Tou pulled out a knife and gave it Shishi. "Why not let this come to me?'"said Shishi. "What would you use it for?'"asked Shi Tou. Then Shi Tou had a great awakening.

Q) Will you say something about the different types of bells and signals used in Zen? …  In this podcast:  •       The use of clappers and inken in Zazen •       The use of the gong for the turning over of merit for the benefit of all beings •       Using the myokugyo or wooden fish for chanting along with the inken •       The temple bell •       The wake-up bell or drum/clap board •       Some symbolism surrounding the use of bells and their connection with banishing evil spirits (108 passions on NYE). •       The bells of sunken towns

In this podcast we look at how the Chan/Zen school arose in response to the complicated philosophy that had developed around Mahayana Buddhism that threatened to draw people away from the experience of ones own insight. However there is a place for the teachings in Zen, as this discourse makes clear all skilful means are used to bring students to Awakening. The talk also looks at how the influence of Taoism impacted on the development of Chan/Zen to the Chinese mind. This podcast is copyright to The Zen Gateway

38. Followers of the Way, do not take the Buddha for the supreme aim. I myself see him as a privy hole, and the Bodhisattvas and Arhats as beings who bind men with cangue and chains. This is why Manjushri grasped the sword to kill Gautama, and Anguilimalya took the knife to assassinate Shaka.  Followers of the Way, Buddha is not to be attained. The Three Vehicles and the Five Natures, as well as the Complete and Sudden Teachings are only traces. All are but expedient means temporary remedies for curing diseases. There is no real Dharma; it is all but surface manifestations, like printed letters on a sign board to indicate the Way. This is my teaching.  (The Zen Teaching of Rinzai; tr. Irmgard Schloegl pub. Shambhala Berkeley)  … In this podcast: •       Understanding Rinzai's disparagements of Zen in context. •       The teachings of non-attachment and the Middle Way •       The sword of Manjushri breaks the bonds of attachment & how this is used in Zen training •       Warnings about attachments to any views even the teachings

Q) What is 'Heart-to-Heart Transmission'? … In this podcast: •       Bodhidhdarma's Four Line Verse •       The Buddha transmits the lineage to Mahakasyapa •       Rinzai's 'Not much to Obaku's teaching'. •       How poetry works •       Transmitting the lineage

Venerable ones, I cannot these days cease from using a lot of words, and come out preaching many inept things. But do not let yourselves be deceived! As I see it, there are not really so many principles. If you want to act, just act; and if you do not want to act, then rest. It is said that the Six Paramitas and the ten-thousand practices are the Buddha-Dharma. I say they are both methods for spiritual adornment and for carrying on the Buddha's work; they are not the Buddha Dharma. (The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. Irmgard Schloegl) …………. In this podcast: •       The relationship between teachings and insight •       Bodhidharma's famous verse as a summation of the Zen approach is also a middle way. •       Being our ordinary selves is not always easy •       The Six Paramitas as a foundation for Mahayana Practice •       The Parable of the raft is the prescribed medicine when it comes to this relationship between teachings, practice and insight.

"The Great Way is not difficult, It merely avoids picking and choosing." On Faith in the Heart by Master Sosan, tr. Myokyo-ni … In this talk: •       Sosan is 3rd Patriarch receiving the Transmission from Eka. •       What is The Great Way and why is it important? •       What is picking and choosing? •       Why does picking and choosing make following The Great Way difficult?

Q) As a complete beginner to Zen, can you give me some tips for starting a Zen practice? …  In this podcast: •   The three pillars of daily life practice, meditation practice & wisdom practice. •   The root practice of giving myself wholeheartedly into whatever is just now being done, supported by ethical and cultural form practice. •   Cultivating a meditation practice daily •   Study of the Buddha's teachings - finding a middle way between study and practice - the 3-fold wisdom.

One monk asked: "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West? The master said: "Had he had a purpose, he could not even have liberated himself." The monk asked: "If he had no purpose, how could the Second Patriarch attain the Dharma?" The master said: "To attain is not to attain." The monk asked: "If it is not to attain, then what is the meaning of not to attain?"  The master said: "It is because you are running about seeking everywhere and cannot put your heart at rest that the patriarchs say 'My, the fellow with his head on his shoulders is looking for his head!' When on hearing this you turn your own light in upon yourself, and do not seek for anything special, you will know that in your body and heart you do not differ from the patriarchs and Buddhas. All at once you will have nothing further to seek. That is what is called attaining the Dharma. … In this podcast: A brief description of the life and role of First Patriarch Bodhidharma The difference between purpose and meaning Acting not as 'I' want but responding to the needs of the situation. The Buddha nature is inherent; there is not need to look outside  

Master Yoka cautions: 'Getting rid of things and clinging to emptiness are the same illness. It is like throwing oneself into fire to avoid being drowned.' (The Wisdom of the Zen Masters by Imrgard Schloegl) … In this podcast: The Buddha's first teaching of the middle way. The problem of the five ascetics What happens when 'I' give up smoking? Some advice on 'giving up' - don't (TL advice to a smoker) Giving myself into Zen practice; the practice brings about the transformation

National Teacher Daito (1283-1338) founded the monastery of Daitokuji in Kyoto and Rinzai Zen Training monastery.  Before his death he gave his admonition to his monk which gives the essence of his teaching and points to just that which is most important for the training of his monks. The full text can be found here. This Dharma talk includes: The importance of both physical as well as spiritual wellbeing. How form and discipline encourages us to practice letting-go and going with the flow. How the outer circumstances, even in the training sodo is not the most important issue. What is important can be done anywhere. The importance of the transmission of the teachings & practice.  

Followers of the Way, when I say that there is no Dharma outside, the students do not understand and deduce it is necessary to search within themselves. Then they sit, leaning against a wall, tongue pressed to the upper palate, and remain so motionless. That they take for the patriarch's gate of the Buddha-Dharma. What a great error! (The Zen Teaching of Rinzai; tr. Irmgard Schloegl, pub. Shambhala 1975) ………………………. In this podcast: What is Dharma? Mumon's treasures of the house v. Hogan's 'Is that stone inside or outside? Master Mumon's looking for fire with fire… Wisdom arises out of the samadhi of the situation

"As I see it, there is nothing complicated. Just be your ordinary selves in an ordinary life, wear your robes and eat your food and having nothing further to seek, peacefully pass your time. From everywhere you have come here; all of you eagerly seek the Buddha, the Dharma and deliverance; you seek escape from the Three Worlds. You foolish people, if you want to get out of the Three Worlds, where then can you go?" The Zen Teaching of Rinzai tr. by Irmgard Schloegl ………. In this podcast: Some background on Rinzai and early Chan in the context of Chinese Buddhist development. Why do 'I' want to be famous? The cult of 'more and more', the disease of 'I'. What are the Three Worlds and what is their significance? A wholehearted life v. escaping boredom.

The God of Buddhism is the god of wisdom. In Buddhism, the Buddha means one who knows, the knower. One who knows one's own wisdom is Buddha. Our eyes, which have the faculty of seeing; our ears, which have the faculty of hearing; our other senses - smell, taste, touch - are all manifestations of the power of knowing. So our sense organs are the eyes of Buddha. Every one of us is Buddha. However, Mr. So-and-so is not Buddha, but our 'persons' are Buddha. … The Buddhist believes in a pantheistic god. This personal, pantheistic god is god-nature in me, in you, in all sentient beings - in everything… There is no such word in the Orient as 'individual'! The Buddhist believes that souls are not created by God, one by one, but that each is a drop of water in the ocean of soul. The ocean of soul is existence; it is Being existing from the beginningless beginning to the endless end. So there is no creation of the universe and no destruction of the universe. Each wave of the ocean has its own character, its own shape, its own power, and its own velocity, yet all waves are nothing but the body of water that is the sea. Each individual has his or her own keynote and characteristics, yet all individuals are nothing but waves in the ocean of soul. The Zen Eye: A collection of Zen talks by Sokei-an; ed. Mary Farkas pub. Weatherhill 1993 ……………….. In this talk: The etymology of consciousness. Is consciousness possible without 'I'? Sense consciousness & awareness. To whom does consciousness really belong? Immanence and transcendence - What is the difference between monotheism, polytheism and pantheism? Emptiness and dependent origination, the awareness of being in relationship with everything and the principle of reciprocity.

The unborn Buddha-mind deals freely and spontaneously with anything that presents itself to it. But if something should happen to make you change the Buddha-mind into thought, then you run into trouble and lose that freedom. Let me give you an example. Suppose a woman is engaged in sewing something. A friend enters the room and begins speaking to her. As long as she listens to her friend and sews in the Unborn, she has no trouble doing both. But if she gives her attention to her friend's words and a thought arises in her mind as she thinks about what to reply, her hands stop sewing; if she turns her attention to her sewing and thinks about that, she fails to catch everything her friend is saying, and the conversation does not proceed smoothly. In either case, her Buddha-mind has slipped from the place of the Unborn. She has transformed it into thought. As her thoughts fix upon one thing, they're blank to all others, depriving her mind of its freedom. (The Unborn: The Life & Teachings of Zen Master Bankei 1622-1693 tr. Norman Waddell) … In this podcast: Bankei's awakening Legacy - spontaneous v. written legacy and Bankei's admonition against writing his words down. [Udana 8.3] : "There is, practitioners, an unborn, unproduced, unmade, and unconditioned. If there were no unborn, unproduced, unmade, and unconditioned, then you would find no escape here from the born, produced, made, and conditioned. But since there is an unborn, unproduced, unmade, and unconditioned, an escape is found from the born, produced, made, and conditioned." Myokyo-ni's 'Quiet spaciousness" in Zazen and then in Kinhin and then in daily life a return to. Picture no. 7: Stay not where the Buddha is; hurry by where he is not' - 'Cultivate the heart that doesn't settle anywhere'.

In this podcast: The language of religion and how different schools of Buddhism teach. The importance of the lineage (Master Sesso) The Heart-Buddha is the source of the teachings which only appear to come from outside. The story of Rinzai's own awakening Avoiding the stink of Zen; Joshu's 'Mu & Uu'.

As we enter the holiday period, I recall that you talked about setting aside the Zen practice for a while. Why is that a useful thing to do? What happens if I find it difficult to re-start the practice after the holiday is over? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, In this podcast: The value of taking a break from the timetable and regular practice - 2 types of student Using common sense Why things become 'chores' and why the practice becomes a duty rather than a support. Returning to the practice after the holiday period. 'I' don't want to… finding inspiration again The Three Refuges - Reading some Dharma; joining a group A hearty admonition to oneself Clean the shrine Acts of cultivation

Here in a quiet and dusty room they lie, Faded as crumbled stone or shifting sand, Forlorn as ashes, shrivelled, scentless, dry - Meadows and gardens running through my hand.   In this brown husk a dale of hawthorn dreams, A cedar in this narrow cell is thrust; It will drink deeply of a century's streams, These lilies shall make summer on my dust.   Here in their safe and simple house of death, Sealed in their shells a million roses leap, Here I can blow a garden with my breath, And in my hand a forest lies asleep.   (Muriel Stuart) ………. In this podcast: Zen & poetry: How it appears in the training. The Buddha uses an agricultural analogy with farmers to explain how things arise. Creating causes and conditions (Make the things you want easy, the things you don't want difficult). Right Intention, the making of a vow Creating conditions for practice: a timetable & ritual practice, a meditation space, regular exposure to the Dharma, good friends in the Dharma etc. How to perfurme consciousness - How we read the writings of the Zen canon.

Q) I've heard you say that in daily life practice we should give ourselves wholeheartedly into what we are doing. How do I know when something is being done wholeheartedly? …………….. In this talk: The problem of teaching someone how to ride a bike. The three ways 'I' give myself wholeheartedly in everyday life already The quality of flow in wholeheartedly being given into what is being done. Use the body Exercise: The disliked chore

In this Podcast we discuss the effect that culture has on our development and the difference between loneliness and being alone.

This month: You have mentioned the - wisdom of the body - several times. However, the body is also the place where we commonly think of our instincts and impulses. How do we differentiate between this wisdom and impulsiveness?  … In this podcast:   A short history of differing conceptions of 'body' and 'nature' East & West The problem of evil as assisting everything to its 'right' place. The human state on The Wheel of Life. The aspiration to full humanity. Why only humans have ethical codes? The Arhat path, the Bull herding pictures 1 - 7 - the transformational path. The story of the royal couple unnerved by the realisation of their own selfishness. The passions are the Buddha Nature… the Bull also wants to come together with the herdsman.

Master Dogen said: 'The flower petals fall though we love them, the weeds grow though we hate them - that is just how it is.' (Wisdom of the Zen Masters by Irmgard Schloegl) …………………… In this podcast: The difference in meaning between the Buddha's liberation and political liberation & freedom. The link between picking & choosing and attachment to self and between self & fear How attachment to self is attachment to restriction of movement and to life. The paradox of the practice of restraint leading to freedom from the restriction of self.