This talk is based on the story found in Case 41 of the Gateless Barrier titled “Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind”. Is pain always necessary to realise our True Self?

This Christmas talk tells the story of the Bodhisattva figure found in Japan known as Hotei. Hotei has the bodily appearance of Santa Claus, often known as the laughing Buddha or the Buddha with the big belly who carries a sackcloth on his back.

To be a human being is to be attached. That’s the natural order of things. There is nothing wrong with that. But what is our ego-self attached to? What are our self-centred requirements?

This is a commentary on case 37 from the Gateless Barrier collection of Koans.

Ordinary mind is the way. How do we understand effort within the context of a just sitting practice which emphasises no goal and no-gain.

This talk is a commentary on the talk given by Joko Beck, published in her first book.

In our Zen practice, we move from a life of upset and drama to a life of clarity and equanimity (most of the time). To do this we need to be at ease with who and what we are.

In our Zen practice, we move from a life of upset and drama to a life of clarity and equanimity (most of the time). To do this we need to be at ease with who and what we are.

This talk focuses on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs within the context of our study of the precepts, doing no harm to self and appreciating the preciousness of life. Mindfulness asks what am I experiencing right now and self-compassion asks what do I need right now?

In Buddhism, there is a ceremony called “Jukai” which means receiving the precepts – where one takes up a public commitment to living our life by the precepts.