AZC Weekly talks

A teisho on the precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.

A teisho on the precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.

A teisho in the series about the chant "The Ancestral Line".

It is possible to get stuck in emptiness. More is needed for real living.

Main Text(s) quoted: The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen

Luzu's plain and simple teaching is evidence of his deep faith in our potential to awaken.

Main Text(s) quoted: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Fergusson

Becoming an ox at the bottom of the mountain, or "Nothing distinguishes the enlightened person." (Yamada Koun-roshi)

Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu and The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen

Review -- why do we come to sesshin and what do we do? Skillfully working with our mental obsessions, compulsions and delusions and entering the Hongzhi's "clear circle of brightness".

Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu.

"Murkiness remains": pros and cons and pitfalls of shikantaza and koan practice. What is the "field of boundless emptiness"? Some perspectives from quantum physics.

Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu. The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos by Brian Swimme.

Biographical material and introduction to Master Hongzhi's teaching.

Main Text(s) quoted:

Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu and The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen

A dharma talk by Richard von Sturmer.

Text used: "Shobogenzo" by Dogen Zenji.