Episode Description: Henry examines this fascinating koan in which a monk asks Master Baso, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?” or, more specifically, what did Bodhidharma really hope we would discover when he brought the Zen meditation school from India to China?  The talk briefly examines the “4 Propositions” and “100 Negations” of Buddhist philosophy, which are mentioned in the koan, and gives us some background on the characters in the case, as it considers the apparently inscrutable meaning of Zen, which ceases to be inscrutable when realized through direct experience. Henry describes how Zen is a “thing that isn't a thing”, a fact that can’t be named, yet at the same time is the very ground of beauty, love and grace.”

Post Image Credit: Courtesy Cherie Manifest.

Featured Image Credit: Zen Stone Garden, by t_s_l, CCO Public Domain

Episode Description: Henry presents this simple koan about the Buddha, Indra and the building of a temple. This talk explores how something as simple as a piece of straw can illuminate infinite abundance, ultimate reality. Henry quotes from Sri Nisargadatta, from the 17th Century English cleric Thomas Traherne, and from Master Bansho to expose what Bansho calls “the fundamental matter.” Henry shows that to clarify who we really are, to see the fundamental point of our practice, is to lose much and gain nothing at all. We must allow all conditioning—cultural, social, religious, familial—to fall away so we may truly see reality. “The best thing that can happen is that we lose everything… the resolution of human life, promised and practiced in Zen, comes through a kind of universal loss.”

Post Image  Credit: Leaves Falling, by Unsplash, CC0 Public Domain

Featured Image  Credit: Ladybird, by PublicDomainPictures, CC0 Public Domain

Episode Description: In this talk, Henry explicates Case 3 in the Book of Equanimity koans, and explores the Buddhist “Middle Way.” This koan shows how Prajnatara’s teaching on sutras, “suchness” and breath exemplifies the Middle Way. (Prajnatara, Bodhidharma’s teacher, may well have been a female master, in spite of what the Zen tradition has said.) Henry describes how a life focused on either desire or self-mortification is profitless. He explores the “excluded middle” between these two extremes, which leads to the great reality of wisdom and peace. Henry concludes the teisho with a brief discussion about zazen breath practice and an exhortation to waste no time.

Post Image and Featured Image Credit: Courtesy Cherie Manifest.

Episode Description: This instructive teisho reviews Buddha’s earliest core teachings: The Four Noble Truths and The Three Marks of Existence. The Three Fires of greed, hatred and delusion mislead us, so we get caught in the Three Worlds of desire, form and no-form. Henry applies these early teachings directly to Case 2 of the Book of Equanimity in which Emperor Bu asks Bodhidharma, "What is the highest holiness?" Bodhidharma’s answer is “no holiness, only vast and void.” Listen to this talk and discover how Bodhidharma sits, stops and sees precisely what Shakyamuni discovered and taught in his early teachings.

Image Credit: Space, by Sweetie187, CC BY 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: Beauty of Stillness, by Alice Lim, CC BY 2.0.

Episode Description: This teisho begins Henry’s journey through the Book of Equanimity. Case 1 shows the importance of just sitting, being still and quiet. Henry discusses Shakyamuni Buddha’s first teachings. He explores the teaching on dukkha (intrinsic dissatisfaction) and asks: Is there something in the core of ourselves that is intrinsically dissatisfied and dissatisfying? Henry then turns to Shakyamuni’s second teaching, on anatta—not self -- and provides some background introduction to the Book of Equanimity which emphases “clear sitting,” out of which realization and wisdom arise—stop, sit down and see.

Image Credit: Nature's Zen Garden - De Hoop, by Chris Preen, CC BY 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: Meditation, by Hartwig HKD, CC BY-ND 2.0.

Episode Description: Henry continues to explicate Sosan’s Shin-Jin Mei and incorporates the Three Treasures—Buddha, Dharma and Sangha--into the meaning of the poem. The Shin-Jin-Mei is an example of Dharma, a teaching or guidance, which helps us find our core, the heart/mind of ourselves (Buddha) and our universe (Sangha). Henry also discusses another meaning of Dharma, as "natural law," intangible but vividly experienceable, always with us, and in us, right now.

The other 2 parts of this series: Episode #20 Part 1 and Episode #21 Part 2.

Post Image and Featured Image Credit: Courtesy Cherie Manifest.

Episode Description: In this second talk of our spring sesshin, Henry elucidates the the case of an old, wise woman near Taizan who gives directions to a lost monk. Henry acknowledges the many women teachers within Zen history and this lineage. He discusses the depth of awakening that Joshu senses in the old woman and describes how the ten Ox-herding pictures provide a map to awakening. In this wide-ranging discussion Henry captures the essence of Zen’s promise—the infinite compassion of Kanzeon springing from Manjusri’s ultimate wisdom.

Image Credit: Spirit of Meditation, by Hartwig HKD, CC BY-ND 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: Playing the gayageum, by Republic of Korea, CC BY-SA 2.0

Episode Description: This talk, the first during our spring sesshin, introduces the Koan Mu and addresses the challenges that arise during a first sesshin. Henry compares zen practice to musical instrument practice with a lively story about his old trombone teacher, Jack Pinches. He also recounts the difficulties and rewards of his own first sesshin. Henry emphasizes the importance of diligent practice and explains how to sit with Mu while allowing it to absorb our inner commentary so we may gradually come face to face with our entrenched sense of self.

Image Credit: Meditation, Mahamudra, by Hartwig HKD, CC BY-ND 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: Playing the gayageum, by Republic of Korea, CC BY-SA 2.0

Episode Description:Henry uses this startling koan about Nansen and a cat to explore questions about life, death and ultimate reality. Does Nansen really kill the cat? If so, what has he actually killed? What is this life we believe we are leading? Listen to how this koan beckons us to wake from the dream of subject and object, life and death. Henry quotes theologians, zen stories, and the Cloud of Unknowing to elucidate how this powerful koan can shock us out of ourselves.

Image Credit: Sleeping Buddha, Dreaming the World, by Hartwig HKD, CC BY-ND 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: Zen Stone Garden, by t_s_l, CCO Public Domain

Episode Description:Henry explicates the first six lines of the Verses on the Faith-Mind by focusing on the question, What is the great way? Henry quotes from the 14th-century Zen master Bassui, who insists we already are the great way, fully and completely. This talk grapples with the essence of Zen training; the three fires of greed, hatred and delusion; the first critical step of accepting our perceived separation from the great way; and finally, the distinction between self- and nonself-based practice, both of which are unavoidable and necessary in the process of training.  Calling on the elders in the lineage, this potent talk incorporates the wisdom of Bassui, Dahui and Yamada Roshi to show how our current practice is, right now, the great way itself.

The other 2 parts of this series: Episode #20 Part 1 and Episode #25 Part 3 (final one).

Image Credit: Hallway, Self-Realization Fellowship, Encinitas, California, USA, by Wonderlane, CC BY 2.0.

Featured Image Credit: Courtesy Cherie Manifest.