When Joko Beck broke away from the White Plum Asanga to form her own sangha which she named the Ordinary Mind Zen School, she also stopped wearing a robe and also dropped the Koan curriculum and the Jukai ceremony. Barry Magid reintroduced the Jukai ceremony (minus the Buddhist names) and also reintroduced the study of koans. Barry reintroduced the study of koans in the spirit of Soto Zen – using the koans as teaching stories to illuminate different aspects of Zen practice and not as a form of meditation practice aimed at inducing a special spiritual experience. However, more than that, I think one of Barry’s major innovations to contemporary Zen has been to interpret the old koan stories from the perspective of western psychotherapy, thereby instigating a unique sub-genre of utilising koans. In this talk I am going to apply Barry’s style of koan interpretation to Case 94, from the collection of Koans known as The Book of Serenity.

Zen practice is premised on the identity of the Absolute and the Relative. They are both the same and different. Which is why in Zen we say, “not one, not two”! The Absolute is expressed in our Practice Principles as being just this moment – and the identity of the Absolute with the Relative is expressed as Compassion’s Way. If we see that our home is just this moment, then there is nothing else we need to depend on – no matter what happens in our life we will always be at one with our home. If only it was so easy! For most of us, we need to attend to some intermediary practices, in order to cultivate our capacity to feel at home in this moment, just as it is. Every time we practice zazen, we are cultivating our capacity to be at home in this moment. However, we need to do more than that. We need to express our understanding and share our response to just this moment, especially when this moment is a shared relationship with others – an intersubjective moment. How do we practice our insight into nonseparation in our relationships with others? In other words, what is the optimal response to the situation we find ourselves in, both to ourselves and others? After realising our true nature, how do we bring all beings into mutual harmony? This is the practice of the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Meditation: I – Here – Now, by Elisabeth Barrett by

Genjokoan, by Larry Kodo Hancock by

'Enlightenment,' says Joko Beck 'is the ability to give totally in every moment. In this guided meditation we explore what it is to give and what it feels like to give and to receive. We also investigate gratitude, forgiveness and what we may be avoiding right now, what we are not giving attention to. As we give, our hearts open, and we begin to see that giving feels good and can be a path, a way of living.

We often view life as a problem to be solved – we are either living a successful life, a good life, or we feel we are a failure at living. We might try one self-improvement project after another, and they can work for a certain period of time. But in the end, we cannot escape the inevitable – impermanence and interdependence. Impermanence and interdependence are experienced often as suffering – and when we resist impermanence and interdependence, we add another layer of suffering from our attempt to separate out from the fact that we are embedded in life and relationships with other human beings that ultimately, we cannot control. The alternative to viewing life as a problem is to view life as a koan to be lived to the full.

In this guided meditation we explore the distinction between awareness and mindfulness – with awareness being described as effortless presence and mindfulness being described as remembering to be aware of a particular object or to be aware of awareness itself (objectless meditation).

In this dharma talk OzZEN Facilitator Phil Genkai explores consciousness through the lens of the Buddhist teaching of the five aggregates of no-self and through the lens of contemporary scientific theories. The talk concludes with a discussion about the practical implications of these teachings.

In this guided meditation Sono recites Torei Zenji’s Bodhisattvas’ Vow to open the heart to practice loving kindness towards those who have hurt us or done us harm.

Make room for space.

Todays guided meditation is about making space in our life for life.

We all know what a cluttered house feels like. Stressful, busy. noisy. Everything seems to be calling for our attention.

Have you too much stuff in your inner world?

Is your life too busy?

It’s not about what you feel cluttered by, it’s about what you value deeply and what serves a useful purpose.

What brings you joy?