The OzZen Podcast

This session gives an introduction to why it is important to study philosophy and an overview of the course.

In this talk I reflect on the “Voice from the Heart”, why the referendum lost and what has to happen next. It provides a brief historical background to the Voice and it includes some reflections on the One and the Many from a Zen perspective and applies the concept of “spiritual bypassing” at the collective level when a nation denies the truth of its history. It concludes with the following quote from James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced”.

Caveat: There was some technical problem with the recording so the quality is not very good.

Our original nature can be described as Awareness or Heart-Mind. This Awareness that we are, which ultimately constitutes our original nature, has a number of essential qualities. As an introduction to this guided meditation, I discuss the four faces of Universal Love. In Buddhism they are called the Four Brahma Viharas (divine dwellings): In the language of the Buddha, these are metta, karuna, mudita, and upekkha. In English they are commonly known as loving-kindness, compassion or care, appreciative joy, and equanimity, peace or simply being. In order to support the transformation of attachment-based exclusive love into love and happiness that radiates in all directions (including ourselves), contemplation of the four abodes can be transformative.

This talk guides us through a journey of embodying the connections we have with our place here …the earth, the elements, and the beings we share life energy with. Exploring the fundamental Buddhist truths that everything is connected and everything is impermanent. Being present with the emotions that arise and coming to the spaciousness that allows anything to be possible.

This meditation guides you from the experience of your breath to some old zen parables.

The first story is a re-telling of “A Parable” from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.

Two koans are featured, both are from The Gateless Gate by Koun Yamada. These are, Case 30 “Mind is Buddha”, and Case 36 “Meeting a Man Who Has Accomplished the Way”.

Influences for this talk are also SN Goenka and Paul McKenna.

This guided meditation was taught by Gurdjieff to his students. Through each round of body sensing we are guided into self-remembering – the “I am” of awareness.

This guided meditation is all about finding or recognising and then stabilising in your essential nature, your inner “treasury”. I have titled the meditation “Appreciate this Life” after the book by the same title by Maezumi Roshi. Even though we cannot “see” our essential nature we can simply be, knowingly, our essential nature. We need to recognize our essential nature in this way. It doesn’t need to be a dramatic event. But it is always deeply wonderous

Joshu(Peter Thompson) founder of the Wombat Sangha in Sydney gives a introduction to the importance of Yoga Nidra practice and how it complements our Zen practice.

ZAZEN YOGA NIDRA

This guided meditation integrates zazen and yoga nidra. Both zazen and yoga nidra are gateways into the subjective sense of the body and ultimately the realisation of self as nondual awareness.

Joshu (Peter Thompson) is a founding member of the Sydney Zen Centre and a founder of the Wombat Sangha based in Sydney. In this talk Joshu develops a founding narrative for contemporary Zen practice based upon Evolution. Joshu says, “An important part of the story and mystery of our evolution and being here is the existential reality of alienation and separation and anxiety seemingly caused by the emergence of the frontal neo cortex, bringing with it the human thinking mind ...This brought about The Fall from the graceful state of oneness ( The Garden Of Eden , Genesis ) ....In explaining this, I am cross fertilizing a number of religious stories ... In the beginning existed "only The Tao, Silent and Alone " ( Tao Te Ching ) … Tao or Brahma is moved to create a Divine Lila or Game ...A vast game of Hide and Seek - to lose 'herself' in her creation and then to seek to find herself again in the evolution of the human instrument over 4 billion years from the first living single cell! Woman and Man, at first totally lost and ignorant ( Avidya ) , confused , immersed in forgetfulness and clouded by thinking mind are moved and driven to find themselves as absolute and eternal life , which in reality they had never lost or left.”

The great master Jesus points to the need for a great search to arrive back at home again-'Seek and Ye shall find , Knock and the door shall be opened '

He demonstrates the centrality of the theme of 'lost and found' in three major and profound parables 1. The Prodigal Son/Daughter 2. The Lost Sheep and 3. The Widow's Coin ....What is most notable here is the grief of the loss, the intensity and unrelenting search and the tremendous relief , JOY and CELEBRATION upon the finding ... ( Ecstasis, Kensho, Sartori , Epiphany etc.)

The thesis is thus that JOY and CELEBRATION are the alpha and omega of our existence - the main goal, the main reason for our being here... (Zen Master Hakuin - " Singing and Dancing are the Voice of The Law “)

Brahma - Tao - Godhead and the awakened person exhibit these seven main qualities.

Universal Love ( Karuna , Agape ) , Joy- Bliss ( Ananda ) , Creativity ( incl - Vishnu -preservation/ protection and Shiva- destruction ) , Intelligence , Conscious Knowing ( Chit ), Energy , Absolute BEINGNESS ( Sat)

The thesis here is that these metaphysical considerations enhance our Zen spiritual practice and understanding by embedding us in a most meaningful background context and Universal viewing platform ...