Michelle Seigei Spark, Lay Senior

Zen Mountain Monastery 10/19/2016

From the Devaduta Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 130) and the Sallatha Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya 36.6) in the Pali Canon

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery 10/8/2016, Saturday Morning Retreat-Session

Continuing the retreat-weekend’s thematic progression—activating awareness in zazen and then bringing it into liturgy, from stillness into activity—Shugen Sensei leads the sangha in examining how we can bring bring our attention into the activity of Right Livelihood. In particular, he asks, “How do you remember?”

He explains, “What we translate as ‘mindfulness’ means ‘to remember, to remember, to remember’—this very deliberate, very conscious part of practicing the living Way. […] [I]f we think of the elements of an offering, of a prostration, of zazen, then those are the elements that we can bring forward into our work, into our relationships. And in that way, those become reminders—living reminders—and not just reminders but practice, because we’re not just remembering. Within remembering, we’re practicing.” Sangha members respond and ask questions.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery 10/8/2016, Saturday Afternoon Retreat-Session

In Genjokoan, Master Dogen explains, “Realizing this place, one’s daily life is a realization of the ultimate reality (genjokoan).  Realizing this Way, one’s daily life is the realization of the ultimate reality (genjokoan). Since the place and the Way are neither large nor small, neither subject nor object, neither existing previously nor just arising now, they therefore exist thus.”

“And yet,” asks Shugen Sensei, “[in daily life,] the moment that is confronting us is going to appear as a moment of subject-and-object, is going to appear as a moment of large—or small. And so how do we practice there?” In response to this question, members of the sangha ask their own questions and reflect on the challenges and possibilities of encountering the world as the Way, in particular on practicing in the midst of human relationships.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/16/2016

Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Dharma Holder

Zen Center of New York City, 10/16/2016

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery 10/7/2016, Friday Morning Retreat-Session

Shugen Sensei and the sangha explore the role of faith in Zen practice and reflect on personal experiences of the practice of zazen, examining Master Dogen’s Fukan Zazengi (“Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen”) and the core text of the ango, Genjokoan.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery 10/7/2016, Friday Afternoon Retreat-Session

After concluding the morning’s discussion on zazen, Shugen Sensei and the sangha take a fresh look at the practice of liturgy. What is liturgy? How do we enter into its forms, invocations, and mysteries and take inspiration from them to make offerings in our everyday lives? Members of the sangha pose questions and share their personal experiences.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery 10/12/2016

Discourse given for the second renewal-of-vows ceremony of Fall 2016 Ango.

Audio Note: There is static on the track due to a technical mistake made during recording.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/12/2016

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/5/2016