Dharma Talk Archive


Seeds of Consciousness

  Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion of the Thirty Verses of Vasubandhu over the past two weeks.  He started by remarking on the power and usefulness of having a Sangha when trying to underst...

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All in the Mind

  Tesshin Roshi started this week’s talk by describing the part of the morning service in a Zen temple where all the names of the ancestors are chanted.  The list is pretty long and the chant can...

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Wash Your Bowl

  This week Roshi led the investigation of Mumonkan Case 7 “Wash Your Bowl”  The case is short and is provided below …   A monk said to Jõshû, “I have just entered this monastery. Please te...

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Zen and Creativity

  This week Tesshin Roshi used his talk to discuss Zen and the arts.  Does an artist use Zen practice to bring out their art or does Zen evoke an artistic desire in the artist?  As the group cont...

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Aeonic Fire

  This week Tesshin Roshi continued our koan study with case 30 from the Book of Serenity.  The case is called Dasui’s Aeonic Fire.  The case is short and is provided below …   A monk asked Dasui...

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Restlessness and Doubt

  This week Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion of the Five Hinderances by discussing Restlessness and Doubt.  We first started with the hinderance of restlessness.  This is a very common hind...

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Ill Will and Sloth

  This week Tesshin Roshi continued our exploration of the Five Hinderances.  Before beginning, Roshi reminded us again that the hinderances are never about external things, rather they are all a...

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Happy New Year

  Tesshin Roshi opened his talk this week by wishing everyone a happy new year.  He reminisced about his time in Japan where every practice center rang their big temple bell 108 times.  The sound...

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Bodhi-Bot

  Roshi continued his discussion this week of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it relates to our practice.  There has been a lot of talk these past few weeks about AI language models rivaling...

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Do Zen Androids Dream of Electric Buddhas

  Goroshi used his talk this week to ponder the meaning of Artificial Intelligence from a Buddhist point of view.  This week saw the release of yet another advanced “language model” which allows ...

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The Way is not Difficult

  Tesshin Roshi resumed our training this week by examining the second case from the Blue Cliff Record.  This case is commonly known as “The Real Way Is Not Difficult”.  Roshi mentioned that this...

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Incense

  This week Goroshi asked everyone to think and act like the incense we use on the alter.  What does it mean to “be like incense?”  First, we should note that when we put the incense into the hol...

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Nothing Held Back

  Tesshin Roshi continued his discussion of Dogen’s Shobogenzo this week.  He reminded the group that that Dogen’s work is actually part of a long line of inquiry of the Lotus Sutra which actuall...

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The Burning House

  This week Goroshi continued his discussion on Dogen’s Shobogenzo which served as a commentary on the Lotus Sutra.  Last week Roshi talked about “Hokke Ten Hokke” which essentially reminds us ab...

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Round and Round

  Tesshin Roshi noted that writers and teachers should work with what they know and like the best. However, for this week, he decided to ignore that advice and start a discussion on something he ...

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Light Before Light

  Tesshin Roshi opened his talk this week by discussing the Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kipper holidays practiced in the Jewish religion.  Part of this tradition in these holidays is reflection and atone...

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Form and Emptiness

  This week goroshi opened his talk by discussing the forms we use in practice, both words and deeds.  If everything is empty, why have forms in our practice?  Why do we bow a certain way?  Why d...

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Old Cow

  Roshi used his talk this week to explore case 60 in the Book of Serenity.  This case is alternatively known as “Iron Grinder” or “Tetsuma, the Cow”  Below is the text …   Ryû Tetsuma came to Is...

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Mind of Enlightenment

  Roshi continued our discussion this week on Hakuin.  He opened the talk by reciting a famous koan ascribed to Hakuin.   “You know the sound of two hands clapping, what sound does one hand ...

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Intense Effort – Great Calm

  This week Tesshin Roshi began a discussion on Hakuin Roshi who is one of the great Rinzai masters in the Zen tradition.  Roshi reminded us that the main thread of our practice is Soto Zen, but ...

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No Pursuit No Attainment

  Tesshin Roshi opened his talk this week by asking a question – How can you attain a thing without pursuing it.  This is an important question in our Zen practice.  Why do we show up for Zazen, ...

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Ancestors We Choose

  Tesshin Roshi opened his talk this week by talking about the Japanese Obon festival which runs from August 13th through August 16th.  During this time many Japanese flee the big cities like Tok...

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Zen and the Art of Diving

  The group was happy to have Roshi back after his three-week trip to Egypt and Israel.  Roshi used his talk to relate his three weeks of Scuba diving to our practice.  It is said that there is a...

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The Last Word

  This week Goroshi continued the discussion of Case 51 in the Blue Cliff Record known as Xuefeng’s (jap:Seppo) “What is This?”  Last week, Roshi provided some of the historical background of the...

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What is This? – Part 1

  Tesshin Roshi used his talk this week to begin discussing Case 51 in the Blue Cliff Record.  This is known as Xuefeng’s (jap:Seppo) “What is This?”  For this first talk, Roshi provided the grou...

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The Six Gates to the Sublime

  Tesshin Roshi returned to our normal Dharma talks this week after our intensive preparation for the Jukai ceremony during this past spring.  This week he shared with us the “The Six Gates...

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Art of the Sangha

  We welcomed Tesshin Roshi back after his trip through Europe.  Roshi described the last day of his trip visiting the Prado National Museum of Art in Madrid.  The museum was hosting a collection...

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Listening to Reality

  This week Tesshin Roshi continued exploring the Diamond Sutra.  The sutra contains a question-and-answer session between the historical Buddha and a senior monk named Subhuti.  Roshi noted that...

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Everyday Zen

  This week Tesshin Roshi began our discussion of the Diamond Sutra.  This Sutra was first written down in the 300’s CE.  It is one of the most popular of the eighteen short Prajnaparamita (Perfe...

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Bodhisattva Vows

  This week Roshi explained the Bodhisattva vows as we will begin chanting them as part of our service.  Why would it make sense for us to chant such outrageous vows in the first place?    •Being...

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The Three Bodies

  Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion this week of the Sixth Patriarch.  One thing to remember about Huineng is that he was illiterate.  This means that his Zen was not academic, but rather in...

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Things are not What They Seem

  This week Tesshin Roshi started an exploration of the Platform Sutra   This sutra is important in Zen Buddhism as it centers on the teachings of the sixth patriarch Huineng.  The term ‘platform...

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Rituals and Patterns

  Roshi used his talk this week to explore the value of adding ritual to our practice.  It seems that in today’s world everyone is dropping rituals as fast as possible as they appear to be repeti...

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Breaking Feedback Loops

  Tesshin Roshi opened his talk this week by mentioning that he attended a clergy seminar describing a new version of the King James Bible under development.  This new version will include many n...

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Physics Finds Koans

  Tesshin Roshi used his talk this to explore how the insight of “uncertainty” from modern physics is similar to a message which Buddhism, and Zen in particular, has been conveying for thousands ...

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The Vow to Manifest

  Tesshin Roshi continued our Jukai training this week by beginning a discussion on the Ten Grave Precepts.  To western ears this may sound a lot like the biblical Ten Commandments.  As such, Ros...

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The Three Pure Precepts

  This week Tesshin Roshi began instructions for our Jukai ceremony coming in the spring.  He began by discussing the Three Pure Precepts.  The first of these precepts is “Do No Evil.”  This soun...

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Make a Stand

  This week Tesshin Roshi started to discuss with us what is involved with taking Jukai or Buddhist vows.  “Ju” literally means “taking” and “kai” translates as precepts.  As such, in its most ba...

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108 Bono

  As this was our last meeting before the new year, Tesshin used the opportunity to discuss the Japanese Buddhist tradition of ringing the temple bell 108 times to banish the 108 “Bono” or sins. ...

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Dharma Rain

  This week Tesshin shared the “Parable of the Plants” from the Lotus Sutra.  (attached below)  Tesshin noted that a parable is a common teaching tool used in Buddhism to drive home a point.  The...

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