Yorktown Zen

Roshi opened his talk this week by noting how many new students in Zen hit the same challenges in their practice.  At first, they become frustrated because the mind feels scattered and out of control.  They quit because they feel as though they are wasting time.  Then, as practice matures,…

When you see someone cut a tree in a cartoon or movie, they will often saw straight through the trunk of the tree. But that’s now how professionals cut trees. When professionals cut trees, they carve out an indentation on each side of the cut. If you cut a straight…

Today, Roshi wanted to take a moment to discuss the foundation of our pratice, Zazen itself. Some people say you can either live an authentic, real life and be present; or you can continually be obsessed with distractions and mental creations. It’s an either / or situation. But this is…

Rōshi returned from a sesshin at Tetsugyuji, his monastery in Japan. While there, he had the privilege to meet with Aoyama Rōshi, the abbess of the only Buddhist nunnery in Japan. The 30-minute appointment turned into almost two hours, so much did they enjoy each other’s company. He was able…

Roshi continued with our discussion of the Lotus Sutra. By Chapter 15, so many incredible things have happened, and all of the gathered emanations say to Shakyamuni: we love this, want to protect the Lotus Sutra and make it the law of the land.  Shakyamuni says, that’s okay, you don’t…

Roshi continued with the second half of Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra, right after Shakyamuni’s revelation that Devadatta was once his teacher. At this point Prajnakuta asks, “Well, are we done here now? We’ve been here a while, can we leave?” Shakyamuni says, “Let’s stay, and talk about wisdom.” …

Having reached Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra, Roshi wondered aloud whether we had yet asked ourselves an important question: was the author, the person who actually wrote down all of this dramatic, fantastical material, on drugs? Roshi offered four states of mind that he thought could have inspired the…

Roshi continued with Chapter 11 of the Lotus Sutra. Chapter 11 starts with a contradictory pair of statements: those who live by the Lotus Sutra will find that their pain and suffering are relieved, however the Lotus Sutra may also cause more pain and suffering. It’s an interesting question: how…