Dharma Talk Archive


Reverend Jeanette Phillips

  Tesshin Roshi used his talk this week to eulogize Jeannette J. Phillips who was one of his clerical colleagues in the Hudson Valley region.  Roshi noted that right before her death at 90 years ...

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Walking Meditation

  This week Tesshin Roshi explored “Buddhist Walking” and what it means for our practice.  It is important to note that all schools of Buddhism have some type of walking practice, even if the sty...

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Buddhist Culture

  Roshi opened his talk this week by telling us that he was invited to give a talk at the United Auto Workers conference on “Safety.”  Why would a Zen teacher be invited to talk to a group of aut...

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You are Buddha Right Now

  Roshi begins this week with a reminder that we have been talking for several weeks about the sixth patriarch, the Platform Sutra. He tells us he could spend an entire year on this easily and ne...

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Huineng’s Three Refuges

  Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion this week on Huineng and the  Platform Sutra.     Roshi opened the Taisho (dharma talk) this week by noting that the Platform Sutra is really all abo...

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Turning the Mirror Inward

  Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion this week on Huineng and the Platform Sutra.  (Red Pine translation)   To reiterate, Roshi suggested that we could consider Huineng a rebel and a ren...

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Zen Renegade

  Tesshin Roshi opened the Taisho this week by thanking everyone for their hard work and dedication during our second annual Jukai ceremony.  Special congratulations were in order for our Jukai c...

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What is a Teacher?

  Tesshin Roshi announced to the group that a representative from Soto Zen will be visiting the Sangha on Sunday July 23rd.  Roshi then noted that in the West, there are three broad group of Zen ...

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Dynamic Karma

  This week Roshi continued our exploration of Dogen’s perspective on karma.  One translation of Dogen’s Shobogenzo we can use is located at:   http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/Shobogenzo.pdf (sear...

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Karma in Action

  Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion of karma this week and reiterated how karma is the foundation of our existence and our practice.  Roshi started by relating a story about when he was in t...

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Karma In This Life

  Roshi will be leading us through the study of the concept of “Karma” for the next few weeks.  We are commonly told that there is nothing outside of Zen and that Zen is karma.  As such everythin...

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Sacrifice

  Tesshin Roshi opened his talk this week discussing how in his professional life he works with individuals on improving their productivity.  For instance, a good “rule of thumb” is to never have...

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What Passes?

  This week we continued our study of “Records of the Transmission of the Lamp”   https://terebess.hu/zen/textindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denkoroku   Roshi started his talk this week...

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Who Constrains You?

  This week we continued our study of “Records of the Transmission of the Lamp”   https://terebess.hu/zen/textindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denkoroku   Roshi reminded us that this koan...

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Bodhidharma Sparkles

  This week we continued our study of “Records of the Transmission of the Lamp”   https://terebess.hu/zen/textindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denkoroku   To reiterate, this collection of...

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Transmission

  For the next few weeks, Roshi will be focusing on a collection of koans from the “Records of the Transmission of the Lamp”   https://terebess.hu/zen/textindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...

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Nothing to Grasp

  This week Roshi set out to wrap up Vasubandhu’s Thirty Verses by focusing on the last five lines.  He noted the density of this work and commented that he could give a full semester course on e...

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Truth

  Roshi started this week’s Teisho by noting that our progress through Vasubandhu is taking longer than expected because there is so much meaning packed into each verse.  In the previous verses, ...

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Spiritual Fuel

  This week Tesshin Roshi continued our discussion on Vasubandhu’s Thirty Verses.     Roshi took us through a reiteration of the lists of afflictions and beneficial states listed in Vasubandhu’s ...

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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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