August 2018 Special Zazenkai with Author and Teacher Susan Moon

(Reigetsu) Susan Moon is a writer, editor, and lay teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She is the author of a number of books about Buddhism, including the humor book The Life and Letters of Tofu Roshi and This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity. For many years she was the editor of Turning Wheel, the journal of socially engaged Buddhism. Her short stories and essays have been published widely. Sue has been a Zen student since 1976, practicing in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi at Berkeley Zen Center, Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, Green Gulch Farm, and now with Zoketsu Norman Fischer’s Everyday Zen sangha. She received “entrustment” as a lay teacher in 2005. She is a serious student of photography and the mother of two grown sons and the grandmother of three granddaughters. She lives in Berkeley, California.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:ATTENTION: Special Zazenkai SATURDAY 8/4 with Author/Zen Teacher SUSAN MOON »

July 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Cases 76 and 77 from the Book of Equanimity)

The Talk this time will be on "Book of Equanimity" Koans we have recently danced in our "No Words Book Club." These are available to read on our current Book Club thread at:  https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?55-BEYOND-WORDS-LETTERS-BOOK-CLUB-TREELEAF-ART-CIRCLE
CASE 76: Shuzan's Three Verses
CASE 77: Kyôzan: As Befits His Portion
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:July 6th-7th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

June 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Dogen's Dharma Hall Discourses - Part V)

We will finish this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:June 1st-2nd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

May 2018 Special Zazenkai with Rev. EDWARD ESPE BROWN (The Tassajara Tenzo)

On Sunday May 6th, Soto Priest and famed former "Tenzo" (Head Cook) at the Tassajara Zen Monastery Rev. Edward Espe Brown offered a very special Zazenkai and Talk, live from California and Treeleaf Tsukuba.
Edward Espe Brown, a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, was was ordained in 1971 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and he received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman in 1996. He was the first head resident cook at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center from 1967 to 1970. He later worked at the celebrated Greens Restaurant in San Francisco [then operated by San Francisco Zen Center], serving as busboy, waiter, floor manager, wine buyer, cashier, host, and manager. He has taught meditation retreats and vegetarian cooking classes throughout North America and Europe. He is the author of several books and also has edited a book of Suzuki Roshi lectures, Not Always So. Ed is the founder and teacher of the Peaceful Sea Sangha.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:ATTENTION: Special Zazenkai SUNDAY with Rev. EDWARD ESPE BROWN (The Tassajara Tenzo) »

April 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Dogen's Dharma Hall Discourses - Celebration of the Buddha's Birthday)

Our Zazenkai today is in CELEBRATION of BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY, traditionally APRIL 8th in Japan.  Today's Talk will dance with Dharma Hall Discourses by Master Dogen in Celebration of the Buddha's Birthday (from the Eihei Koroku, trans. Leighton and Okumura).
We also CELEBRATE the Dharma Transmission of our Treeleaf Priests: Kyonin, Shingen and Shokai.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:April 6th-7th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! - CELEBRATING BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY! »

March 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Dogen’s Hokyoki - Part IV)

I thought that we might spend a few months with the text, taking it a few pages at a time. Not all the advice is something one need agree with in modern times, maybe (based on his own later Teachings) some of it even Dogen did not take to heart. However, let us see what we can find.
I am going to read from page 21 through the first few lines of 24 today if there is time. It is a grabbag of topics, so let's see what we find.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:March 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

February 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Sandokai - The Identity of Relative and Absolute)

Today's Talk is based on the Sandokai (Identity of Relative & Absolute) that we chant each month.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:February 2nd-3rd, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! »

January 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Dogen’s Hokyoki - Part III)

We continue this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances of much of the advice and guidance he received on those questions from his own Teacher.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:January 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! (Welcoming the New Year & Jukai) »