TREELEAF ZENDO PODCAST

March 2019 Zazenkai Talk - "IN THE NEWS!"

Today's Talk will look at a variety of STORIES and ISSUES IN THE NEWS today. Recently, there has been much discussion in the Buddhist world about "leaving politics at the door" of the Buddhist Sangha, where we encounter a way beyond opinions and debates. Generally, I very much agree. Zazen is beyond "right left and middle," and points to something beyond mere worldly concerns. However, I also believe that Buddhist teachings and values do guide us in certain directions in daily life, and toward certain outlooks and behavior, that must impact how we approach some social issues and stories in the news.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:March 1st-2nd, 2019 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! - IN THE NEWS! »

January 2019 SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: THOUGHTS and EMOTIONS are GOOD ZAZEN too!

I am going to say something that might be missed or not emphasized enough in many explanations of Shikantaza Zazen. (I apologize to any teachers who do in fact say this).
In Shikantaza, trains of thought and stormy emotions might come. and we are told to release the thoughts, become untangled, returning to the posture or breath or 'open awareness,' the stillness and silence free of thoughts. Then, when more thoughts come, we just repeat. That is correct.
However...
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: THOUGHTS and EMOTIONS are GOOD ZAZEN too! »

Special New Year Zazenkai SATURDAY 1/5 with Zoketsu Norman Fischer

Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest, teaching and practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, from whom he received Dharma transmission in 1988. Fischer served as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center from 1995–2000, after which he founded the Everyday Zen Foundation in 2000, a network of Buddhist practice group and related projects in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Fischer has published more than twenty-five books of poetry and non-fiction, as well as numerous poems, essays and articles in Buddhist magazines and poetry journals.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Special New Year Zazenkai SATURDAY 1/5 with Zoketsu Norman Fischer »

November 2018 Zazenkai Talk (November 3rd-4th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI!)

Today's Talk is the second part (we began last month) of reflections on portions of the 'Tenzo Kyokun' (典座教訓) or "Instructions for the Cook," Master Dogen's celebration of work (作務) and all our responsibilities in life, as we continue our Jukai and Ango Season for this year.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:November 3rd-4th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »

October 2018 Zazenkai Talk (October 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI!)

Today's Talk will honor portions of Master Dogen's "Instructions for the Cook," a celebration of 'Samu' Work Practice and all our duties in life.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:October 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI! »

September 2018 Zazenkai Talk (Ango Kickoff - Dogen's "Shobogenzo-Jukai")

Today's Talk will reflect on a portion of Master Dogen's 'Shobogenzo-Jukai' as we commence our Jukai and Ango Season for this year.
In the Western Heavens and the Eastern Lands, wherever the transmission has passed between Buddhist patriarchs, at the beginning of entering the Dharma there is inevitably the receiving of the precepts. Without receiving the precepts we are never the disciples of the buddhas and never the descendants of the ancestral masters—because they have seen “departing from excess and guarding against wrong” as “practicing [za]zen and inquiring into the truth.” The words “the precepts are foremost” already are the right Dharma-eye treasury itself. To “realize buddha and become a patriarch” inevitably is to receive and maintain the right Dharma-eye treasury; therefore, ancestral masters who receive the authentic transmission of the right Dharma-eye treasury inevitably receive and maintain the Buddhist precepts. There cannot be a Buddhist patriarch who does not receive and maintain the Buddhist precepts. Some receive and maintain them under the Tathāgata, which in every instance is to have received the lifeblood. The Buddhist precepts now authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha and from patriarch to patriarch were exactly transmitted only by the ancestral patriarch of Sūgaku [Master Bodhidharma] and, transmitted five times in China, they reached the founding patriarch of Sōkei [Master Hui-Neng].The authentic transmissions from Seigen, Nangaku, and so on have been conveyed to the present day, but there are unreliable old veterans and the like who do not know it at all. They are most pitiful.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:Aug 31st-Sept 1st, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! - COMMENCING JUKAI & ANGO! »

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! »