In this talk I am going to discuss the Heart Sutra, the most important teaching in the Zen Buddhist world.  I want to emphasise that this sutra is all about enlightenment as a verb – enlightening. The realisation of emptiness or boundlessness is freeing – it lightens us up and fills us with great joy! First, I will once again situate ourselves within Modern Buddhism.  I will then give some brief historical and philosophical background to the sutra. Then I will give a line-by-line commentary, which is the body of the talk.  Then if I have time, I will discuss differing ways of interpreting or understanding the sutra and how to practice the sutra.  My main sources for today’s talk are Dogen, Shohaku Okumura, Jay Garfield and Barry Magid.

Introduction to the Heart Sutra, Part One

This interview continues the exploration of the common ground between the teachings of Gurdjieff and Joko Beck. It begins with a brief biography of Elisabeth’s journey with the Gurdjieff teachings. The interview then stays on practice issues such as waking up through self-observation and self-remembering and non-identification. It also clarifies the meaning of no-self and Self in Zen teaching.

Interview with Elisabeth Barrett on Gurdjieff and Joko Beck

Gurdjieff designed this meditation as a morning preparation exercise, designed to increase one's awareness and sense of I Am.  This meditation was led by Elisabeth Barrett, an Australian independent teacher in the Gurdjieff tradition.

Gurdjieff Meditation: I Am

In this series of talks, we commence with developing our understanding of the Mahayana teachings about Buddha Nature and Awakening to our True Self.  We conclude that although awakening to our True Self is necessary, it is not sufficient.  After having awoken to our True Self, we need to do the hard work of integrating the Parts of the personality that are still in exile, carrying the burdens of developmental trauma or fixed in rigid protective stances and strategies.  This is the process of integrating the Parts with the Self.
 
1. The Four Turnings
2. Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature?
3. Integration of Zen and Psychotherapy
4. Nonduality in a Nutshell.

Buddha Nature 1: The Four Turnings

In this sixth episode in the series Indian Buddhist Philosophy: Progressive Stages of Insight into Emptiness, Sono discusses the Two Truths of Nagarjuna, the important insight into the “emptiness” of emptiness and how these philosophical insights shape how we practice.

Nagarjuna and the Two Truths

In this lecture we sample the Yogacara teachings of Vasubandhu called the Treatise on the Three Natures, which form the philosophical backbone of Yogacara.  So, what are the three natures?  They are three interrelated aspects of our experience: the imaginary, dependent and complete or realised nature.  In a nutshell they are:
The imaginary nature of things is what we think they are.
Their dependent nature of things is that they appear to depend on other things.
The complete, realised nature of things is that they are not what you think they are

Yogacara part one

In this lecture today, we will first review the discussion about the “three natures” that I introduced last month from the work of the Yogacara philosopher, Vasubandhu.  Then we will begin to discuss a contemporary philosophical school called Phenomenology and its similarities to Yogacara.  We will then finish today’s lecture by reading and discussing a chapter from Joko Beck’s first book called Experiencing and Behaviour which I think will help us make the link between what these Yogacarins and Phenomenologists are on about because Joko has this way of being able to express these complex ideas in a simple and straightforward way.

Yogacara part two

Denkai Talk: New York, Nov 15 2014

In this guided meditation we explore what is it to do zen practice together and to wake up together. in supporting each others practice, we support our own; in practicing together we discover our uniqueness within the simultaneous discovery of how important we are to each other.

Meditation: Zen Practice as Community, by Jack Dosho Wicks

Yogacara part four

The title of today’s contemplation “our original face is always changing” comes from the story of the sixth ancestor, Eno, retold in case 23 of The Gateless Barrier collection of koans:  
“Don’t think good, don’t think evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of Ming the head monk?”
“What is your original face before your parents were born?”
In other words, just sit and your original face immediately appears.
Finally, we could say our world self is also embedded in the great Cosmos.  We could say -
We are the Cosmos, experiencing itself in human form.  

Meditation: Your Original Face is Always Changing

This guided meditation explores our personal relationship with mistakes. Mistakes are a fertile ground for learning. Dogen says ‘Life is one continuous mistake.’ Changing our attitude to our mistakes can change our life. Mistakes are exactly the path.

Meditation: Being afraid of making mistakes is the biggest mistake you can make, by Louise Shinsho Cranny

THE CASE
Wu-Tsu said, “Sakyamuni and Maitreya are servants of another. Tell me, who is that other?”
WU-MEN’S COMMENT
If you can see this other and distinguish him or her clearly, then it is like encountering your father at the crossroads. You will not need to ask somebody whether or not you’re right.
WU-MEN’S VERSE
Don’t draw another’s bow;
Don’t ride another’s horse;
Don’t discuss another’s faults;
Don’t explore another’s affairs.

Wu-Tsu’s Who is that Other?

Christianity has the star of Bethlehem. We have the morning star.  
There is nothing special or supernatural about our morning star, yet the morning star is perfect just as it is, and it twinkles and changes from moment to moment – and we are all just like that morning star!
During this guided meditation I will take you on a metaphorical journey through three phases of Zazen as we sink deeper and deeper into being just moment and how this moment discloses itself to us – leading us into our core practice of Shikantaza:
1.	Settling in and building the Dwelling: Settling and claiming our sense of home leading to a sense of stability or samadhi.
2.	Forgetting the self that you came with.
3.	Receiving, attuning and befriending – receiving guests – inner and outer – which prepares us when we end our formal zazen to respond to the calls of the world.


Meditation: The Morning Star

This guided meditation explores our core practice of just-sitting and the encouragement to leave everything alone. Even though we're in different geographical locations with different visuals, different sounds, we share very similar bodies. One thing all humanity has in common is breathing. We all share that together. Welcome the breath. Become one with the breath, our constant companion and friend, right to the very end. Not trying to change anything, fix anything.  Just allowing our Zazen to do its work for us. Sitting relatively still allows us to go deeper and deeper into just simply experiencing this moment. Allow the breath, the unity of us all, sitting together, breathing together, to connect us to the sense of life itself.
 
 

Meditation: Leave everything alone

We seem to be caught in the habit of running from one thing to another.
When we do this, the next moment will not provide freedom from this urgency.
Here we practice together, breathing in “coming home”, breathing out “arriving”. Learning to resist the urge to react, we can become settled in restful attention. We also notice what happens when we stop running and slow down.

Meditation: Stop running, by Shinsho

In this guided meditation we will be exploring the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi sabi and how we can integrate it into our just-sitting practice. Wabi is about finding beauty in imperfection, simplicity, things that are aged and broken and cracked. Sabi is the appreciation of the beauty of impermanence and transience and the kind of melancholy feeling which comes with that which is kind of a sweet feeling. Sabi is concerned with the passage of time, with the way in which all things grow and decay and how aging alters the visual nature of those things.

Medidation: Wabi Sabi

The Place of Sangha in Post-Monastic Zen Practice

This talk explores some of the history and mythology behind the development of zazen (including Shikantaza or just sitting) meditation, and how it has been described as a way of practice.  Broadly following the historical timeline of Zen development, it draws on several key sources such as Red Pine’s translations of Bodhidharma’s sermons and the work of Guo Gu on Chinese Chan ‘silent illumination’ practice. This sets the scene for the travels of Dogen Zenji to China in the 13th Century and the eventual transmission of the Shikantaza zazen practice to Japan. Dogen would go on to establish Soto Zen and his important practical and philosophical teachings still resonate in Zen practice today. The talk explores both historical facts and the interesting and sometimes amusing mythology that has evolved around Zen over the ages.

The History of Shikantaza

This dharma talk focuses on exploring the concept of the self-centered dream and suffering, with discussions on practice principles and their potential modifications. Participants shared personal experiences and insights related to self-centeredness, dreams, and the nature of reality. The conversation also touched on the importance of shifting from a self-centered to a life-centered perspective, drawing from various philosophical and literary sources to illustrate key points.

Waking to a Dream within a Dream

Talk from OzZEN Zazenkai in Sawtell 2nd March 2025. 

Intimacy in Zen is discussed in terms of the two aspects of 1. presence with all of life, and 2. emotional availability and vulnerability. A complete offering of ourselves, unmasked.

This brings forth the character of the Bodhisattva as: simple, joyful, and open to life’s possibilities.

We mention “Intimacy and Commitment” from Ordinary Mind Zen teacher Elihu Genmyo Smith’s book “Everything is the way”. We mention three koans: The Hands and Eyes of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion (Blue Cliff Record Case 89), The National Teacher’s Monument (Blue Cliff Record Case 18), and Dizang’s “Not knowing is most intimate” (Book of Serenity Case 20).

The Experience of Intimacy in Zen, by Zenko Jack Wicks

This guided meditation uses the imagery of sitting at railway stations and waiting for trains to explore how thoughts arrive during zazen. It takes the meditator on a journey from a busy mind (the subway) to a calm mind (no station, no trains). It poses a key question throughout - is your mind busy or is your mind calm - from moment to moment? Please sit and enjoy.
Note: Phil chose to prioritise long periods of silence in this guided meditation, to enhance the meditation as a whole.

Meditation: Riding the Thought Train, by Phil Genkai

This guided meditation is based on Case 1 from the collection of Koans called The Gateless Gate. The case: "A monk asked Joshu in all earnestness, does a dog have Buddha nature or not? Joshu said “Mu!". The koan question is "What is Mu?" Ryan Eno has been working with Mu since May last year and will explore oceanic or open awareness of Mu. That is, Mu as direct experience of life as it is. It is a gentle and easy approach to Mu, that encourages you to allow whatever arises as you bring your focus back to Mu throughout the sitting. 

Meditation: On Mu, by Ryan Eno

These days I like to think that “life as it is” is the ultimate teacher, but not of course, the only teacher.  There are many teachers: relationships with nature; works of art and of course, relationships with significant people in our lives. Zen is a relational practice. Even when you are sitting alone, you are sitting with a long line of ancestors going all the way back to Shakymuni Buddha. During this guided meditation, we are going to integrate our zazen practice, our experience of life as it is, with an exploration of our relational selves, embedded as they are in a matrix of significant relationships that have shaped our sense of self and well-being over the history of our life. You will be invited to explore how you experience yourself in different relational contexts.

Meditation: Life as it is and other teachers

Why do we need refuge? In Zen Buddhism the Three Refuges are like a life-raft on the sea of life.  We face many storms of different conditions and circumstances.  We face natural disasters, floods and fires; the storms of relationships, loss and disappointment; we face wars and financial anxiety. We can summarise these as:
Fear
Uncertainty
Vulnerability
Greed, hatred and ignorance
People may take refuge in gods or an intervention God.  They make seek refuge in authoritarian leaders. The Buddha taught us to find refuge within this world, within ourselves and our relationships.

Meditation: Shelter from the Storm: The Three Refuges

Coping with the loss of a loved one is always difficult. In this Dharma Talk Lousie Shinsho explores how different people cope in different ways. The Buddha's teachings of impermanence are tempered by teachings of our deep interconnectedness. This can help in developing an ongoing relationship with our loved ones who are not really lost to us.

Coping with the loss of a loved one, by Louise Shinsho Cranny

In this dharma talk I share my latest understanding of the Practice Principles, originally formulated by Joko Beck and as interpreted by my teacher Barry Magid. The practice principles give us a condensed way of understanding ordinary mind zen practice. However, they do miss out some important aspects of practice, such as the importance of supportive relationships and mutual recognition. This talk covers how they are a re-working of the four noble truths and the four great vows.  The two couplets represent the Two Truths, the absolute or ultimate truth and the relative or conventional truth. The first two lines focus on how suffering arises in our everyday lives of problems and relationships.  They also give us a clue to the ending of suffering.  The final two lines emphasise the koan aspect of zen embodied in our zazen practice of just-sitting.  Paradoxically, the end of suffering is the end of the resistance to suffering.

Practice Principles 2025

In this talk Larry Kodo gives his first of a series of three talks on the founder of Japanese Soto Zen Eihei Dogen (1200-1253).  In this talk, Kodo presents his life story in the wider context of 13th century Japan and China, the motivations for his life decisions and a simple look at some of his core teachings and why he is still relevant to our practice today.

Dogen Zenji - A Biography, by Kodo

What does it mean to identify as a Buddhist? There is a diversity of Buddhism, so what kind of Buddhist? The most important point for me is that it is a commitment to a teaching and a teacher. We are all students of the Buddha Way.  We are always deepening our understanding and our practice.  In Buddhism the teaching is called dharma.  We could say we are students of the dharma. 
What is the essence of Zen Buddhism? In this talk I propose that the four seals summarise the essence of Zen Buddhism.  The four seals are:
1.	Life inevitably involves suffering; 
2.	Everything is impermanent;
3.	Everything is interdependent; and 
4.	Nirvana is peace or perfection found in this life.

What is the essence of Zen Buddhism?

This talk introduces the Aboriginal practice of Dadirri. Recognising an indigenous lineage and our indigenous ancestors:
“What I want to talk about is another special quality of my people. I believe it is the most important. It is our most unique gift. It is perhaps the greatest gift we can give to our fellow Australians. In our language this quality is called dadirri. It is inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness.  
Dadirri recognises the deep spring that is inside us. We call on it and it calls to us. This is the gift that Australia is thirsting for. It is something like what you call "contemplation".  
When I experience dadirri, I am made whole again. I can sit on the riverbank or walk through the trees; even if someone close to me has passed away, I can find my peace in this silent awareness. There is no need of words. A big part of dadirri is listening. Through the years, we have listened to our stories. They are told and sung, over and over, as the seasons go by. Today we still gather around the campfires and together we hear the sacred stories.  
As we grow older, we ourselves become the storytellers. We pass on to the young ones all they must know. The stories and songs sink quietly into our minds and we hold them deep inside. In the ceremonies we celebrate the awareness of our lives as sacred.  
The contemplative way of dadirri spreads over our whole life. It renews us and brings us peace. It makes us feel whole again…”

Dadirri Deep Listening

In this first talk for the year Andrew gives a general outline of Buddhism plus a discussion about the origins of Zen Buddhism.  Andrew also answers some questions about what drew him to Zen Buddhism.

Buddhism 101

From Australian Zen teacher Dr Andrew Tootell.

OzZen

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