Auckland Zen Centre: Weekly Podcasts

A teisho on the precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.

A teisho on the precepts in preparation for the Jukai ceremony.

A teisho in the series about the chant "The Ancestral Line".

It is possible to get stuck in emptiness. More is needed for real living. Main Text(s) quoted: The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen

Luzu's plain and simple teaching is evidence of his deep faith in our potential to awaken. Main Text(s) quoted: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Fergusson

Becoming an ox at the bottom of the mountain, or "Nothing distinguishes the enlightened person." (Yamada Koun-roshi) Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu and The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen

Review -- why do we come to sesshin and what do we do? Skillfully working with our mental obsessions, compulsions and delusions and entering the Hongzhi's "clear circle of brightness". Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu.

"Murkiness remains": pros and cons and pitfalls of shikantaza and koan practice. What is the "field of boundless emptiness"? Some perspectives from quantum physics. Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu. The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos by Brian Swimme.

Biographical material and introduction to Master Hongzhi's teaching. Main Text(s) quoted: Cultivating the Empty Field, The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, translated by Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu and The Method of No-Method, The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Shengyen

Second talk in the series about the Full Ancestral Line chant. Note: the first part did not record and was re-recorded and attached to the original file.

A discussion of the Ancestral Line chant.

Teisho in a series of teisho on women masters from the Pool of Radiance chant. Text used: "The Hidden Lamp", ed. Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.

Day 7 of summer 7-day sesshin How does Kannon do her work? How do we bring our practice into our daily activities?

Day 6 of summer 7-day sesshin Texts: The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentary on the Therigatha by Susan Murcott The Questions of King Milinda; An Abridgment of the Milindapanha edited by N.K.G. Mendis, Buddhist Publication Society 1993

This teisho is a part of the series about the teachers in the new chant Pool of Radiance. Text used: "The Hidden Lamp", edited by Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.

This teisho is a part of the series about the teachers in the new chant Pool of Radiance. Text used: "The Hidden Lamp", edited by Florence Kapleau and Susan Moon.

Reading a Pali sutta: the Bamboo Acrobat. Text used: Sedaka Sutta: The Bamboo Acrobat, translated by Andrew Olendzki.

Punna's Offering Text: The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Enlightened Buddhist Women edited by Susan Moon and Florence Caplow (note: there is no recording from Day 7)

Working with Koans 4 -- Master Dahui and the senior nun Miaodao Texts: Working with Koans by J.C. Cleary, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters by Grace Schireson

Working with Koans 2 -- Sweating Horses Text: Working with Koans by J.C. Cleary