Auckland Zen Centre: Weekly Podcasts

A teisho by Roshi Amala Wrightson. Comments on an introductory lecture to a group of lay practitioners by Rindo Fujimoto (1894-1974), a Sōtō Zen teacher who trained under Sogaku Harada (Rōshi Kapleau's first main teacher) and Tōin Iida.Source: The Way of Zazen by Rindo Fujimoto, translated by Tetsuya Inoue and Joshihiku Tanigawa, Cambridge Buddhist Association, 1961.Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/u7d3txnE38sJIHbv-S9nmWpVVkI

Each year AZC joins the global Earth Day celebrations, often marking the day with a one-day-sit. In this teisho Roshi Amala Wrightson introduces some prompts for sangha discussion of our thoughts and feelings about the state of the Earth in the light of the latest IPCC report, the wars in Ukraine and elsewhere, and other crises. (Discussion not recorded).Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/V3of-qrsUhOCaP09w-AANfe_spk

How Zen masters approach death and how their dying can act as their final teaching. Shortly before his death, Master Mazu (Ma) and his attendant had this famous exchange, recorded in the Blue Cliff Record:Blue Cliff Record, Case 3Great Master Ma was unwell. The temple superintendent asked him, “Teacher, how has your venerable health been in recent days?” The Great Master said, “Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha.”In this Dharma talk given at the Auckland Zen Centre, Richard von Sturmer explores this exchange and what we can learn from it. Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/dLq33lJrz09DGO_OCI6BP4KCCWc

In this teisho Roshi Amala Wrightson explores anxiety and panic. What about Greta Thunberg's "I want you to panic"? Is there anything beneficial about panic? What are the roots of fear, anxiety and panic?Sources: Light Comes Through by Dzigar Kongtrul, Shambhala 2008; Pan and the Nightmare by James Hillman and Wilhelm Roscher, Spring 2007Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/BMNJNP8bGLfqYkdPMHwrZvm9G3E

In this teisho Roshi Amala Wrightson explores Buddhist approaches to anxiety and panic. Cutting through our deepest attachments and directly experiencing our inter-being with all phenomena is an antidote to our fears.Sources: Light Comes Through by Dzigar Kongtrul, Shambhala 2008Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/_UeqhXuKPaEmU6VjZwMrmCSVwpU

In this teisho Roshi Amala Wrightson explores four constructive ways of working with panic attacks and acute anxiety so as to avoid falling further into the "fear-adrenalin-fear" vicious cycle.Sources: How I stopped my panic attacks by Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche in Lion's Roar January 28, 2022 and "I'm extremely controversial": The psychologist rethinking human emotion, by David Shariatmadari in The Guardian September 25, 2020. (The psychologist is Lisa Feldman Barrett.)Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/wK-TQ5acwoxaHJUvPL2z_mygPag

Ceremony of Aid for Ukraine, conducted at the Auckland Zen Centre by Roshi Amala Wrightson.

Roshi Amala Wrightson shares some thoughts on practising with Parkinson's Disease, a neuro-degenerative disorder, and not getting caught up in our notions of "wellness", which always come with "illness"attached.Text(s): article "The only way I know of alleviating suffering" by Darlene Cohen, in Being Bodies eds Lenore Friedman and Susan Moon 1997.Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/Ske7QXLte7FjVoSAyT31UIkFoq0

In this teisho Roshi takes up a koan from The Blue Cliff Record: "Everyone has their own light" (Hekiganroku # 86). Here is the case: Ummon said, "Everybody has their own light. Though when you try to see it, you cannot, everything is darkness. What is everybody's light?" Later he answered himself saying, "The temple storeroom, the tower gateway". He also said, "A precious thing isn't as good as nothing". Ummon presents our human predicament: We each have our own light but when we try to see it everything is dark. What is this light, and what is the darkness? How do we find our way?Source(s): The Golden Age of Zen by John C.H WuAutomated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/Yn0cUA1CVjt87V_SsUdY4NFU9MU

The last of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson at the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. In this teisho Roshi takes up a koan from The Blue Cliff Record: "The Hands and Eyes of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion" (Hekiganroku # 89).How do we act with wisdom and compassion? Is it possible to grasp the truth 100 per cent?Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/hFqPDZEkMk6QJXpipmyiSzDY9cU

The sixth of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson at the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. In this teisho Roshi takes up a koan from The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan # 23).Myo, an ex-general, is stopped in his tracks by the 6th Ancestor, Huineng. What does he realise?Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/sIqPid-iOweSisAHiAKCbuNB0hc

The fifth of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson at the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. The inner critic and its disappearance in the face of unconditional love.Sources: Zen Bow article by Wes Borden, Summer 2018 and The Five Invitations by Frank OstaseskiAutomated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/JEuFooEDCqRUya7RlBIEXCr18iA

The fourth of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson at the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. Tangen-roshi's vow to become like a chair.Sources: Awaken to the True Self, https://www.rzc.org/news/awaken-to-the-true-self/Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/Eena83iPhtMxX51ZvDDuNUF_wZw

The third in a series of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson during the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. Karma is not a predetermined mold, "rather, by virtue of one's own efforts, it is possible to move, even just a step, closer to one's aim."Sources: Awaken to the True Self: https://www.rzc.org/news/awaken-to-the-true-self/Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/5vjHiGyiDjKUeSQjFflKFI36NSI

The second in a series of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson during the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. This talk covers training at Bukkoku-ji and the emphasis on inner discipline.Sources: Zen Bow article by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, Summer 2018: https://www.rzc.org/news/harada-tangen-roshi/Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/xg5fXejE74VUxln2KXBgmeMbuAg

The first in a series of seven talks given by Roshi Amala Wrightson during the 2022 Auckland Zen Centre summer sesshin. Tangen-roshi's close calls with death reinforce his sense of being held and protected by a benevolent universe.Sources: Zen Bow article by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede, Summer 2018: https://www.rzc.org/news/harada-tangen-roshi/Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/Q-ET4mPpMBpQ8GP3K4euIdNd1rI

Roshi Amala Wrightson explores Huineng's three antidotes to grasping; no thought, no form, and non-abiding.Main Text: Silent Illumination by Guo Gu.Automated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/50dLN5y5B-i48kyIbbIzV0baELs

Roshi Amala Wrightson explores contentment from a Zen perspective. Contentment, usually rather dryly called "non-grasping" in Zen, is an essential attitude in our practice life; an antidote to restlessness and a middle way between attachment and aversion.Main Text(s): Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening by Guo GuAutomated transcripthttps://otter.ai/u/6Lx_X8osLv5XZThPlgOk4S1Y_iA

Wholehearted chanting can be a bridge that connects us with loved ones and with more-than-human realms. It can also take us into a present which contains both past and future, the living and the dead. Sources: Article "Why do we recite sutras?" by Hakuun Yasutani-roshi, and Zen Wisdom, Knowing and Doing by Master Sheng Yen Automated transcript https://otter.ai/u/R-h9EqrVfOhU6vYYlGbqA6Llqzc

Exploring how the self-centred emotion of arrogance (or pride) causes pain in ourselves and others, plus a glimpse of what it feels like to be on the other end of arrogance. Automated transcript https://otter.ai/u/G62yeu0YvzLI9DH2UabB-HRgMXk Text: Light Comes Through by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche