AZC Weekly talks

Some pointers and cautions for zazen at the beginning of our 7-day sesshin.

Sources: Various.

Second in a series of talks on The Three Marks of Existence, Impermanence, Suffering and Not-Self. Suffering is a core teaching of Buddhism. The Buddha said "I teach but two things; suffering and the…

This is the first in a series of koans centred on the natural world. The koan is Case 46 in the Blue Cliff Record.

Sources: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Ferguson and A Step Away from Paradise by Tho…

Description: Sabbe anicca. Everything that arises passes. Impermanence is one of the Three Marks, or Characteristics, of Existence, and a cornerstone of Buddhist teaching. The Buddha says that what i…

Adrian Croucher gives a dharma talk on grief and Zen, drawing on a range of sources and his own recent experiences after the loss of his father.

References:

Domyo Burk, "Grief in Buddhism", Zen Studies…

What is the receiving- the-precepts, or Jukai, ceremony and why do we participate in it?

Main Source: Invoking Reality, moral and ethical teachings of Zen by John Daido Loori, Shambhala 2007.

Richard-sensei's teisho on the koan "Linji's Great Enlightenment". The teisho also looks at the use of the kyosaku, the encouragement stick, in Zen.

Main references:

Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Ferg…

Description: To die the Great Death means letting go of everything, even our precious awakening experience. We go up the pole to free ourselves of the three poisons, but then we leap back down into t…

Texts:

Urs App, Master Yunmen

Master Sheng-yen, The Sword of Wisdom.

Description: According to the Avatamsaka (Huayen) Sutra the Buddha proclaimed at his great awakening that all beings are endowed with wisdom and virtue. Why then do we cause so much suffering for oth…

Description: Master Hui Neng's antidotes to our attachment to our inner world, outer relationships and identity.

Source: Silent Illumination by Guo Gu.

Main references:

Nine Lives by William Dalrymple

The Secret Life of Flies by Erica McAlister

Ichi Tantei: talks by Tangen Roshi

Description: A look at two of the essential qualities we need to practise Zen and ways we can cultivate them.

Sources: Throw Yourself into the House of Buddha by Tangen Harada Roshi, Shambhala 2023, S…