Lay Practice and Priest Practice in Zen: Which Way is the Essential No Way?
My friend, Lay Zen teacher Peter Levitt, is especially devoted to lay practice and the Lay Zen Teachers Association (LZTA). He reminded me recently of the important training and conversations occurring...
View Articlegreat realization
Dogen wrote in Gakudo Yojinshu [Points to Watch in Practicing the Way], “The Buddha-way is right under your feet.” Ikko Narasaki Roshi elaborated on this, writing, “The Buddha-way is not some special...
View ArticleCutting Off Love
I remember one day driving in the car through the Japanese countryside. I was in the backseat, someone else was driving, and the abbot of my monastery was in the front. I think we were probably driving...
View ArticleYou Have To Pay
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about money because… well, I don’t have so much of it. I’ve been living in a monastery for years, not making money, and now I make a very, very teeny-tiny amount of...
View ArticleAbbots Address 5/1/15: Scandalously Married Abbot?
The post Abbots Address 5/1/15: Scandalously Married Abbot? appeared first on Sweeping Zen.
View ArticleA Footnote On Lay Transmission Within Chinese Chan With Possible Consequences...
Many, possibly a majority of Zen practitioners in North America practice within the Soto branch of Japanese-derived Zen. A consequence of this is some confusion around the relationship between...
View ArticleSoto Zen training monastery comes to Northern California
More than half a century ago pioneering teachers of the Soto Zen tradition brought the threads of their ancient practice to the shores of North America. This summer, a project to weave those threads...
View ArticleConfucianism and Zen: The Ritual Nexus
Confucianism and Zen: The Ritual Nexus (Ritual Theory in Myōan Eisai’s “Regulations of the Zen School”) Albert Welter University of Arizona Introduction[1] The purpose of religious ritual is normally...
View ArticleSuggestions for starting practice with a teacher
Many people might embrace just diving in to the practice and figuring out how to swim right away. You just go find the closest shingle in your neighborhood and test it out. While it probably won’t hurt...
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