My first sermon

Recently I was ask to speak to the congregation of the UU church that has opened their doors for our meditation group. They record the sermons from their Sunday meeting and share them on the interweb so here's my first shot at preach'n. I don't claim to be a teacher or anything like that so if you listen to this ( as you should with anything else remember the Buddha's teaching to the Kalama's and verify it's truth or heresy in your own life.

Poetry by one of our regulars inspired be our Tuesday practice period.

tuesday night zen

Yet Another Request

For the last couple years I've been meeting the meager needs of the Zen sitting group I host at West Valley UU.  We could use a few more zabutons (meditation mats) and if anyone is interested in helping me out with this it would be much appreciated. Two excellent places for meditation supplies are, Zen Works Store and Still Sitting. Purchasing from these groups also supports the work they do in making the Dharma available. Or if you have extra zabutons that would be great too. Black would be best. For shipping info contact Mui,

A Change of Venue

For the past 3 years we've been meeting regularly at my home on Tuesday evenings and the core group has been pretty solid but I think new people who are interested in the practice may be a little uncomfortable meeting in someone's home. Well the good news is that the West Valley UU church would like for us to host our meetings there so starting on Tuesday, April 3 we'll be at the WVUU Church at 59th Ave. and Cholla.

The first cause and the first causer

As someone who was caught up in fundamentalist Christianity for awhile I thought I might do a post on the Creator and then I thought maybe I won't for the reasons Daiho Roshi says in this nice blog post about creation,"the Buddha...flatly says such discussions are not worth talking about as they are distractions from our real purpose which is the personal realization of the truth.Then further down in the post Daiho Roshi says"So, it would seem we could consider discussions of concepts, theories, and even conversations regarding First Cause as useful provided these are understood as skilful means toward creating conditions within which (through our practice) we find personal realization." So here's a link about somethings the Buddha said about the first causer.

Oneness and the true Godhead

Jesus, Mohamed and even you and I are not separate. From the Blue Cliff Record

Hekiganroku - Case 57: Joshu and the "Bumpkin"

A monk asked Joshu,
  "'The supreme Way is not difficult; it simply dislikes choosing'. What
   is non-choosing?"
Joshu said,
  "Above the heavens and under the heavens I am the only one, alone and
   exalted."
The monk said,
  "That is still choosing."
Joshu said,
  "You stupid bumpkin, where is the choosing?"
The monk remained silent.

My thoughts, Dogen and koans

I hear that the the difference between Soto and Rinzai is that Rinzai uses koan as a practice and Soto doesn't. I've been reading the Dogens  Extensive Record and to me it seems that all he did was to heap koans on to his community,

Maybe I should be ashamed.

For someone who pretty much has only hung out with people of the Rinzai persuasion I've found myself reading a lot from that heretic Dogen. How ever much I repent tough it won't change the fact that I've found no one who exposes the implications of what non dual reality implies. From his commentary on Linji's (Rinzai's) "True Person of no Rank" in his 300 koan Shobogenzo

 "The true person of no rank is the real form of truth as it appears throughout the universe. It is fluid and in a constant state of becoming. The true person of rank is the real form of truth as it appears throughout the universe. It, too, is fluid and in a constant state of becoming. Rank and no rank are nondual. Therefore, each and every thing up to and including each one of us exists thus!  The essence of all phenomena is thusness; the real nature of body and mind is thusness. Therefore, it cannot be attained by any personal effort. Realized or not, it has always been manifesting as our very life itself."