Tuesday Oct 2, 8:30am
Friday Oct 5, 7:00pm
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 14, “Crossing the Ganga”.
Goso asked a monk,
“Sei, the Chinese girl, who was separated from her soul. Which was the real Sei?”
Retreat! On 2012 Sep 27-30, Zen Teacher Valerie Forstman will be leading a retreat at the Gainesville Retreat Center. More info at the Retreats page.
Tuesday Sep 25, 8:30am
Friday Sep 28, 7:00pm
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 13, “Beginning a Spiritual Practice”.
Master Tosotsu, setting up the three barriers, always tried the pursuer of the Way:
“To search for the Way, the Zen student tries to grasp one’s own nature and be enlightened. Now where is your true nature?”
Secondly,
“Once having grasped one’s own nature, one is free from birth and death. If then, one’s eyeballs have dropped dead, how can one be free from life?”
Thirdly,
“Being free from birth and death, one instantly knows where to go after death, Being dead and the body dispersed into the four elements, where then does one go?”
– Ayya Khema, Be an Island
Retreat! On 2012 Sep 27-30, Zen Teacher Valerie Forstman will be leading a retreat at the Gainesville Retreat Center. More info at the Retreats page.
Tuesday Sep 18, 8:30am
Friday Sep 21, 7:00pm
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 12, “Kanthaka”.
A monk asked Master Ho of Koyo,
“The great dragon has emerged from the ocean, calming heaven and earth. How will you treat him when he suddenly appears before you?”
Master Ho said,
“Suparnin [1], the king of birds, absorbs the entire universe. Who can stick his head within him?”
The monk said,
“But how about when he does appear?”
Ho said,
“It is like a falcon catching a pigeon. If you don’t realize it, you will learn the truth through the ‘inspection before the balcony.’ [2]”
The monk said,
“If so, then I’ll fold my hands on my chest and retreat three steps.”
Ho said,
“You black tortoise under the Sumeru altar. [3] Don’t wait to be struck on the forehead again and get hurt.”
[1]: A giant bird that eats even dragons.
[2]: A reference to a story in which Heigenkun Chosho, the brother of the king of Cho and a wealthy landlord with 3,000 dependents, built a grand palace with a balcony that overlooked the main road. One day a crippled person was passing by and one of the concubines saw him and laughed. The crippled person was angered and demanded Heigenkun her head. Heigenkun presented the head of an executed convict as the head of the concubine. His dependents knew of his deception, lost faith in their master and gradually all left him. His fortunes declined, so at last he cut off the head of the concubine and presented it for the crippled person to inspect. After that the dependents returned and his fortunes were restored. The story is an allusion to the fact that you can never hide away the real truth.
[3]: A reference to one of the four carved figures, representing black tortoises, underneath the Sumeru altar (with the Buddha statue). It is used here as a symbol of someone who has lost the freedom of movement.
– Wen Chao, The Clouds Should Know Me By Now
Retreat! On 2012 Sep 27-30, Zen Teacher Valerie Forstman will be leading a retreat at the Gainesville Retreat Center. More info at the Retreats page.
Tuesday Sep 11, 8:30am
Friday Sep 14, 7:00pm
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 11, “Moonlight Flute”.
A monk asked Master Kaku of Roya,
“The essential state is pure and clear. How are mountains, rivers and the great earth produced at once?”
Kaku said,
“The essential state is pure and clear. How are mountains, rivers and the great earth produced at once?”
We’re all being reborn at every moment. Look upon each morning as a rebirth and we may understand that only this one day exists. What will happen next time is completely dependent upon what we are doing now, therefore only “now” is important. “Now” is the cause; next life is the result.
– Ayya Khema, Being Nobody, Going Nowhere
Retreat! On 2012 Sep 27-30, Zen Teacher Valerie Forstman will be leading a retreat at the Gainesville Retreat Center. More info at the Retreats page.
Tuesday Sep 4, 8:30am
Friday Sep 7, 7:00pm
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 10, “Unborn Child”.
Master Sekiso said,”You are at the top of the 100 foot high pole. How will you make a step further?”
Another Zen Master of Ancient Times said,
“One who sits on top of the 100 foot pole has not quite attained true enlightenment. Make another step forward from the top of the pole and throw one’s own body into the 100,000 universes.”