Ameland Reflection I--The Elements of a Healthy Sangha
I had a strong experience in Ameland this year, at the gathering of the larger Kanzeon sangha. It prompted me to reflect on the nature of and prerequisites for healthy sangha. Because Diane and I...
View ArticleAmeland Reflections II--Relationships and Roles Within the Sangha.
This is a second reflection on sangha as an organism which arises out of my anticipation of the opening of our new space in Salt Lake City, sharpened by this year's Ameland gathering. The...
View ArticleAmeland Reflection III--The Role of Individual Practice in Healthy Sangha
It seems appropriate to round out these reflections with a discussion of the place of the individual practitioner. How does our individual practice relate to the building and maintenance of a healthy,...
View ArticleWednesday, February 9, 2011-Next Year in Jerusalem/ Welcome, Taido Sensei
There is an old Jewish parting, "Next year in Jerusalem". Well, that is in effect what we said last night at the conclusion of our last Tuesday Night Group meeting in our living room. I have been...
View ArticleFirst night in Jerusalem--Steven Hagen's "Meditation--Now or Never"
Last night we held the Tuesday night group in the new City Center space for the first time. As seems always the case with construction projects, nothing but a deadline gets the contractor close to...
View ArticleThe broader issues raised by the Genpo Roshi controversy
Friends:I have refrained from directly commenting on recent events surrounding Genpo Roshi's separation from the White Plum Asanga, an affinity group for teachers in the lineage of Maezumi Roshi, and...
View ArticleNew book to read--Stephen Batchelor, "Buddhism Without Beliefs"
Friends,At our last Tuesday night group, we discussed Steven Hagen's "Meditation--Now or Never". Most people there seemed to like the clean quality of his emphasis on simply following the breath and...
View ArticleHistory and the White Plum Asanga
George Santayana said, "Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it". To avoid repeating history, one has to know it first. The current situation surrounding Genpo Roshi suggests that the...
View ArticleBarry Magid, "There is No Zen, Only Zen Teachers"
Barry Magid, a successor of Charlotte Joko Beck, wrote a thoughtful piece about Zen that is well worth reading. In the context of the current discussions which attempt to separate teacher "misconduct"...
View Article"Buddhism Without Beliefs"--a critique
For those reading Buddhism Without Beliefs for the Tuesday night group, I suggest these critiques. One presents a more traditional view of some of the issues discussed by Stephen Batchelor in his...
View ArticleFuture readings: "Instructions to the Cook" and "Cutting Through Spiritual...
Friends:In the Tuesday night group, we decided to pick two more books so that people could be reading ahead once they finished the current selection, "Buddhism Without Beliefs", set to be discussed on...
View ArticleMaps and Terrain: Beliefs and the Wondering Mind.
The group discussed Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism Without Beliefs". A wide-ranging discussion about beliefs, and how they serve us as guides, as maps, and how they have the potential to limit...
View ArticleThe lay person and the sangha--Can I be valued if I don't seek transmission?
Friends,As Diane (Musho) and I have opened our new City Center and welcomed an eclectic mix of visitors to the space, a question constantly stirring just below the surface is what should we build in...
View ArticleTuesday night class--change of Trungpa book to "Myth of Freedom"
Friends,Those of you who are planning on reading the Chogam Trungpa book for the mid-May discussion should switch from "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" to Trungpa's earlier book, "The Myth of...
View ArticleNext book--Red Pine, "The Heart Sutra"
We discussed Chogam Trungpa's Myth of Freedom last night. Of course, you can't really discuss a book with that many valuable insights in one evening. So we had a discussion inspired by a small part...
View ArticleThe Last Word From The White Plum Asanga--Addressing Shadow in the Lineage.
Friends,On June 2, 2011, the Board of The White Plum Asanga issued a statement that addressed in general terms certain unspoken shadow elements in the lineage of Maezumi Roshi, announced the resolve of...
View ArticleStudent-teacher relationships from a psychological standpoint: A booklet
Friends:Here is a link to a booklet Jikyo Roshi, a therapist, produced some ten years ago on the psychological aspects of student-teacher relationships. It was circulated to all White Plum Asanga...
View ArticleNext Tuesday: the last discussion of The Heart Sutra.
The discussion of the Heart Sutra these past weeks has been stimulating. Red Pine does a great job taking it apart and in giving its historical and philosophical context. He makes a sutra chanted...
View ArticleThe next book: Uchiyama Roshi's "Opening the Hand of Thought"
Friends: Kosho Uchiyama Roshi's book, "Opening the Hand of Thought", is one that Ottmar Liebert first brought to my attention five or six years ago. Since then I have read it several times and find...
View ArticleUchiyama's "Opening the Hand of Thought"
Friends,I posted this as a book we would read and discuss mid August. Some have noted that it is out of print and on Amazon, listed for about $45 used. Clearly not within reach.For your information,...
View ArticleUchiyama Roshi's "Opening The Hand of Thought"--book for next Tuesday
Finally, we will discuss Uchiyama Roshi's book this coming Tuesday. I have read it several times in the past few months and find it to be a very lucid, no frills, succinct statement of the...
View ArticleWhat should the City Center program look like? How can it serve your needs?
Friends:I attended the Buddhist Geeks conference with Diane (Musho Sensei) over the last weekend in July. It made a big impression on me. I came away thinking that those of us who want to make...
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Political and cultural activism and Buddhist insight
I read a piece in Tricycle today that I though links the insights of East and West. Well worth the read. To me, an essential felt insight of meditative practice is that the subjective,...
View ArticleA meditation on 9/11 ten years later.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I had hoped that somehow, we as Americans would come to see how the terrorists had arrived at what seemed to me a skewed view of this country, and that we would come...
View ArticleSex, Teachers, and Conduct
In the midst of the recent teacher scandals within the Zen community and at Integral, I encountered a post that seemed to be a good, sober reflection on the interplay of authority, awakening, and...
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