The Perfect Enlightenment Sutra is one of the most popular and influential sutras in Zen. It was held in the highest regards by some of the greatest Zen Master’s like Zongmi and Chinul. The sutra itself is twelve chapters and the introductory section describes...
“Do you have a Koan?” That was the first question Korean Zen Master, Venerable Hwasun Yangil Sunim asked me. I had heard about Koans before – mainly from books. I didn’t really think they were essential for Zen practice. But here I was, sitting...
A quick and expedient way of awakening… The master takes his staff and points directly to your heart saying, Listen here! This! This! A thousand times this! The seeker is what’s sought. Originally the mind is pristine, vast and expansive like a clear blue...
A young monk tentatively asked the Master, “Teacher, why did Bodhidharma come from the west?” The Master looked out the window and said, “The cypress tree in the courtyard.” The Zen Master whacks his stick against the floor. You’re startled, heart racing, eyes...
The conceptual every day mind is never happy. It always wants something to chew on. It’s a hungry ghost and no matter how much information we feed it the mind will never be satisfied. “Does a dog have buddha-nature?” “Why did Bodhidharma come to China?” “Was the...
Zen is… “A special transmission outside the scriptures, not founded upon words and letters. by pointing directly to one’s mind, It lets one see into one’s own true nature and thus attain buddhahood.” (1) The above statement from Bodhidharma is an...
Daman Hongren – Essentials of Cultivating the Mind The essence of cultivating the Way is to discern that one’s own body-mind awareness is inherently pure, not subject to birth or death, and without division. Perfect and complete in its self-nature, present...
Mudita Dharma Talk Mudita – Connected Vicarious Appreciative Sympathetic Joy This is the sixth talk of the Awakened Heart Series and this talk looks at the Compassion (Karuna) https://zenawakened.com/awakened-heart/ The Third Element of True Love The third...
Compassion (Karuna) Dharma Talk Video of the Compassion Dharma Talk This is the sixth talk of the Awakened Heart Series and this talk looks at the Compassion (Karuna) https://zenawakened.com/awakened-heart/ The Second Element of True Love The second element of true...
Metta (Loving-Kindness) Dharma Talk Video of the Loving-Kindness Dharma Talk This is the fifth talk of the Awakened Heart Series and this talk looks at the Metta (Loving-Kindness) https://zenawakened.com/awakened-heart/ The First Element of True Love The first element...
Video of the Four Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Toward Freedom Dharma Talk Video of the The Four Thoughts Dharma Talk This is the fourth talk of the Awakened Heart Series and this talk looks at the Four Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Toward Freedom...
Better for Being Broken Dharma Talk Video of the Better for Being Broken Dharma Talk This is the third talk of the Awakened Heart Series. https://zenawakened.com/awakened-heart/ Kintsukuroi The poet, teacher and lawyer John Sean Doyle had this to say about...
Be Soft Like Water Dharma Talk Video of the Be Soft Like Water Dharma Talk This is the second talk of the Awakened Heart Series and this talk looks at softening. https://zenawakened.com/awakened-heart/ Be Soft Like Water Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as...
The Ah Mantra A The perfected Buddhas rise from A (AH). This A is the most sublime of all the letters. The A can conquer all samsaric and nirvanic states. The A is like the mother giving birth to everything. The A is like the father all-creating; magical. The A is...
Introductory Dharma Talk on the Four Immeasurables and Shamatha Meditation Video of the Four Immeasurables Dharma Talk We now start the new Awakened Heart Series of talks. These talks will gently guide us to open up and heal that tender heart of ours. We will be...
