What is power for the Way? Why does sitting in solitary peace fall short of genuine realization? In this talk we meet the Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak, a mysterious figure from Mount Hua who ventures into the dharma hall to rattle his staff and wake us up to gift of difficulty. This teisho was given on the third Sunday of the month at Castlemaine Zen.
Furong's Death Poem (Fourth Night)
Before he died, Furong Daokai left a death poem. On this fourth and final night we investigate this poem to see how it might illuminate our own life and death. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.
Read moreThe Stone Woman (Third Night)
After Zen Master Furong Daokai announced, “The green mountains are always walking,” he added “A stone woman gives birth to a child at night.” If the first sentence highlights the bright, energetic side of experience, the second welcomes us into the dark, receptive side. What do we see in the dark? This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.
Read moreGreen Mountains Walking (Second Night)
Zen Master Furong Daokai walked into his assembly and said, “The green mountains are always walking.” What did he mean? What was he pointing to? In this talk we scale the highs and lows of our own life to seek not just the stability of mountains, but their living dynamism. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.
Read moreMu (First Night)
What is Mu? On this first night of sesshin, we take up this question and let it take away everything we have - and have not. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.
Read moreTurning Over The Tea Kettle
How are you with mistakes? What do you do when something goes wrong? In this talk we join three Zen adepts as they bumble their way through a tea ceremony, exploring what it’s like to own mistakes without being owned by them.
Read moreWhat A Dangerous Place You're Sitting In
This talk was given in Castlemaine as part of our monthly Teisho and Inquiry.
Read moreWe Wake Up Together
This talk was given on the fifth day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.
Read morePersonally
This talk was given on the fourth day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.
Read moreTrue Chien
This talk was given on the third day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.
Read moreSun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha
This talk was given on the second day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.
Read moreHomecoming (Mu)
This talk was given on the first day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.
Read moreKnow A River
In this talk we take up a story from the Nipata Sutta, which follows a group of monks looking for the perfect place to sit over the summer. Where is the perfect place to sit? And what happens when it turns out to be less perfect than we imagined? Instead of running away from such a place, the buddha says, why not turn towards it? Why not learn to be a good friend, even to those beings you don’t quite understand, like earth spirits? In a time of great change, with earth spirits crying out for our human attention, how might we become a true friend of the many beings and save them from neglect?
Read moreLiberation Within Obstruction
In this talk we take up the sutra “Liberation Within Obstruction” and explore the words “I choose”. What does it mean to choose this moment, whatever it is? Is “I choose” a passive act, or a radically creative one? And what does this practice teach us about navigating even the most perilous moments of our lives? This talk was given as part of Zen Open Circle’s “Taking Part on the Gathering”, Term 1, 2025.
Read morePlayfulness
In this talk offered to the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne we explore the vitality of playfulness with the help of Keizan, Ryokan and Petrus Spronk.
Read moreRed Earth Zen
In this talk offered to the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne we explore the affinities between Zen and Indigenous Australian forms of wisdom.
Read moreMe and You
We’re living in a time of great change. So much of what we’ve taken for granted has been rattled, both nationally and internationally. So what does this moment want us to see? What does it want us to realise? And what can sangha teach us about what is most important?
Read moreZen Fundamentals
In this talk offered to the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne we explore the fundamentals of Zen, beginning with Nanquan’s “Ordinary Mind is the Way.” We then examine how “Ordinary Mind” illuminates our daily lives with an emphasis on care and attendance to the sufferings of others.
Read moreBlack Lacquer Buckets
Zen is a steady, patient practice that does not seek to attain anything. It can sometimes feel like nothing is happening, but as the nun Chiyono realised when she was walking with a water bucket, sometimes the bottom can fall out to reveal a gleaming truth that was right before our eyes all along. In this talk we meet some of the great women of our tradition to discover what it’s like to fall right past ourselves into the Way.
The Dragon King's Daughter
In this talk, we darken our minds to see the stars, asking if it’s possible to see in dark times. We also pay homage to our own self nature, which, like a dragon, is ready to soar and rest with circumstances, no matter what they are. “The Dragon King’s Daughter paid her personal homage to the buddha from her heart. It was a completely natural act,” said Zhaozhou. So what was her personal homage? And how might this reveal our own capacity for revealing our own buddha nature? Let’s jump on the dragon and find out.
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