There is a powerful longing to be here completely. When we step into the dojo and settle into zazen we honour this longing. In Zen, we study the self to forget the self to be actualised by the myriad beings. The most time-tested way of realising this matter is with the koan “Mu.”
Read moreWavering
We often think of spiritual equanimity as a static, unwavering state. But what if the true nature of equanimity is wavering itself? In this talk we explore the dynamic of moving with circumstances, toggling between mistakes and miracles, with a compassionate eye to being truly awake and truly human.
Read moreJinniu’s Rice Bucket
In the Blue Cliff Record we meet a mysterious teacher called Jinniu, who each day served rice to his students with a little dance and the words, “Little bodhisattvas! Little bodhisattvas! Come and eat your rice!” What was he doing? And why did Changqing, in response to a monk’s question, say, “That was a kind of grace before the meal”? Join us for an exploration of how to we might share the fragrance of our life with others.
Read moreRipeness
In this talk we take up a poem by Jane Hirshfield called “Ripeness” and ask how ripeness, ease, harvest and the clean knife might relate to one another. Are these different things or not, and how might they open the way for each other? We look at how the sharpest moments of our lives cut us into what is most spacious and unbounded, and examine Shatideva’s invitation to “Let all sorrows ripen in me.”
Buddha World, Demon World
Throughout this year we have been exploring the koan, “Without leaving the Buddha World, Walk in the Demon world.” But how do we do this? And where is the line between these worlds? We explore all this with the help of some pesky Japanese demons and an exacting pitchfork held by Master Mimoyan.
Open Response
In Torei Zenji’s Bodhisattva Vow he calls for an “open response” to challenging situations. What is an open response? And how might it help us to navigate the challenges of our time with something like equanimity and skilfulness? Let’s fall down the embankment of each other and find out.
Love, and be Silent
We live in a torn and divided world, so it is impossible not to ask, “What should a Zen student do?” In Shakespeare’s King Lear Cordelia asks herself a similar question in the face of a great crisis: “What should Cordelia do?” Her answer comes as swiftly as a natural event: “Love, and be silent.” So what is love? What is silence? And how might these two illuminate each other and express themselves clearly?
Practicing in the Forest
In this talk, offered at the conclusion of an extensive summer period of online practice, we explore the (possibly apocryphal) origin story of the metta sutta (The Buddha’s Words of Loving Kindness) and examine what it’s like to take up the koan, “You are welcome here”.
We Save Each Other
In this talk, we take up the koan “Xitang’s More” from the Record of Empty Hall.
When the old teacher Xitang asks, “Strive, but for what?” we are invited to consider just why and how we practice in a fractured world. In response to Xitang’s question, a monk steps forward and places both hands on the earth, saying “We save each other.”
What does it mean to save? What does it mean to be saved? And how might we touch the earth ourselves, wholeheartedly, in the spirit of “We save each other?”
Sangha Transmission - Me and You
On the occasion of our Castlemaine Zen Sangha Transmission Ceremony for Kynan Sutherland, Susan Murphy Roshi gave this Teisho on zazen, practice and the importance of sangha in our troubled world (19/11/23)
Chaotically Adrift And Drowning
In the immediate aftermath of the failed referendum on the Voice to Parliament we reflect on what it’s like to be adrift and drowning in a troubled world. This talk was given at the Castlemaine Zazenkai (15/10/23).
What is Your Family Custom?
Zen is reticent to name what cannot be named. This is our family custom. So in the lead up to Kynan Sutherland’s Transmission Ceremony, we pause to reflect on the nature of Zen and what it seeks to promote and protect (25/9/23)
Upside Down Country #2 - Golden Wind
In this talk we explore deep listening with the help of Kuanyin, Doug Ralph and the great koan from Yunmen, “Golden Wind is manifesting herself.” This talk was given on the first day of the Castlemaine Zen Non-Residential Weekend Retreat (23/7/23).
Upside Down Country #1 - True Gold
In this talk we venture into the heart of the goldfields, what the Dja Dja Wurrung call Upside Down Country, in search of true gold. This talk was given on the first day of the Castlemaine Zen Non-Residential Weekend Retreat (22/7/23).
Shake the Tree
In the lead up to Kirk Fisher’s Transmission Ceremony Kynan Sutherland offered this talk on Zhaozhou’s koan, “Shake the Tree and the birds take to the air, startle the fish and the water becomes muddy.” In it we explore the nature of transmission, the role of a Zen teacher, and the urgency of Zen practice in a vulnerable and startling world (23/4/23)