Sydney Zen Centre

Cultivating joy

Teisho by Subhana Barzaghi, roshi 'Cultivating the immeasurable quality of joy'2017 Autumn Sesshin

Peaceful heart

Teisho by Subhana Barzaghi, roshi 'My heart is not yet at peace'2017 Autumn Sesshin

Buddha's Enlightment

The most popular SZC podcast ever! This is a talk by Allan Marett Sensei of the Sydney Zen Centre on the third day of Rohatsu Sesshin 2014, discussing the Buddha's enlightenment.

Watch out for the snake!

Allan Marett, sensei explores Xuefeng's Turtle-nose Snake, Case 22 Blue Cliff Record. Here we encounter four great Chinese Zen masters, Xuefeng, Changqing, Xuansha and Yunmen doing a little snake dance together. It’s a lovely case because it shows us both the humour and the insight of these old fellas. Look out for that snake! It might bite you … if you’re lucky.

Who is that 'other'?

Multitudinous messages coming in from marketers and politicians intensify the sense that the future’s uncertain and potentially disastrous, that though we are all right, it’s the “other” or “others” who are the problem. Our anxiety grows.  Our minds already overflow with habits, preconceptions and prejudices, with ideas about self and other, ideas that have me here, and you over there, each of us separate and fearful -  fearful that we’ll stuff up, that our beloved will walk out on us, that there won’t be enough, that we‘re inadequate and that any minute, we’ll be found out.  Fortunately, our practice reveals a radically different “other”.
Gillian Coote, roshi explores Case 45 of the Mumonkan in her teisho at SZC's Spring sesshin 2024: Wu-tsu said, ’Sakyamuni and Maitreya are servants of another. Tell me, who is that other?

Pacify the mind

Bodhidharma faced the wall. The Second Ancestor stood in the snow, cut off his arm and said, ‘Your disciple’s mind has no peace as yet. I beg you, Master, please put it to rest.' Mumonkan Case 41: Bodhidharma Pacifies the MindThe words, life and control, cancel each other out - life is just this! Moment by moment, beyond our control and so without peace - yet how we yearn for it. And though we may never be in control of our minds - or our thoughts - or our lives, it is possible, with regular Zen practice, to see the mind more clearly and be less impressed, less overwhelmed, and experience the anxious mind as one small element in the vastness, one small dharma gate.This Dharma talk was given by Gillian Coote, roshi at Kodoji, at Spring sesshin 2024.
 
 

Harmony and compassion

“Where have you been?’ is a common opening phrase from the teacher in many koans. In this talk about case 15, Book of Serenity, ‘Yangshan thrusts his hoe in the ground’, Jane discusses aspects of this koan in relation to the story of the Buddha’s awakening and to our own realisation. We can appreciate the dance of words between Guishan and Yangshan as they present to us the spirit of harmony and compassion.This talk was given by Jane Andino roshi at Rohatsu sesshin 2024

The Koan Mu

Apprentice teacher Will Moon discusses Wumen's comments on how to work with the Koan Mu in today's context.This teisho (Case 1, Chao-chou's Dog, from the Gateless Barrier - Wu-men Kuan) was given on Day 1 of Spring sesshin 2024 at Kodoji.

Unwellness

Will explores how we might view our pain differently. Rather than fleeing and avoiding pain, how we might also awaken to the fact that our pain and struggles are also the true dharma. He refers to Case 3 of the Blue Cliff Record: Sun Faced Buddha, Moon Faced Buddha. This teisho was given by apprentice teacher Will Moon on day 3 of Spring sesshin 2024 at Kodoji

No teacher

Will considers that Zen cannot be taught. All the ideas we accumulate from listening to talks and reading books are not 'it'. As useful as they are at times, they are the accumulation of just more concepts and ideas. It is only through our great enquiry that we awaken. This teisho, referring to Huang Po and the Brewer’s Lees (Case 53 from the Book of Serenity) was given by apprentice teacher, Will Moon, at Spring sesshin 2024 at Kodoji.