Castlemaine Zen Podcast

When Yamada Roshi was asked what Zen practice is for, he said, “The perfection of character.” In this talk we track the evolution of the teacher Deshan, from young firebrand to mellow custodian of the Way, to explore the importance of character in a world that often seems to sneer at gentleness and compassion.

Laotzu taught that “knowing enough’s enough is enough to know". How do we practice this “knowing enough”? And what might we learn from our own meal ceremony and liturgy to help us live a simpler and more embodied life?

On the third night of sesshin we meet Daowu and his student Jianyuan, who are off to conduct a funeral in the nearby village. Things take an unexpected turn when the student Jianyuan raps on the coffin and demands, “Living or dead?” Daowu takes his student’s question and cares for it in the most thoroughgoing way, beyond even his own death.

On the second night of sesshin we encounter an old woman who says, “Go straight ahead!” What does she mean? How do we go straight ahead? And how does this practice fit hand in glove with the crooked path of genuine awakening?

On the first night of sesshin we take up three encounters from Shitou Xiqian (700-790) to see how they illuminate “Mu”, the great syllable of emptiness. We also spend a bit of time with dogs, who never fail to shake off the very human temptation to “have or have not”.

In a world being torn apart by war, it’s impossible not to think of the brokenness of our time, and how we might respond to this brokenness. Zen Master Yanguan offered his own unlikely response when he said, after discovering that his precious rhinoceros fan was broken, “Well, if the fan is broken, bring me the rhinoceros.” What did he mean? How might we learn from his left-of-field invitation? An...

In this talk, we meet Yanguan Qi’an, one of Mazu’s primary dharma heirs. Yanguan lived right up until the Huichang Persecution of 840-845, where 4,600 Buddhist temples were destroyed and 260,000 monks and nuns were displaced. Not only did his teaching endure, but his influence led to a restoration of temples and practice throughout China, and a flourishing of Zen that continues to this day. So wha...

This talk was offered into a round of silent meditation during Zen Open Circle’s Taking Part in the Gathering. It explores the Chinese characters for “ordinary mind” and opens them up for contemplation. This talk preceded a much longer talk on Yanguan Chi’an, one of Mazu’s colourful dharma heirs.

Birds have always been great Zen teachers. In this talk, we take up the miscellaneous koan, “My relaxed gaze freely follows the tracks of flying birds” and examine what implications this might have for our practice today. We also meet Niutou Farong, a fascinating figure from the 6-7th Century, who meditated in a cave and was visited by birds “with flowers in their mouths”. What was going on? And w...

At the start of 2026, it’s time to get back to basics. That’s what Zen is all about, after all. Instead of spending our time curating a perfectly polished “self”, we learn to let this “self” go and draw closer to what Zen masters of old called “someone”. This someone, who has no name or form, is nevertheless standing, sitting, walking and lying down. Can we rely on this “someone” and their innate,...

With our end-of-year Jukai Ceremony fast approaching, we take up the questions, “What is a Bodhisattva? How does a bodhisattva act in the world? And how do the precepts liberate wise action in the world?” To bring this forth we meet Mahasattva Fu, a younger contemporary of Bodhidharma, who became a teacher of the Emperor. Affectionately known as “The Motley Bodhisattva”, he demonstrates just how i...

One of the great pleasures of immersing yourself in Zen is getting to know the ancestors. In this talk we meet Linji, the inspiration behind Rinzai Zen, who opened up the path of practice with a great shout, beyond words and letters. This talk was given as part of a wider series on the Zen ancestors, hosted by Susan Murphy Roshi and Zen Open Circle.

What does it take to build a temple, right where you are? When Shakyamuni Buddha was walking with Indra, he announced that, “Here would be a good place to erect a temple.” Indra immediately took a stem of grass, inserted it in the earth, and said, “The temple is erected.” Just one blade of grass was all it took. So how do we erect a temple in our day-to-day activities? And what, exactly, are we er...

When a monk came to visit Zhaozhou he said, “For a long time I’ve heard about the famous stone bridge of Zhaozhou, but coming here I see only a common wooden bridge.” What is the stone bridge of Zhaozhou? And what does it span? This is a talk that asks us to see the stone bridge flows, and that to realise this, we must become a flowing bridge ourselves.

What is Mu? Why do we constantly return to this not-quite-a-syllable in our Zen practice? In this talk, given at the Zen Open Circle Spring Sesshin, we look at how Mu undoes our habitual thinking and liberates a life of not-knowing. In Japan there is a word, “sa’pari”, which means something like “unblemished by understanding.” What does a life unblemished by understanding afford? Why would we want...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. This talk was given as part of our monthly Teisho and Inquiry at Castlemaine Zen.

With two sangha members about to begin the process of Jukai, we explore The Three Vows of Refuge and The Three Pure Precepts with some help from an old monk sitting high up in an old even older pine tree. Is it really possible to take refuge in precarity? Is it really possible to praise the mutilated world? What do we undertake when we take the Buddhist Precepts to heart? This talk was given in Ca...

When Shakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star he cried, “I and all beings of the great earth have in this same moment attained the Way.” He was not describing an experience limited to one human being. He was describing an experience that leaves nothing out, affirming the true human being. So how do we wake up together? And what does that even mean? This talk was given on the fifth day of the Great O...

The young Wuzu was vexed. He’d heard about Zen and he’d heard about the teachings, but he did not know how to embody them “personally”. So he set off on a great adventure to taste the dharma for himself, bringing all of us along with him. This talk was given on the fourth day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.

It’s easy to feel that something has been lost in childhood - something precious that we yearn to reclaim or embrace as we get older. The Chinese folk story “Chien and her Soul are Separated” brings this matter into direct focus, questioning whether anything is truly lost and how we might experience reunification. This talk was given on the third day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.