Talks by Sensei Richard von Sturmer

This koan takes the form of a folktale. An ancient teacher gives the wrong answer regarding cause and effect and must live 500 lives as a fox. Text: Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in the Fox Koan by Steven Heine Of the Same Root: Animals and Our Relationship with them by Philip Kapleau.

This is the third in a series of koans centred on the natural world. The koan is Case 38 in the Mumonkan Books used in the teisho: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Ferguson and The Gateless Barrier by Robert Aitken.

This is the second in a series of koans centred on the natural world. The koan is Case 37 in the Mumonkan , Zhaozhou's Cypress Tree in the Courtyard. Sources: Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek by Annie Dillard and Two Zen Classics by Katsuki Sekida.

This is the first in a series of koans centred on the natural world. The koan is Case 46 in the Blue Cliff Record. Sources: Zen's Chinese Heritage by Andy Ferguson and A Step Away from Paradise by Thomas Shor.

Main references: Nine Lives by William Dalrymple The Secret Life of Flies by Erica McAlister Ichi Tantei : talks by Tangen Roshi.

Texts used in the teisho: Karen Armstrong,  Buddha Stephen Batchelor,  Living with the Devil Nyanaponika Thera and Hellmuth Hecker,  Great Disciples of the Buddha

Book quoted from:   The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling  by James Hillman.

Book quoted from:   The Force of Character  by James Hillman.

Nagarjuna's  Verses from the Centre  Part Two. In this teisho we concentrate on the verses themselves. Sources:  Verses from the Centre  translated by Stephen Batchelor The Unborn: Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei  by Norman Waddell

Readings from Stephen Batchelor's Introduction to his translation of Nagarjuna's  Verses from the Centre.  Nargajuna was an important Indian teacher and our 14th Zen Ancestor. Batchelor calls him "the poet of emptiness".

Teisho by Sensei Richard von Sturmer Readings from the autobiography of Daiun Sogaku Harada-roshi, Roshi Kapleau's first teacher.

Teisho by Sensei Richard von Sturmer. The  Milindapañha  (lit. 'Questions of Milinda') is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It is a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali:  Milinda ).

A Dharma talk by Sensei Richard von Sturmer. Texts used: Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki by David Chadwick; To Shine One Corner of the World by David Chadwick.

Reflections on the situation in Gaza and readings from Carlo Rovelli's book,  White Holes . A Dharma talk by Richard von Sturmer.

Main text used: 'Encouraging Words' by Robert Aitken" Dharma talk by Sensei Richard von Sturmer.

The third in a series of three dharma talks by Richard von Sturmer. In this talk Richard takes up Dōgen’s writings on nature as well as exploring the wilderness poetry of Tang Dynasty China. Texts used: Our National Parks by John Muir Dogen's 'Mountains and Waters Sutra' from Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen Classic Chinese Poetry translated and edited by David Hinton

"Zazen is not sensory deprivation — anything but. Birds and geckos and bullfrogs guide us. Be open to these natural teachers, wherever you may be practicing." -Aitken Roshi This is the second of three Dharma Talks on 'Zen and Nature' given at the Auckland Zen Centre by Richard von Sturmer. Texts used: Poetry and Zen: Letters and Uncollected Writings of R. H. Blyth by Norman Waddell Passing Through...

In this Dharma talk given at the Auckland Zen Centre, Richard von Sturmer explores how Zen masters approach death and how their dying can act as their final teaching. Richard's title refers to the famous exchange between Master Mazu and his attendant, recorded in the Blue Cliff Record: Blue Cliff Record, Case 3 Great Master Ma was unwell. The temple superintendent asked him, “Teacher, how has your...

In this talk Richard explores interconnection on both vast and intimate scales. This is the first of three talks on 'Zen and Nature' given by Richard at the Auckland Zen Centre. Texts used: A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth by Henry Gee Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek by Annie Dillard

A dharma talk by Richard von Sturmer, exploring the teaching and poetry of grass and weeds, from Zen to Walt Whitman.

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