zengateway's podcast

The text used for this talk is taken from chapter 2: Dharma Preaching, of The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings which prefaces The Lotus Sutra tr. Gene Reeves pub. Wisdom 2008 … In this podcast: Time as a component of practice and spiritual development Introduction to the role of skilful means in the bodhisattva training The danger of taking Buddhist doctrines outside of the context of Wisdom & Compas...

How do the bodhisattvas reconcile the saying that 'samsara is nirvana' when there is also suffering in the world. If nirvana is peace then how can that peace include suffering? …..     In this podcast:   Samsara is nirvana; coinciding not 'going', the Mahayana innovation The bodhisattvas in the six realms The nature of the passions - emotionality and nirvana. Being in the world not of the world Bo...

Welcome to The Zen Gateway Interview: This time we interview Meido Moore, Abbott of Korinji, a training temple based in rural Wisconsin. We recently reviewed his latest book Hidden Zen: Practices for Sudden Awakening and Embodied Realization , a practical manual on energetic development in the Hakuin lineage of Rinzai Zen. Along the way we take in martial arts, the history of energetic practices,...

This is a recording of a public talk given to the Kettering Buddhist Group during Rohatsu Week - the commemoration of the Buddha's Enlightenment. This talk centres on the three temptations of Māra, the Lord of Samsara who was the final obstacle the Great Bodhisattva who sat under the Bodhi Tree had to face prior to his Enlightenment. The character of Māra is important in both early and developed B...

This time: I am finding it harder to get myself to sit meditation and I don't know why? In this talk we look at the sort of reasons why some people find it difficult to meditate? We can end up fighting with ourselves to get onto the meditation seat, which is in the end counterproductive. Instead we can take the opportunity to gain insight into our own hearts and minds - which is the purpose of med...

Subhuti, what do you think? May the Tathagata be perceived by the thirty-two marks [of a great man]? Subhuti answered: Yes, certainly the Tathagata may be perceived thereby. Then Buddha said: Subhuti, if the Tathagata may be perceived by such marks any great imperial ruler is the same as the Tathagata. Subhuti then said to Buddha: World-honoured One, as I understand the meaning of Buddha's words t...

Sam van Schaik is an English Tibetologist. He obtained a PhD in Tibetan Buddhist literature at the University of Manchester in 2000, with a dissertation on the translations of Dzogchen texts by Jigme Lingpa. Since 1999 he has worked at the British Library in London, and is currently a project manager for the International Dunhuang Project, specialising in the study of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts...

Now in the midst of the assembly was the Venerable Subhuti. Forthwith he arose, uncovered his right shoulder, knelt upon his right knee, and, respectfully raising his hands with palms joined, addressed Buddha thus: World-Honored One, if good men and good women seek…   [ Complete and Perfect Enlightenment ], …by what criteria should they abide and how should they control their thoughts?   … Buddha...

Q)   If the philosophical underpinnings of Chan (emptiness & oneness and so forth) came out of the Huayen school, were these Buddhists in close contact with Chan Buddhists? Did Chan Buddhism come to these similar ideas by coincidence, or is it possible that Chan itself emerged out of the the Huayan school? In this podcast: The development of Chinese Buddhism. Emptiness sunyata and oneness samadhi...

If I didn't obey my hunger I would starve. Animals obey their instincts in order to survive. Why did the Buddha link desire to unhappiness and dissatisfaction? This, O Monks, is the Truth of the Arising of Suffering. It is this thirst or craving (tṛṣṇā) which gives rise to rebirth.which is bound up with passionate delight and which seeks fresh pleasure now here and now there in the form of thirst...

Tim Barlow is an actor of stage, film and TV. He has worked in Hollywood and the UK from 'Hot Fuzz' to Dr Who. He is also a Zen Buddhist practitioner. In this interview he discusses the spiritual side of life and lessons that he has learned over the years in this frank and wide-ranging discussion.

Q) I have read that Buddha was a man not a deity and yet some of the stories from the scriptures make him sound god-like. Who or what is he? …………………. In this podcast: The Buddha is asked about himself… who is he? The development of the notion of Buddha from man to transcendent figure Buddha, buddhas and bodhisattvas What is a dhyani Buddha Development of the notion of Buddha nature

In this podcast:   Aeons, kalpas and the re-making of Genesis Myth, memory and history: The contrast between the literal and metaphor, perfuming the present Impermanence, karma and The Wheel of Life Re-making the future

1.   Bare-chested and bare-footed he enters the market, Face streaked with dust and head covered with ashes, But a mighty laugh spreads from cheek to cheek. Without troubling himself to work miracles, suddenly dead trees break into bloom.     2.   In friendly fashion this fellow comes from a foreign race, with features like those of a horse, or again like a donkey. But on shaking his iron staff, a...

This month:   You have mentioned the 'alaya' which you call 'store' consciousness a few times in your talks. What is this exactly?   ………………………………   In this podcast:   The definitions of the terms 'alaya' and 'vijñana The problem of the seeds - bijas The genesis of the Yogacara school: Asanga and Maitreya in the Tushita heaven From 18 Dhatus to 8 Consciousnesses via the dharma samtana - stream of c...

1.   Returned to the origin, back at the source, all is completed. Nothing is better than suddenly being as blind and deaf. Inside his hermitage he does not look out. Boundless, the river runs as it runs. Red bloom the flowers just as they bloom.   2.   The great activity does not pander to being or not being. And so, to see and to hear he need not be as one deaf and blind. Last night the golden b...

This month's question: I've heard you use the phrase 'daily life practice' in some of the talks. Is this different from mindfulness practice? …. In this podcast:   The meaning of a word is in how it is used. The basis of Buddhist practice, the three pillars and the Satipatthana sutta. Differences between the schools of Buddhism Principles and styles Translations into English and the adoption of mi...

Roberta Mansell is a Buddhist artist whose magnum opus has been to illuminate the Lotus Sutra. The Zen Gateway has been privileged to feature her work. In this interview she talks to us about life, art and her spiritual journey.

1.   Whip and rein, bull and man, are all gone and vanished. No words can encompass the blue vault of the sky. How could snow pile up on   read-hot hearth? Only when arrived at this place can a man match the old masters.   2.   Shame! Up till now I wanted to save the whole world; Now, what a surprise! There is no wold to be saved! Strange! Without ancestors or successors, Who can inherit, who pass...

A talk on insight meditation  and Separating work and leisure when working full time from home.

This month's question: What is the best way to help someone who is dying and afraid? ……………………………………. In this podcast: Jung's letter to the bereaved mother and finding meaning in death. The personal and the mythic, the phenomenal and the eternal. Prince Gotama and the question of 'loss'. Passing through the opposites of birth and death Vedas x 3 Dying as a natural process. Sudden death and the land...

At home - what is it to feel 'at home'. How can we use mindfulness to explore this concept?

1.   The herdsman had already come home on the back of the bull. Now the bull is forgotten and the man is at ease. He may still sleep though the sun is high in mid-heaven. Whip and rein are now useless, and put away under the eaves.   2.   Though the herdsman has brought the bull down from the mountain, the stable is empty. Straw coat and bamboo hat, too, have become useless. Not bound by anything...

This month's question is:   What is 'mu-shin', and what is the importance of it in Zen training? ……………………… In this podcast: Etymology of 'mu-shin', and its appearance in the Mumonkan. Good and bad translations of sunyata. The Buddha's dilemma under the Bodhi tree. The Bodhisattva Path and the practice of the paramitas The centrality of Prajña in The Platform Sutra - ' Wisdom and zazen is of one es...

1. Not for a moment may the herdsman drop whip and rein Or the bull would break free and stampede into the dust. But once patiently trained and made truly gentle, He follows the herdsman without halter or chain.   2. Now the bull may saunter through the hill forests, Or else walk the much travelled roads, covered in dust. Never will he touch fodder from another man's meadow. Coming or going requir...