Michael McCord discusses “things that are broken” and celebrating the way we are.

Zachary Smith covers case 14 of the Blue Cliff Record, “Yun Men’s Appropriate Statement”

Michael McCord: Is it "OK" to use Zen to get from A to B as a transactional practice or should a person only practice Zen and see what the fruits of this are?  In other words: can Zen be my workout tool for focus?

Portion from The Loving Kindness Meditation, " Let no one deceive another nor despise any being in any state. Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another. Even as a mother at the risk of her life Watches over and protects her only child, So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things. Suffusing love over the entire world, Above, below, and all around, without limit, So let one cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world "  In this week's gathering we will talk...

Michael McCord: In this week's session I plan to unpack the various ways strong emotions - particularly ones that are often thought of as 'negative' - play in our lives from the perspective of Zen and its principles for living.

Zachary Smith: following on from Mei’s recent talk on Equanimity, I’ll be talking about another of the four Brahmavihārās, Muditā or Sympathetic Joy. We’ll talk about how this marvelous quality can arise, how it’s related to the Western idea of Love and, in the end, trying to get at the common element of all four “immeasurable”, as they’re sometimes called.

Mei Elliott: Sometimes considered the crown jewel of Buddhist practice, equanimity allows us to remain centered and peaceful, even within troubling circumstances. Through the development of insight, the equanimous mind is unshakable and balanced– helping us to keep our footing regardless of the difficulties that may come our way. During this meeting, we'll explore how equanimity is experienced and cultivated through meditation practice.

Eli Brown-Stevenson: Ethical Choices

Kōgetsu Mok talks about "Practicing with Integrity: standing on your own two feet"

Mei Elliot: The topic for the evening is "Transforming Obstacles into the Way."

Michael McCord: If a person follows a spiritual path, should they expect things to get easier each year?  Should I have any expectations at all?  If life doesn't get that much easier, why follow a spiritual path? We'll explore this in relation to the modern work life, home life and personal goal setting.   Most folks identify with the thought:  "life doesn't come with a manual on how to make this all work, when will I figure out how to live?"

Mei Elliott: When difficulty arises, it's common to lean on the time-honored advice to practice letting go. Yet the capacity to let go often seems to be out of our control and proves to be more challenging than we'd like. How can we learn to release our difficulties gracefully and in what ways can the Dharma support us with this? In this session, we'll be exploring the relationship between letting go and liberation, as well as practices for learning the art of release.

Kodo Conlin: Let's start the new year with a return to the root of Buddhist teaching. We'll reflect together on the Four Noble Truths, the first teaching the Buddha gave after his Awakening. Perhaps all of the Dharma can be understood by way of its frame, and its applications to our day-to-day are too many to count.

Michael McCord: This Buddhist precept can lead to infinite discussion on what we get intoxicated by (substances, behaviors, etc) and can be easy to misunderstand as a black and white list of do's and don'ts.  In this talk and discussion, we'll explore the nuances of practicing with this precept in the modern world and what it means to be intoxicated, what the impacts can be and what are some solutions found in the Buddhist practice to keep from getting ensnared by things that might overwhelm us.

Eli Brown-Stevenson: After we sit and do nothing. I will be sharing a childhood tale about one of the greatest gifts you can give. "The Gift of Nothing". 

Anshi Zachary Smith: Exploring Dogen's "Self-Receiving and Employing Samadhi", which is an excerpt from a longer and much more pointed manifesto, his "Bendowa", and which captures a number of key points about the nature and function of the Self and how it relates to practice.

Eli Brown-Stevenson — Reflections inspired by our founder Suzuki Roshi’s teaching: the purpose of practice is to have a direct experience of your Buddha nature. 

How do we practice compassion without being sunk? How do we love sustainably? Starting with one key distinction we consider three aspects of sustainable compassion.

Zachary Smith: We’ll explore the boundaries and nether regions of everyday experience and how the creatures we meet there can be our allies and teachers.

How the practices of the Zen temple support and address the needs of everyday life.

Following on Mei's talk on Form & Emptiness, the topic will be Preparing the Mind to Realize Emptiness. As an ancient Zen adept put it, "The clear circle of brightness is what exists from the very beginning". Put another way, there is an aspect of our experience here and now that is unhindered and luminous. But how do we come to see this? And how do we live it? We will talk about some of the ways the Zen ancestors encourage us to prepare the mind to realize emptiness.

Form-&-Emptiness is a foundational teaching in Soto Zen, and yet many find the subject perplexing and mysterious. My hope is to present the topic in a way that is both accessible and useful in your own practice. During the talk I'll include teachings on not-self, Nagarjuna's "two-truths," and the relationship between emptiness and freedom from suffering.

Michael McCord: Do you have thoughts that plague you? Do you get emotionally sidetracked by situations in the past or the future that seem to give you no peace? Tonight, we will explore the principal causes of these disturbing thoughts and body sensations and how the context of Zen practice addresses these directly. We'll look at practical steps as well as an overall context of how to hold our bother, where to put our mind, and what acceptance has to do with this.

Zachary Smith: We’ll discuss our impulse to know or understand and how that desire may not always serve us.

Michael McCord: We’ll contrast the pop culture phenomenon of mindfulness with the tradition of Zen.