Dharma Talks given by Nyogen Roshi at the Hazy Moon can be inspired by a koan, a sutra, the writings of our Zen ancestors, modern scientific explorations, a student’s question, or today’s headlines. In every talk, you hear the vitality of the living word, the spontaneous expression of prajna flowing from the awakened mind that cuts through our confusion to encourage and invigorate our practice.
The Four Noble Truths: Diagnosing What Ails Us
“As a sentient being living in the world of samsara there is the worst kind of illness. This is the fear and the suffering of unfulfilled spiritual practice. The great healer, Shakyamuni Buddha, diagnosed this illness and offered us a way out.” Excerpt from a Dharma Talk given by Nyogen Roshi at the Hazy Moon […]
Marvelous Contrivances
“Koans are these marvelous contrivances given to us by the enlightened masters. Don’t try to understand what I’m saying. Just sit here awake. You are a perfectly functioning Buddha. Just wake up now–this is the whole point of Buddha Dharma.” Excerpt from a Dharma Talk given by Nyogen Roshi at the Hazy Moon Zen Center. […]
Center of the Empty Field
“Modern science–quantum physics–will never prove Buddha Dharma, but Buddha Dharma might validate their work.” Excerpt from a Dharma Talk given by Nyogen Roshi at the Hazy Moon Zen Center.
Affirmations
In this new Teisho, Nyogen Roshi connects his renewed emphasis on affirmations with some of the fundamental insights of the Shurangama Sutra. “This is the place where it’s easiest to work on enlightenment,” Roshi says. “The whole process is evolvement of consciousness. If you don’t get that, you’re going to miss the most amazing journey.” […]
Making Peace With Yourself
At the start of a weekend sesshin, Nyogen Roshi reminds us why meditation retreats are so valuable. ”When you begin to quiet down and you stop looking for something out there, then the Buddha-Mind manifests. And then you begin to experience the wonder of what you are.”
Holding Up the Living Word
In this excerpt, Nyogen Roshi recounts some of the key moments in his relationship with Maezumi Roshi and reflects more broadly on the student-teacher relationship, lineage and transmission. “Transmission isn’t something that you can think your way into,” Nyogen Roshi says. “It is profound. And it has come through 81 generations down to here.”
There is Enlightenment
“The thing I most want you to experience is that the teaching of Buddha Dharma is real. Some of you still play with this as a conceptual game. But real transformation is absolutely possible.” Excerpt from a Dharma Talk given by Nyogen Roshi at the Hazy Moon Zen Center.
The Eyelash of Doubt
As Nyogen Roshi reminds us, the notion of belief always carries with it the shadow of doubt. It also implies a host of intellectual assumptions that only serves to obscure the pure state of being that we’re working to realize in our practice. “We cannot simply think ourselves into this state of samadhi,” Roshi says. […]
A Practicing Buddhist
Nyogen Roshi touches on the key points in our practice in a talk prompted by a question about the actions of Buddhist monks in Myanmar. “What does it mean to be a practicing Buddhist?” Roshi asks. “Does it mean that I follow some doctrine, dogma, or a set of rules? No! To be a practicing […]
Ikkyu’s Letter
Ikkyu, a 15th century Rinzai poet-monk, was born the son of the Japanese emperor and was exiled from the royal court along with his mother when he was still a young boy. Both mother and son became ardent students of Zen. In the letter she left for him upon her death, Ikkyu’s mother urges him […]
Doing Non-Doing
Prompted by a student talk that touched on caring for the dying, Nyogen Roshi discusses the urgency of cultivating samadhi by “doing non-doing.” If we ignore or trivialize this imperative, we contribute to the pain and suffering around us. But if we engage in the hard work of Zen practice, we transform ourselves and our […]
Buddha Dharma is Real
In this Teisho inspired by Dogen Zenji’s fascicle on self-realization samadhi, Nyogen Roshi reminds us that Dogen’s writing–in fact, the teaching of all the past masters and Buddhas–is pointing directly at the mind of the individual practitioner. “The whole point of Buddha Dharma is the evolution of your consciousness,” Roshi says. “Realizing this is relatively […]
