Kong-an Practice
Video of a kong-an talk by Zen Master Dae Kwang from the Foundations of Zen Workshop at the Empty Gate Zen Center.…
Read More...Posts tagged ‘kong-an’
Jul 30 11
Apr 1 02
Let Your Universe Become Large
Excerpts from a dharma speech in April 2002 at Cambridge Zen Center
It is amazing there is anything left to say. Fortunately, we can hear the same things over and over again, because we all forget. So the dharma is hearing the teaching, waking up to what we already know, …
Read More...Jun 1 00
Kong-An Workshop
Excerpted from a workshop at the Whole World is a Single Flower Conference
Zen Master Soeng Hyang: It’s great that so many people came for the kong-an discussion. For me, kong-ans are the root of our practice. Kong-ans are like receiving a gift. There’s the package: it’s beautifully wrapped, there’s …
Read More...Jun 1 99
Three men are walking. The first man makes a sword sound, the second man waves his hands, and the third man picks up a handkerchief.
1. If you were there, what would be your correct function?
2. What is the relationship?
3. And lastly, what is the situation?
Commentary: …
Read More...Jun 1 98
Hua T’ou and Chinese Food
This piece is drawn from a conversation at lunch in Hong Kong between Zen Master Seung Sahn, another famous monk, and some students.
Monk: Dae Soen Sa Nim, what is the difference between hua t’ou* and kong-an?
ZMSS: The hua t’ou is like a pointing finger. The finger …
Read More...Feb 1 98
Dharma LOTTO
Last week I stopped into our local ma and pa donut shop, the Donut Wagon, for some coffee. They offer up the usual tongue-pleasing fare: donuts, bagels, sticky buns, etc. They are also our local over-the-counter gambling establishment – there’s Power Ball, Keno, Lotto, scratch cards and much more. So, …
Read More...Jun 1 94
It’s Not a Thing
When Zen Master Huai Jang first visited Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch, he was already an experienced practitioner. After he bowed, Hui Neng asked him, “Where do you come from?” Huai Jang replied, “From Sung Shan.” The Patriarch then asked, “What thing is it that you have brought here?” Huai …
Read More...Oct 1 91
Mind Road
“The mind road has no end,” says a common Zen teaching phrase. Zen Master Seung Sahn’s upcoming collection of kong-ans, The Whole World Is A Single Flower, has an instructive case in this regard: number fourteen, “Where does the bell sound come from?”
One day, as the big temple …
Read More...Dec 1 90
Of Risks and Failures
Eastern Europe is in the midst of a revolution. In comparison, the recent changes in the Kwan Um School of Zen are very tiny stuff indeed. But, for those of us who are accomplishing the Dharma way, especially in Zen Master Seung Sahn’s lineage, our changes have an importance that… Read More...
May 20 90
Only Keep “Don’t Know” Mind
Excerpted from a talk at the Foundations of Zen Retreat on May 2 0, 1990.
One of the most famous kong-ans refers to an incident from the Buddha’s own lifetime. Once the Buddha was staying on Vulture Peak mountain. It was time for him to give his usual discourse to …
Read More...Dec 1 89
Commentary on Hyang Eom’s “Up a Tree”
Adapted from comments made following a talk at Providence Zen Center in December, 1989.
The Hua Yen Sutra, that the last speaker talked about, like other sutras, is a collection of teaching techniques that the Buddha used. When Paul finished his introductory remarks he hit the floor and said, “Wall …
Read More...Mar 1 88
A Kong-An is Nothing Other than the Present Moment
The function of a kong-an is to spark a question, to give rise to that which in the Zen tradition has been called the Great Question. When the mind “questions,” it awakens and opens. This moment of questioning, however fleeting it is, is a manifestation of a pure and unconditioned… Read More...
Mar 1 85
The Bodhisattva of the Toll Gates
The Bodhisattva of the Toll Gates
Zen Master Seung Sahn and four of his students were traveling down Route 95 from Providence to New York to visit the Chogye International Zen Center. Soen Sa Nim chatted with his students as they drove, answering questions and giving advice. They came to… Read More...
Apr 10 81
Hae Jae Dharma Speech – 1981
This is the Dharma Speech given by Zen Master Seung Sahn at the Hae Jae Ceremony marking the end of Kyol Che at the Providence Zen Center on April 10, 1981.
When spring comes, flowers bloom everywhere. Maybe spring makes flowers. Don’t make anything, O.K.?
Today is the Hae Jae …
Read More...Mar 3 78
Duk Sahn Carrying His Bowls
“Duk Sahn Carrying His Bowls”
The following is taken from Mu Bul Ju Ji Su Nim’s introduction and Soen Sa Nim’s talk at the Man Cham ceremony on March 3, 1978, at the Providence Zen Center.
Ju Ji Su Nim: Welcome to the first Man Cham. Man Cham is a …
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