MN Zen Meditation Center: Sunday Talks

Talk given by Ben Connelly. This toiling life disordered and confused by lust, greed, and anger But when the mind-flower suddenly opens, the world becomes spring Melting snow to boil water for tea, I while away the entire day Feeling inside as vast and expansive as the icy-cold moon above.

Talk given by Tim Burkett. If you speak or act with a heart-mind that is calm and clear, happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves. -Dhammapada Tips for Happiness Through Practice-Enlightenment: 1) Stop fretting over things you can't control 2) Practice bare awareness of emotions 3) Attempt to live a moral life 4) Engage daily in physical activity 5) Cultivate a growth mindset 6) Spend time in space that is calming and soothing 7) Help someone 8) Remnind yourself that this activitiy is your best chance for intimacy and happiness

Talk given by Andrea Martin. We study and practice Buddhist teachings in order to go deep into our own life. There you discover your original place, the place where all beings live together in peace before we exist as individual beings. From that place you can join the flow of life, living in harmony with all beings and walking together hand in hand. This is the guideline for Buddhist study and practice. - Katagiri Roshi

Talk given by Bussho Lahn. A monk asked, "What is the great meaning of Buddhism?" Baiyun said, "Push the gourd beneath the water." Ferguson's Zen's Chinese Heritage p. 398

Talk given by Wanda Isle. Governor Lee yearned for Master Yaoshan's profound teachings and repeatedly invited him to his office without success. Finally, he paid the master a visit in person. When his arrival was announced, the master kept on reading a sutra and paid no attention to him. Lee, who was quick-tempered, said "In person, you do not match your reputation." The he flicked his sleeves and started to walk out. Just then Master Yaoshan said, "Why do you value your ears more than your eyes?" Lee stopped. He turned back, offered an apology, and humbly asked, "What is the way?" Yaoshan pointed up and pointed down and said, "Understand?" Lee said, "No." The master said, "The clouds are in the sky, the water is in the bottle."

Talk given by Tim Burkett. Watching the moon at dawn, solitary, mid-sky, I knew myself completely: no part left out. -- Izumi Shikibu 12th century Intrinisic enlightenment is wonderful practice. -- Dogen

Talk given by Andrea Marton. "When you reach the bottom of your life and see the ultimate nature of being, you realize there is nothing there. Well, there is only one thing there: motion. That movement is the basic nature of being: the rhythm of life itself. The movement of nothingness gives you a certain kind of energy. It shoots up from the basic nature of being, and you receive it as the energy of your own life. That is enlightenment, we say, but strictly speaking it is Buddha's compassion. It is the great compassion you already possess." -- Katagiri Roshi

Talk given by Pamela Ayo Yetunde. About Our Speaker: Pamela Ayo Yetunde is a Community Dharma Leader in the Insight Meditation tradition. She is the Director of the Interreligious Chaplaincy at United Theological seminary of the Twin Cities, and teaches pastoral/spiritual care and chaplaincy. Ayo is also a pastoral counselor in private practice.

Talk given by Ben Connelly. "Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor because someone is your teacher. Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'these things are harmful; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them." - Buddha of the Pali Canon

Talk given by Andrea Martin. Whatever activity you do, you can open your life and fit into the rhythm of this very moment. When you fit into the rhythm of the great energy of being, you feel relief. You realize that you are allowed to live; you are permitted to exist in this worl, because the whole world is blooming within you human body. At that time you become you as you really are. Then you can stand up there and take care of everyday life as it really is. -- Katagiri Roshi

Talk given by Ted O' Toole. Student: The nature of the wind is ever present and permeates everywhere. Why are you waving a fan? The master said, "You know only that the wind's nature is ever present - you don't know that it permeates everywhere." The monk said: "How does wind permeate everywhere?" The master just continued waving the fan. The monk bowed deeply.

Talk given by Bussho Lahn. "In seeing things To exist or to not exist We fail to see A world at ease." -Nagarjuna, from Mulamadhyamikakarika, V 8

Talk given by Wanda Isle. Sunday Talks from the Zen Meditation Center on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, MN. Donations appreciated at MnZenCenter.org.

Talk given by Tim Burkett. Money is not yours. It belongs to society. - Suzuki Roshi When you work on things with respect, that should be the true nature of labor. - Suzuki Roshi

Talk given by Ted O' Toole. Sunday Talks from the Zen Meditation Center on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, MN. Donations appreciated at MnZenCenter.org.