Vine of Obstacles Zen

death

Kokan Shiren On Contemplating Empty Dharmas While Dying

Kokan offers a step-by-step process to awaken during the dying process and a 'if that doesn't work, try this' for 'ignorant persons of lesser capacity.' This last point is in contrast to both Dahui and Dogen.

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Dogen

Focus on Just One Thing

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One School, One Mind

Zen: One School, One Mind Workshop, Part 2

The live-streamed portion, second recording, from the workshop at Korinji, August 8-10, 2025.

death

Dogen On Taking Refuge Through Life and Death

"Whether sleeping or waking, we should reflect on the virtues of the three treasures; whether sleeping or waking, we should recite the three treasures."

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One School, One Mind

Zen: One School, One Mind Workshop: Part 1

The first recording from the workshop at Korinji, August 8-10, 2025.

Members only

death

Dahui On "Being Immediately Reborn in a Buddha Land"

One School Zen

A Brief Debrief on the "Zen: One School, One Mind Workshop"

More photos below

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death Featured

How To Practice During the Long, Last Moment

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Lotus Sutra

What Was the Buddha Reluctant to Share?

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death Featured

Why is the Long, Last Moment So Important?

death Featured

Hongyi's Long, Last Moment

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near." The Doors

Dogen

The Single Most Important Thing to Keep in Mind When Studying Dogen Zenji

He was more blissfully awake than us.

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Kensho

"And All That We Had Gathered Fell Away": Anne Hopkins Aitken's Kensho

In This Body, In This Lifetime Featured

Soto Zen Women Wake Up: A Review of "In This Body, In This Lifetime"

Awakening Stories of Japanese Soto Zen Women

Post-kensho training

Falling Through No-Wall and Waking Up: Muso Soseki and Nurturing the Sacred Womb

"No mind smashes the bones of the empty sky."

Three Lingering Contaminations

The Most Excellent Peace: Yunyan's Verse on the "Three Lingering Contaminations"

In all the mountains and rivers under heaven,  this is the most excellent peace.

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Post-kensho training

"Dongshan's Three Lingering Contaminations" in Post-Awakening Training

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Turning the light around

Linji Turns the Light

Turning the light around

How Can We Carry the Jewel Close to Our Heart?

If you are not clear about this, turn the light around to illuminate, and then you'll know with great relief that the luminous jewel is what you are.

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Record of Going Easy

On Completing the Translation of the Record of Going Easy

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The Platform Sutra

On the Edge with The Platform Sutra

The Platform Sutra

The Key Barrier to Practicing Awakening

We must meet the barrier with that same direct, simple, subtlety.

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The Platform Sutra

The Oh-So-Subtle Point of Zen and Its Significance

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Exhausting suffering

What To Do When It Comes At You All At Once

The Platform Sutra Featured

Peace Isn't Luck: Then What is The Way?

"You say that there is no gradual progress, and yet Shakyamuni Buddha predicted my unsurpassed, perfect awakening. How can I get there?"