Recorded on January 28th, 2007 at Upaya Zen Center

This is the final teisho given by Kaz, Roshi Joan, and Beate during the winter sesshin. They use this talk to inspire us to use the sacred time of practice to become aware of the Buddha’s presence in the natural world.

Recorded on January 27th, 2007 at Upaya Zen Center

Kaz gives this poem:
Snow
All my life/
false and real/
right and wrong/
tangled/
playing with the moon/
ridiculing wind/
listening to birds./
many years wasted/
seeing the mountain covered with snow./
this winter i suddenly realized/
snow makes a mountain.

Kaz suggests that here snow might possibly be related to dreams and the dream of this life.

Roshi Joan talks of and gives examples from an unpublished work–the product of Kaz and Roshi Joan–called “Sublime Defeat.” Roshi shows us that while there are many manifestations of the Buddha, these “dharmas” are interconnected.

Recorded on January 26th, 2007 at Upaya Zen Center

In this talk, Beate Stolte-Overtheil talks of the strangeness of Zen and our choices in accepting the forms of practice but also “the nitty-gritty details” of everyday life.

Kaz explains his comical and intimate relationship with Zen Master Dogen while sharing some new poems with the sesshin group.

Recorded on January 25th, 2007

In this talk, Kaz gives a background of the bleak circumstances of Dogen’s time.

Dogen was born into an era of civil war and declining Dharma. Dogen was surrounded by the dominant sects of Tien Tai and Vajrayana (Shingon), but had a real passion for Zen. He first practiced and received Dharma transmission under Rinzai Master Myozen, but journeyed to China with Myozen to bring back Caodong Chan (Soto Zen) to Japan.

Roshi recalls her experience of climbing Mt. Fuji on her honeymoon with then-husband Stanislov Grof. This was Roshi’s first mountain climb and she humorously recounts the intense and surprising experience of being a mountain pilgrim. This was a raw experience, putting her on her edge, and she relates this directly to the experience of being a Zen practitioner like Dogen.

Recorded on January 24th, 2007 at Upaya Zen Center

This is a talk introducing the Winter Sesshin at Upaya. In this sesshin, Kazuaki Tanahashi, Roshi Joan, and Beate Stolte explore the poetry of Dogen in Nature.

Kaz, a renowned translator of Dogen, provides some excellent and humorous insights with respect to the poetry and prose of the great Soto Zen Master. In this talk, Roshi gives us an indication that sesshin is a ceremony - a ceremony recognizing the great reality of the present moment.

Recorded on January 17th, 2007 at Upaya Zen Center

In this talk, Roshi Joan inspires us to look at not only ourselves as a living and sentient being, but the whole universe as a living being. This is indigenous thinking at the very base. We don’t live life, but life is lived through us. But all the thoughts of beatitude, bliss, and accumulating experiences mean nothing compared to a direct living with not-knowing. Roshi urges us that this living - or a constant way of inquiry - is our responsibility but also a glorious inheritance.

“The roots of all living things are intertwined.” -Chan Kin Viejo

Path of Service schedule

June 21 - July 1, 2007
Wilderness Fast for Social Activists, Caregivers, and Educators
Roshi Joan Halifax and John Braman

July 5 - 8, 2007
Liberation through Yoga and Buddhism
Richard Freeman and Roshi Joan Halifax

July 11 - 15, 2007
In the Shelter of Each Other Women’s Retreat: Engaged Practice in the Heart of the World
Roshi Joan Halifax, Zuleikha, Mayumi Oda, Tessa Bielecki, Cynthia West, Rabbi Malka Drucker, Barbara Tedlock, Diane Haug