Shows
The OzZen PodcastWhat is Consciousness?, by Phil Genkai PisanuIn this dharma talk OzZEN Facilitator Phil Genkai explores consciousness through the lens of the Buddhist teaching of the five aggregates of no-self and through the lens of contemporary scientific theories. The talk concludes with a discussion about the practical implications of these teachings.
2025-10-1234 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Cook your Life, by Phil Genkai PisanuIn this guided meditation by OzZEN Facilitator Phil Genkai, we are introduced to the metaphor of “cooking” to describe the process of just sitting in zazen. The meditation is based upon the text by Master Dogen, translated as How to Cook your Life, with a commentary by Kosho Uchiyama. Genkai invites us into this process of cooking our lives with minimal instructions, leaving plenty of silence to cook and transform the ingredients we bring to our sitting practice.
2025-09-0932 min
The OzZen PodcastThe Place of Sangha in Post-Monastic Zen Practice, by Andrew Sono TootellThe Place of Sangha in Post-Monastic Zen Practice, by Andrew Sono Tootell by
2025-09-0126 min
The OzZen PodcastDogen Zenji - A Biography, by Larry Kodo HancockIn this talk Larry Kodo gives his first of a series of three talks on the founder of Japanese Soto Zen Eihei Dogen (1200-1253). In this talk, Kodo presents his life story in the wider context of 13th century Japan and China, the motivations for his life decisions and a simple look at some of his core teachings and why he is still relevant to our practice today.
2025-04-2735 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Shelter from the Storm: The Three Refuges, by Andrew Sono TootellWhy do we need refuge? In Zen Buddhism the Three Refuges are like a life-raft on the sea of life. We face many storms of different conditions and circumstances. We face natural disasters, floods and fires; the storms of relationships, loss and disappointment; we face wars and financial anxiety. We can summarise these as:
Fear
Uncertainty
Vulnerability
Greed, hatred and ignorance
People may take refuge in gods or an intervention God. They make seek refuge in authoritarian leaders. The Buddha taught us to find refuge within this world, within ourselves and our relationships.
2025-04-2236 min
The OzZen PodcastPractice Principles 2025, by Andrew Sono TootellIn this dharma talk I share my latest understanding of the Practice Principles, originally formulated by Joko Beck and as interpreted by my teacher Barry Magid. The practice principles give us a condensed way of understanding ordinary mind zen practice. However, they do miss out some important aspects of practice, such as the importance of supportive relationships and mutual recognition. This talk covers how they are a re-working of the four noble truths and the four great vows. The two couplets represent the Two Truths, the absolute or ultimate truth and the relative or conventional truth. The first two lines...
2025-04-1338 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Life as it is and other teachers, by Andrew Sono TootellThese days I like to think that “life as it is” is the ultimate teacher, but not of course, the only teacher. There are many teachers: relationships with nature; works of art and of course, relationships with significant people in our lives. Zen is a relational practice. Even when you are sitting alone, you are sitting with a long line of ancestors going all the way back to Shakymuni Buddha. During this guided meditation, we are going to integrate our zazen practice, our experience of life as it is, with an exploration of our relational selves, embedded as they are in a...
2025-04-0837 min
The OzZen PodcastCoping with the loss of a loved one, by Louise Shinsho CrannyCoping with the loss of a loved one is always difficult. In this Dharma Talk Lousie Shinsho explores how different people cope in different ways. The Buddha's teachings of impermanence are tempered by teachings of our deep interconnectedness. This can help in developing an ongoing relationship with our loved ones who are not really lost to us.
2025-03-3020 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: On Mu, by Ryan Eno SquiresThis guided meditation is based on Case 1 from the collection of Koans called The Gateless Gate. The case: "A monk asked Joshu in all earnestness, does a dog have Buddha nature or not? Joshu said “Mu!". The koan question is "What is Mu?" Ryan Eno has been working with Mu since May last year and will explore oceanic or open awareness of Mu. That is, Mu as direct experience of life as it is. It is a gentle and easy approach to Mu, that encourages you to allow whatever arises as you bring your focus back to Mu throughout the si...
2025-03-2533 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Riding the Thought Train, by Phil Genkai PisanuThis guided meditation uses the imagery of sitting at railway stations and waiting for trains to explore how thoughts arrive during zazen. It takes the meditator on a journey from a busy mind (the subway) to a calm mind (no station, no trains). It poses a key question throughout - is your mind busy or is your mind calm - from moment to moment? Please sit and enjoy.
Note: Phil chose to prioritise long periods of silence in this guided meditation, to enhance the meditation as a whole.
2025-03-1133 min
The OzZen PodcastThe Experience of Intimacy in Zen, by Zenko Jack WicksTalk from OzZEN Zazenkai in Sawtell 2nd March 2025.
Intimacy in Zen is discussed in terms of the two aspects of 1. presence with all of life, and 2. emotional availability and vulnerability. A complete offering of ourselves, unmasked.
This brings forth the character of the Bodhisattva as: simple, joyful, and open to life’s possibilities.
We mention “Intimacy and Commitment” from Ordinary Mind Zen teacher Elihu Genmyo Smith’s book “Everything is the way”. We mention three koans: The Hands and Eyes of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion (Blue Cliff Record Case 89), The National Teacher’s Monument (Blue Cliff Record Case 18), and Dizang’s “Not...
2025-03-0831 min
The OzZen PodcastWaking to a Dream within a Dream, by Andrew Sono TootellThis dharma talk focuses on exploring the concept of the self-centered dream and suffering, with discussions on practice principles and their potential modifications. Participants shared personal experiences and insights related to self-centeredness, dreams, and the nature of reality. The conversation also touched on the importance of shifting from a self-centered to a life-centered perspective, drawing from various philosophical and literary sources to illustrate key points.
2025-02-1644 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Stop running, by Louise Shinso CrannyWe seem to be caught in the habit of running from one thing to another.
When we do this, the next moment will not provide freedom from this urgency.
Here we practice together, breathing in “coming home”, breathing out “arriving”. Learning to resist the urge to react, we can become settled in restful attention. We also notice what happens when we stop running and slow down.
2025-02-1127 min
The OzZen PodcastThe History of Shikantaza, by Phil Genkai PisanuThis talk explores some of the history and mythology behind the development of zazen (including Shikantaza or just sitting) meditation, and how it has been described as a way of practice. Broadly following the historical timeline of Zen development, it draws on several key sources such as Red Pine’s translations of Bodhidharma’s sermons and the work of Guo Gu on Chinese Chan ‘silent illumination’ practice. This sets the scene for the travels of Dogen Zenji to China in the 13th Century and the eventual transmission of the Shikantaza zazen practice to Japan. Dogen would go on to establish Soto Zen...
2025-02-0227 min
The OzZen PodcastMedidation: Wabi Sabi, by Andrew Sono TootellIn this guided meditation we will be exploring the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi sabi and how we can integrate it into our just-sitting practice. Wabi is about finding beauty in imperfection, simplicity, things that are aged and broken and cracked. Sabi is the appreciation of the beauty of impermanence and transience and the kind of melancholy feeling which comes with that which is kind of a sweet feeling. Sabi is concerned with the passage of time, with the way in which all things grow and decay and how aging alters the visual nature of those things.
2025-01-2835 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Leave everything alone, by Andrew Sono TootellThis guided meditation explores our core practice of just-sitting and the encouragement to leave everything alone. Even though we're in different geographical locations with different visuals, different sounds, we share very similar bodies. One thing all humanity has in common is breathing. We all share that together. Welcome the breath. Become one with the breath, our constant companion and friend, right to the very end. Not trying to change anything, fix anything. Just allowing our Zazen to do its work for us. Sitting relatively still allows us to go deeper and deeper into just simply experiencing this moment. Allow the...
2025-01-1438 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: The Morning Star, by Andrew Sono TootellChristianity has the star of Bethlehem. We have the morning star.
There is nothing special or supernatural about our morning star, yet the morning star is perfect just as it is, and it twinkles and changes from moment to moment – and we are all just like that morning star!
During this guided meditation I will take you on a metaphorical journey through three phases of Zazen as we sink deeper and deeper into being just moment and how this moment discloses itself to us – leading us into our core practice of Shikantaza:
1. Settling in and building the Dwelling: Settling and clai...
2024-12-0835 min
The OzZen PodcastWu-Tsu’s Who is that Other? by Andrew Sono TootellTHE CASE
Wu-Tsu said, “Sakyamuni and Maitreya are servants of another. Tell me, who is that other?”
WU-MEN’S COMMENT
If you can see this other and distinguish him or her clearly, then it is like encountering your father at the crossroads. You will not need to ask somebody whether or not you’re right.
WU-MEN’S VERSE
Don’t draw another’s bow;
Don’t ride another’s horse;
Don’t discuss another’s faults;
Don’t explore another’s affairs.
2024-11-1548 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Your Original Face is Always ChangingThe title of today’s contemplation “our original face is always changing” comes from the story of the sixth ancestor, Eno, retold in case 23 of The Gateless Barrier collection of koans:
“Don’t think good, don’t think evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of Ming the head monk?”
“What is your original face before your parents were born?”
In other words, just sit and your original face immediately appears.
Finally, we could say our world self is also embedded in the great Cosmos. We could say -
We are the Cosmos, experiencing itself in human form.
2024-10-2736 min
2024-10-1352 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Being afraid of making mistakes is the biggest mistake by Louise Shinsho CrannyThis guided meditation explores our personal relationship with mistakes. Mistakes are a fertile ground for learning. Dogen says ‘Life is one continuous mistake.’ Changing our attitude to our mistakes can change our life. Mistakes are exactly the path.
2024-10-0828 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Zen Practice as Community, by Zenko Jack WicksIn this guided meditation we explore what is it to do zen practice together and to wake up together. in supporting each others practice, we support our own; in practicing together we discover our uniqueness within the simultaneous discovery of how important we are to each other.
2024-09-2431 min
2024-09-2150 min
The OzZen PodcastYogacara part threeIn this lecture/discussion, Sono gives some background detail on the “three turnings of the wheel”, culminating in Yogacara. He also comments on the meaning of three natures and compares it with western phenomenology.
2024-09-1550 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Facing and Embracing Our FinitudeThis morning, we will be contemplating our finitude and how by facing and embracing our finitude, we can learn to live a life full of appreciation and meaning.
2024-09-1031 min
The OzZen PodcastFirst Precept: Non-killingNonkilling: Life is nonkilling. The seed of buddha grows continuously.
Maintain the wisdom-life of buddha and do not kill life – Dogen Zenji
Appreciate your life – Maezumi Roshi
2024-08-2518 minThe OzZen PodcastYogacara part twoIn this lecture today, we will first review the discussion about the “three natures” that I introduced last month from the work of the Yogacara philosopher, Vasubandhu. Then we will begin to discuss a contemporary philosophical school called Phenomenology and its similarities to Yogacara. We will then finish today’s lecture by reading and discussing a chapter from Joko Beck’s first book called Experiencing and Behaviour which I think will help us make the link between what these Yogacarins and Phenomenologists are on about because Joko has this way of being able to express these complex ideas in a simple a...
2024-08-1836 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: A Path to Oneness by ShinshoShinsho directs us home in this beautifully crafted guided meditation:
A magnificent round full moon is rising before you and the path ahead is well lit.
You have arrived home.
‘Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet’ says Thich.
We have caused a lot of damage to the earth. Now is time to walk home with love. It is only possible if we do not constantly think of the future or the past. Life can only be found in the present moment.
2024-08-1341 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Jui-yen Calls MasterTHE CASE: The priest Jui-yen called “Master!” to himself every day and answered himself “Yes!” Then he would say “Be aware!” and reply “Yes!” “Don’t be deceived by others!” “No, no!”" (from "The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan)" by Robert Aitken)
This is good practice for everyday life. He is basically calling out the name Master! And the key is the effortless immediacy of the response – YES! That YES is everything. What is he saying Yes too? Who is the Master?
2024-08-0439 min
The OzZen PodcastYogacara part oneIn this lecture we sample the Yogacara teachings of Vasubandhu called the Treatise on the Three Natures, which form the philosophical backbone of Yogacara. So, what are the three natures? They are three interrelated aspects of our experience: the imaginary, dependent and complete or realised nature. In a nutshell they are:
The imaginary nature of things is what we think they are.
Their dependent nature of things is that they appear to depend on other things.
The complete, realised nature of things is that they are not what you think they are
2024-07-2141 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Leave Everything AloneLeave Everything Alone is a guided meditation on our core practice – the simple art of “just sitting”. I will leave lots of space and silence in-between my words. Just-sitting is the practice of non-doing – Wu Wei in Chinese. Effortless. No need to cultivate. If you are efforting you are straying away from the way. It is simply surrendering to the immediacy of our natural functioning.
2024-07-1636 minThe OzZen PodcastIntroduction to the PreceptsThis is the first of a series of talks on precept practice given by OzZen teachers and facilitators. This talk focuses on how to practice a nondual psychologically minded approach to the precepts influenced by the teaching of Bernie Glassman, Nancy Mujo Baker and Barry Magid.
2024-06-3019 min
The OzZen PodcastNagarjuna and the Two TruthsIn this sixth episode in the series Indian Buddhist Philosophy: Progressive Stages of Insight into Emptiness, Sono discusses the Two Truths of Nagarjuna, the important insight into the “emptiness” of emptiness and how these philosophical insights shape how we practice.
2024-06-2342 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: A Still Forest Pool, by ShinshoMeditation: A Still Forest Pool, by Shinsho by
2024-06-1128 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Song of ZazenZen Buddhism can be understood as a form of performance art.
In this recording, Sono performs the song by the 17th century monk Hakuin, called “Song of Zazen”.
2024-06-0934 min
The OzZen PodcastWhat does it mean to be a social activist?, by Louise Shinsho CrannyHow does our practice help with this work?
When we come from love rather than anger and fear, without creating enemies, we avoid anxiety and burnout. We can rely on our zazen practice to step back and see clearly with a compassionate lens. Together with the fundamental truths of Buddhism, this allows us then to step up and into wise action as is required in any given moment.
2024-05-2426 min
The OzZen PodcastSocially Engaged BuddhismIn this talk I discuss socially engaged Buddhism and how the paths of personal and social transformation are interdependent.
As David Loy states: ‘Engagement in the world is how our individual awakening blossoms, and how contemplative practices such as meditation ground our activism, transforming it into a spiritual path”.
2024-05-2240 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Why do you sit?In this meditation we contemplate the question: Why do you sit?
Like a Koan there is no right answer. Are we “Performing our vows”?
“Renewing our commitment”? “Embodying the practice principles?”
What kind of engagement with life is Zazen? The practice of nonseparation?
The practice of leaving everything alone? Nonthinking is a kind of letting be – letting
thinking be, letting everything be. Forget yourself. No gain. Just this is it.
2024-05-1435 minThe OzZen PodcastThe Liberatory potential of the Emptiness TeachingsIn this lecture/discussion, Sono explains the concept of dependent arising in Buddhism, emphasizing that things only exist conventionally and do not have inherent existence. This idea, also known as emptiness, was clarified as the absence of something rather than the presence of something else. Sono further discussed how this concept relates to the impermanence of all things, as nothing truly exists independently. The group also discussed the confusion that can arise from this concept, particularly in relation to the concept of non-separation. Ultimately, Sono argued that this philosophy aims to liberate individuals from the habit of imputing independent existence...
2024-05-1244 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: The Emptiness of SelfIn our Indian Buddhist Philosophy course, we have been discussing various ways of understanding the Buddhist concept of anatman, “no-self” using philosophical analysis. According to this analysis emptiness is defined as the lack of an inherent, independently existing permanent self. Even though we may understand intellectually that the self does not have a permanent, indivisible, and independent existence, it feels as if it does. In this guided meditation, we explore the self-illusion by turning towards our direct experience – that is we explore emptiness experientially.
2024-04-2836 minThe OzZen PodcastEverything is Empty of Inherent ExistenceFrom the Buddhist perspective, the understanding and realisation of emptiness is the key to liberation from suffering – because the roots of suffering stem from primordial confusion as to the nature of reality – to be free from suffering we need to eliminate ignorance – to eliminate ignorance is to understand emptiness – hence the realisation of emptiness is the ultimate medicine.
In this lecture series we are exploring some of the different ways of understanding emptiness found in Buddhism – today we will go into what is called the Madhymaka School or The Middle Way School which interprets the prajnaparamita sutras – such as the Heart Sutra...
2024-04-1453 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Romantic and Universal Love, by Zenko Jack WicksThe divine abodes are loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. These are both fruits of a practice of meditation and can be doorways to the deepening of that practice. In this guided meditation we explore the connection between romantic love and loving kindness. Romantic love hints at the universal love we can experience and embody whether or not we are in love romantically with someone or not.
Both in love songs and romantic poetry we can get a taste of something that is beyond our individual selves, beyond existence in a certain place and time, beyond the usual way we...
2024-04-0231 min
The OzZen PodcastOpening the heart in close and intimate relationships, by ShinshoThis talk explores the benefits of these often tricky challenges and what Buddhism and relational science offer us in dealing with them. Idealised or romantic love is dualistic and relates to the other, Harmonic love relates with the other. Rather than being in love, we become love.
2024-03-3133 minThe OzZen PodcastThe empty self part twoThis session focuses on the meaning of Emptiness in the Pali Buddhist sutras and the Abhidharma philosophy school.
2024-03-1752 min
2024-03-0543 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Simple MindAwakened awareness is not about special experiences – it is about recognising the simplest form of conscious experience that is available to everyone. Joko called it “Simple Mind”, Shunryu Suzuki called it “Beginners Mind” or we could simply call it awareness of awareness or “Pure Awareness”.
We could say that the purpose of meditation, both silent and guided, is the process of dis-identifying from the suffering that is generated by identifying as a personal separate self with the flow of impermanent, interdependent phenomena and recognising and returning to our home base of Simple Mind.
By Sono.
2024-03-0341 min
The OzZen PodcastNaming our experiences by Louise Shinso CrannyThis guided meditation offers a chance to gain clarity around our thoughts and emotions. Taking a few deep breaths, we can name our experiences. Then we gain an opportunity to fully experience them without being overwhelmed by them. We can then move on the investigate them if it feels safe to do so. Remembering to nurture ourselves by coming back to the awareness of the breath.
2024-02-2031 minThe OzZen PodcastThe empty self part oneThis session gives an introduction to the Buddha’s first discourse on Turning the Wheel of the Dharma. In this discussion we focus on the four truths or practices.
2024-02-1841 min2024-02-1140 min
The OzZen PodcastThe Precept of Non-Lying and the Gurdjieff Teachings, by Elisabeth BarrettSono asked me to talk on Gurdjieff and the zen Buddhist precepts.
Gurdjieff didn’t teach on things like the precepts e.g. do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not gossip etc. His teaching is about becoming conscious as opposed to the awake-sleep state in which we live almost all the time.
Consciousness will, by its very nature include all the “do nots” and will mean a life lived through our true natures. In awake-sleep we are like machines, automatically reacting to everything according to our individual experiences of life.
2024-02-0913 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Three Types Of ZazenIn this guided meditation Sono introduces three types of Zazen:
Mindfulness of a mental object;
Mindfulness of the field of all objects; and
Just-Sitting
2024-01-2328 min
The OzZen PodcastPhilosophy as practiceThis session gives an introduction to why it is important to study philosophy and an overview of the course.
2024-01-2144 min
The OzZen PodcastThe Voice From The Heart, and the backlash to reconciliationIn this talk I reflect on the “Voice from the Heart”, why the referendum lost and what has to happen next. It provides a brief historical background to the Voice and it includes some reflections on the One and the Many from a Zen perspective and applies the concept of “spiritual bypassing” at the collective level when a nation denies the truth of its history. It concludes with the following quote from James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced”.
Caveat: There was some technical problem with the recording so the qual...
2023-10-2236 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Joyful EquanimityOur original nature can be described as Awareness or Heart-Mind. This Awareness that we are, which ultimately constitutes our original nature, has a number of essential qualities. As an introduction to this guided meditation, I discuss the four faces of Universal Love. In Buddhism they are called the Four Brahma Viharas (divine dwellings): In the language of the Buddha, these are metta, karuna, mudita, and upekkha. In English they are commonly known as loving-kindness, compassion or care, appreciative joy, and equanimity, peace or simply being. In order to support the transformation of attachment-based exclusive love into love and happiness that...
2023-10-0842 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Meeting The Way, by Zenko Jack WicksThis meditation guides you from the experience of your breath to some old zen parables.
The first story is a re-telling of “A Parable” from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.
Two koans are featured, both are from The Gateless Gate by Koun Yamada. These are, Case 30 “Mind is Buddha”, and Case 36 “Meeting a Man Who Has Accomplished the Way”.
Influences for this talk are also SN Goenka and Paul McKenna.
2023-10-0328 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Deep Listening, by Louise Shinso CrannyThis talk guides us through a journey of embodying the connections we have with our place here …the earth, the elements, and the beings we share life energy with. Exploring the fundamental Buddhist truths that everything is connected and everything is impermanent. Being present with the emotions that arise and coming to the spaciousness that allows anything to be possible.
2023-10-0331 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: I Am, by ElisabethThis guided meditation was taught by Gurdjieff to his students. Through each round of body sensing we are guided into self-remembering – the “I am” of awareness.
2023-08-2236 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Appreciate this life, by SonoThis guided meditation is all about finding or recognising and then stabilising in your essential nature, your inner “treasury”. I have titled the meditation “Appreciate this Life” after the book by the same title by Maezumi Roshi. Even though we cannot “see” our essential nature we can simply be, knowingly, our essential nature. We need to recognize our essential nature in this way. It doesn’t need to be a dramatic event. But it is always deeply wonderous
2023-08-1333 min
The OzZen PodcastYoga Nidra, by JoshuJoshu(Peter Thompson) founder of the Wombat Sangha in Sydney gives a introduction to the importance of Yoga Nidra practice and how it complements our Zen practice.
2023-08-0835 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Zazen Yoga NidraZAZEN YOGA NIDRA
This guided meditation integrates zazen and yoga nidra. Both zazen and yoga nidra are gateways into the subjective sense of the body and ultimately the realisation of self as nondual awareness.
2023-07-2537 min
The OzZen PodcastThe Evolution Of Zen, by JoshuJoshu (Peter Thompson) is a founding member of the Sydney Zen Centre and a founder of the Wombat Sangha based in Sydney. In this talk Joshu develops a founding narrative for contemporary Zen practice based upon Evolution. Joshu says, “An important part of the story and mystery of our evolution and being here is the existential reality of alienation and separation and anxiety seemingly caused by the emergence of the frontal neo cortex, bringing with it the human thinking mind ...This brought about The Fall from the graceful state of oneness ( The Garden Of Eden , Genesis ) ....In explaining this, I am...
2023-07-1624 min
The OzZen PodcastThe view from awarenessThis talk is continuing our conversation about nonduality. One of the core dualities we are trained into is subject and object duality. The theme of this talk – recognising our essential self as awareness – and some of the experiential exercises are taken from a book called “Standing as Awareness” by the nondual philosopher Greg Goode.
Last month I spoke about the Koan of the goose in the bottle. This represents “normal” experience of duality – the goose in the bottle is a description of the self-centred dream – we are trapped, or identified as, a separate body-mind self that is the activity of suffering.
Pra...
2023-06-1839 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Simply BeingThis guided meditation leads us into the non-duality of Simply Being through the gateless gate of silence.
2023-05-3029 min
The OzZen PodcastThe goose is out! Suffering and the end of suffering part 3This talk, based on an old koan, continues our exploration of psychological or mind-generated suffering and the ending of this suffering through seeing how psychological suffering is always synonymous with getting caught in conventional duality of “me” and “not me” and not seeing from the alternative perspective of unbounded awareness.
Here is the old koan. Lu Geng asked Nanquan:
If someone puts a gosling into a bottle and feeds it until it is full-grown, how can they get the goose out without killing it or breaking the bottle?
The Master kept silent for few moments and then clapped his hand. Lu Geng...
2023-05-2137 min
The OzZen PodcastTwo practices for ending sufferingThis talk continues with the theme suffering and the ending of suffering. It introduces two complementary practices for ending suffering: self-inquiry and nonseparation.
2023-05-0643 min
The OzZen PodcastJukai talk, by Louise CrannyIn our OzZen sangha, when receiving the precepts, recipients also give a Jukai talk, reflecting on their experience of studying the precepts in the monthly study group over the past year. Recipients are encouraged to personalise their experiences.
2023-05-0518 min
The OzZen PodcastTaking RefugeTonight, we will discuss the practice of “taking refuge” as it relates to the question of suffering and the ending of suffering. During discussion I want us to clarify the difference between psychological suffering and what we might describe as our natural emotional responses that arise from being creatures who become attached to each other. I don’t think that grief should necessarily be problematized, however, it can get complicated by the thinking mind.
So, in some ways, I want to suggest, that we can, at times at least, bring an end to psychological suffering but natural emotions such as grief...
2023-05-0428 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Ceaseless change turns the wheel of lifeHow do we find constancy amid constant change? When we let go of attachment to form: attachment and aversion, we find our freedom in the formless field of benefaction.
2023-04-0436 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Form and The FormlessIf we are attached to form: body, feelings, perceptions, personality, as night follows day, we are going to suffer. Liberation from suffering is found through the gateway into the formless.
2023-04-0237 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Practicing Non-Attachment to DesireThe middle way practice of non-attachment to desire is not to give-in to desire or to repress desire. We allow desire to naturally arise and pass away, without clinging. Sometimes can do this and sometimes we can’t. Yet this is our practice.
2023-03-3130 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Activating the seeds of mindfulness, by Louise Shinso CrannyLike a weed, suffering seems to grow regularly and crosses our paths frequently.
Often it is mildly annoying and occasionally it becomes troublesome and painful.
Although suffering is inevitable, it is possible to activate the seeds of awareness by practicing the first eight of the Buddha’s foundations of mindfulness. Here we prime the ground for suffering to be transformed. Developing the art of suffering we can grow lotus flowers from the mud.
2023-03-2833 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Can You Find Yourself?Bodhidarma sat facing the wall. The second patriarch [Shenguang, later called Huike], standing in the snow, cut off his arm and said, “Your disciple’s mind is not yet at peace. I beg you, Master, give it rest.”
Bodhidharma said, “Bring your mind to me; I will put it to rest.”
The patriarch said, “I have searched for the mind but have never been able to find it.”
Bodhidharma said, “I have finished putting it to rest for you.
From Case 41 of the Gateless Gate: Bodhidharma Puts the Mind to Rest.
In this meditation we go in search of the Mind (or Self...
2023-03-1934 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Awakening To Life“Each moment, Life as it is, the only Teacher”.
In our tradition, we regularly acknowledge “Life” as it is as being our only teacher, but how often do we really appreciate how astonishing it is to be alive? This guided meditation is all about awakening to this wonder of being alive and truly appreciating our life, just as it is, here and now.
2023-03-0735 min
2023-01-2239 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Kindness and Self-Compassion, by Louise Shinso CrannyWe can only truly be open and loving when we are truly kind to ourselves.
Here we explore some ways of bringing an inner smile into our lives and to observe how being compassionate brings happiness to both ourselves and others.
2022-12-2339 min
The OzZen PodcastWhat is Enlightenment? Part 3In this talk I return to the question, what is enlightenment? I begin with a working definition of enlightenment as a developmental process rather than a one-off event (or series of events). I then explore two primary lines of development: “know thyself” and “returning home” or “original OK-ness”.
2022-12-0424 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Sitting with Suffering, by Rhys Konin Price-RobertsonIn this meditation Rhys leads us through an exploration of sitting with suffering because, as Rhys states, this is a lot of what sitting is. For all of us, for a fair bit of the time, this is what we’ll be doing when we practice Zazen: we’ll be sitting with some form of suffering, of discomfort, of dis-ease. Sometimes this suffering will be gross and obvious, like physical pain or emotional upset. At other times, perhaps a lot of the time, we’ll experience more subtle forms of suffering, like dissatisfaction, or striving, or boredom, or a sense of lac...
2022-11-2927 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation, Holding the self with love, by Jed BloreThis meditation focuses on the dance between being a separate self, bounded by the body, occupying a particular space-time point, and a self completely interdependent, depending on our environment, and our relationships. Dancing between the two, we hold these two seemingly paradoxical positions with love and compassion.
2022-11-1536 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: I Am Mountain Part 2, by Pingala WalshIn this second enchanting, guided meditation, Pingala explores again the mysterious heights and depths of the presence of mountains.
2022-10-1836 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Wild SwansThis meditation starts with a reading of the Wild Swans at Coole by WB Yeats as an introduction to the contemplation of “mujo” or impermanence. We then segue into a contemplation of finding our way home in the world.
2022-10-0938 min
The OzZen PodcastWhat is Enlightenment? Part 2In this talk I share some understandings of enlightenment that have in the context ongoing dialogue with Joko Beck through her books and Barry Magid as my teacher. I begin my discussing two common curative fantasies of what enlightenment is. I then share one understanding of enlightenment that is found in both Joko Beck and Barry Magid - what I will call our Original OK-ness – the sense of being at home in our world and being at home with others harmoniously. I finish with discussing enlightenment as a life-time journey that we are all on.
2022-10-0831 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Attending to the WorldThis guided meditation directs our attention to the quality of our attention to our experience. How our attention is uncovering reality. Zazen is a kind of experiential research into our experience of self and world that can be shared with others to arrive at common understandings. Attention can be understood as a form of taking care of ourselves and our world.
2022-10-0737 minThe OzZen PodcastWhat is Enlightenment? Part 1In this talk I introduce the proposal that we all must discover what enlightenment means to us. Like the historical Buddha, we must be a lamp unto ourselves, not accepting any authority other than the authority of our own experience refined in the context of dialogue with dharma friends.
2022-10-0725 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: I Am Mountain Part 1, by Pingala WalshIn this enchanting guided meditation, Pingala invites us to experience ourselves as a Mountain.
2022-09-1339 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Self-acceptance, by Jack Doshin WicksMost people, whether long-term meditators or not, engage in some kind of judgemental, negative, self-talk. We may not even be fully conscious of how we criticise ourselves and reject certain parts of ourselves. We are so used to doing it that we may not even know we are doing it. Sometimes it can be loud and sometimes very quiet and ubiquitous in the background of our psyche.
This meditation is an invitation to notice this and to come to terms with and include all aspects of ourselves.
Self-acceptance is the doorway to healing and to a full and rich life...
2022-09-1342 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Knowing How you Feel - The Vedanas or Feeling Tones, by Louise CrannyWhatever you experience may be looked at more deeply by acknowledging the feeling tone. Is it pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? Contact with the world through our senses generates a sensation. Just noticing without judging, this tonality really influences our life. Can we feel both pleasant and unpleasant at the same time? Does Neutral have a negative bias? Do feeling tones linger after the experience that triggered them? Being interested in the neutral, the non-eventful , the ordinary experiences, opens them up. Neutral is really interesting! It can provide entry into stillness.
2022-09-0638 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: 8 Wordly Winds, by Louise CrannyOutside the worldly winds are raging. Inside is peaceful and calm. Where are you when the winds blow? When we accept life as it is, right now, without complaining or trying to grasp for more, we come to peace and spaciousness. We come to a freedom, where we are more capable of both inner and outer change. Seeing the 8 worldly winds of the human condition, helps access this letting go of resistance to the present moment.
2022-05-3139 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: The alternative practice principlesNo longer caught in the self-centred dream.
I have given up seeking,
Content just to be
With whatever this moment brings.
This guided meditation is a contemplation on the alternative practice principles.
A common error is often to take up practice as a means to an end, we often fall into the trap of thinking we practice in order to obtain enlightenment. This is the activity of the ego-self. Rather we sit zazen to express our already enlightened buddha mind. To be Buddha is to sit with this moment exactly as-it-is and to leave everything exactly as-it-is. We even need...
2022-05-1736 minThe OzZen PodcastMeditation: Sitting As OneThis guided meditation continues our contemplation on the unity of boundlessness (Buddha) and form (Dharma) and the harmonising of this unity (Sangha).
2022-05-0735 min
The OzZen PodcastThe three treasures and the preceptsIn this talk I focus on the three treasures and the three pure precepts and how an understanding of these precepts are essential to applying the ten grave precepts within the context of the koans of everyday life. The three treasures are the expression of the intrinsic nature or essential nature that the ten grave precepts are expressions of.
2022-05-0526 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Take the backward stepIn this guided meditation I explore the three phases of zen meditation practice. Moving from focusing on an object, through to open awareness and finally objectless meditation (or shikantaza or silent illumination) or what Dogen called “taking the backward step” where all duality between observer and observed dissovlnes completely.
2022-05-0534 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Not-knowing, by Jack WicksIn this guided meditation, Jack Wicks, an OzZen facilitator, takes us on a journey through the practice of not-knowing. Not-knowing is a zen approach to seeing our lives more clearly and liberating us from suffering. Not-knowing means seeing through our tendency to believe that our thoughts are always an accurate and helpful description of reality. This practice can help lead us to the realisation of emptiness of all phenomena and spiritual awakening.
2022-04-1936 min
The OzZen PodcastWay Seeking Mind, by Jack WicksThis year we begin a series of way-seeking mind talks. These are traditional to Zen Buddhism. Practitioners give a kind of psychological-spiritual autobiography of how they were drawn by the way-seeking mind to discover “the way” to their true self. I would like to thank Jack for accepting my invitation to give this talk, which I hope inspires more OzZen members and friends to share their own journey with us soon.
2022-03-2735 min
The OzZen PodcastReligious Practice as NonseparationThis talk continues my discussion of revisioning religious practice for the 21st century. It is based on how I understand Buddhism to be evolving in the west and how I see OzZen as being part of what I am calling the fourth way: “The OzZen Way is an attempt to do a preliminary sketch of how we fit into the larger pantheon of global Buddhism, and then, how we fit into Western Buddhism and what kind of Western Buddhist project we are cultivating - to become more conscious and intentional of this”. The talk also discusses how many westerners feel unco...
2021-09-2659 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Two Meditative PoemsPoetry (and other art forms) have been part of Chan/Zen practice since its origins in Ancient China. This tradition has been passed down through excellent translations of classical Chinese poetry and Japanese Haiku. These works influenced western poets from the 1950’s onwards, to explore the wilds of the mind and the restorative power of wilderness. The classic Chinese text, the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, has influenced numerous poets and Zen practitioners. Writing and performing these meditative poems I see as a core practice in our OzZen program.
2021-08-1023 min
The OzZen PodcastWhy I am a Buddhist, by Barry MagidThis topic that I have asked Barry to speak on continues our exploration of Buddhist modernism and is also deeply personal, as we reflect on the question of whether or not we wish to identify ourselves as Buddhists. I just want to preface Barry’s talk and our discussion by referring to our OzZen constitution. The relevant parts read:
OzZen is established to transmit and maintain the teachings of the Ordinary Mind Zen School lineage of Zen in a form accessible and relevant to the present everyday lives of people living in Australia and other parts of the world and th...
2021-04-111h 02
The OzZen PodcastOzZen Way Study ProgramIn this talk Andrew gives an overview of the OzZen Way Study Program and answers questions on various aspects of the program. The written program can be found on the OzZen website.
2021-02-1451 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Earth And SkyThis guided meditation OzZen teacher Andrew Tootell continues the project of developing a Zen-informed Guided Meditation practice. It begins by outlining the four principles that all Buddhist groups adhere to: Life is Dukkha (Suffering); Impermanence; Interdependence (no separate self); and Nirvana. Although all Buddhism agree on these “four seals” they interpret them differently. We will be exploring the following question: What makes a zen-informed guided meditation different to other Buddhist-informed guided meditations? Is it a sensibility, an aesthetic? It can be argued that the difference between Japanese (Zen Buddhism) and Indian Buddhism is in how these different cultures relate to this...
2021-02-0241 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: I Am My BodyThis guided meditation is inspired by a reading that can be found on the OzZen website by my teacher Barry Magid. I read the pargraphs from the reading and then the meditation flows with the encouragement to allow and accept all aspects of our experience and needs.
2020-09-2337 min
The OzZen PodcastMeditation: Hurt feelings and respectful speechThis talk was inspired by a recent conversation with an OzZen member. In this conversation the person was concerned with their inability to forgive someone who had hurt them it was a kind of betrayal. Now, my Buddhist friend felt that this was inadequate from a Buddhist perspective, that is, from a Buddhist perspective one should not feel hurt and one should be able to forgive. It is these assumptions that I think it is helpful to question.
2020-08-2625 min