Shows
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksMahakasyapa Transmits To MahakasyapaThe following is an approximate transcript of a Dharma talk that I offered on Saturday, July 27th, during O-An Zendo’s Udumbara Sesshin. You can also listen to a live recording.Enjoy.Almost one year ago, I sat in this seat and offered a Dharma talk on the topic of the transmission of the teachings. Specifically, I spoke about the first transmission of the Dharma from Shakyamuni Buddha to Mahakasyapa and began with an excerpt from Dogen’s Shobogenzo Menju (Face-To-Face Transmission). Since that talk went well, I will begin this talk in the same way...2024-07-3036 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksThe Bodhisattva's VowsThe following is an approximate transcript of the Dharma Talk I delivered as part of O-An Zendo’s Sunday Program on July 14th, 2024. You can also listen to a live recording of the talk.Enjoy.Good morning. Thank you for being here and for continuing to participate in the great effort together. As we begin, I ask two things of you. First, please remember this line from Hsin Hsin Ming (Song Of Trusting Mind):Don’t get tangled in the world, don’t lose yourself in emptiness.Second, please wiggle in your s...2024-07-1635 min
O-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - The Bodhisattva's Vows - July 14th, 20242024-07-1435 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Wearing the Tathagata's Teachings - July 7th, 20242024-07-0731 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksRefraining FromThe following is an approximate transcript of the Dharma Talk I offered on June 16th as part of O-An Zendo’s Sunday program. You can also listen to a live recording.Enjoy.Last week, we explored one way of relating to the precepts. As a way of complementing Roshi’s admonishment to “forget the precepts,” I suggested that we can also see the precepts as “invitations to exploration.” I said asking questions is part of being a Zen practitioner. We also looked at the precept that encourages supporting life in its many forms to illustrate that sort of...2024-06-1826 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Refraining From - June 16th, 20242024-06-1626 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksZen QuestionsThe following is an approximate transcript of the Dharma Talk I offer on Sunday, June 9th, as part of O-An Zendo’s Sunday program. You can also listen to a live recording of the talk. Enjoy.Precepts—that is what I want us to explore this morning. What are the precepts? How do we work with the precepts? How do we incorporate them into daily practice and our everyday lives?Roshi offered one response to these questions in her talk last Sunday. (You can listen to that talk here.) She spoke about "spontaneity" and...2024-06-1130 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Zen Questions - June 9th, 20242024-06-0930 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Gifts of Inspiration - May 19th, 20242024-05-1927 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksOffering Sand To The BuddhaBelow is an approximate transcript of the Dharma Talk I gave on May 5th as part of O-An Zendo’s Sunday program. You can read the transcript or listen to the live recording.Thank you for listening, reading, and supporting. I bow with gratitude.Two weeks ago, I spoke about the “essential art of zazen [seated meditation]” and kin hin (walking meditation), a companion to our sitting practice. I said that kin hin is an opportunity to “walk our zazen around the room” and that, with a bit of practice, we can also carry zazen into our d...2024-05-0727 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Offering Sand to the Buddha - May 5th, 20242024-05-0527 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksMaster Mayu Waves His FanO-An Zendo, the small Sōtō Zen temple where I live, practice, and serve the local community, resumed in-person gatherings last week. This change in the temple’s activities, mostly on Sundays, also changes my activities. Notably, I once more serve as the Doshi (Officiant) roughly every other week during our Sunday program and offer the Dharma Talk.Zen temples, Buddhist temples, and Dharma Centers are generally structured in specific ways, both in their presentation and in the forms of conduct prescribed and prohibited. These forms help create and maintain a particular sort of experience. It is not...2024-04-2335 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Master Mayu Waves His Fan - April 21st, 20242024-04-2135 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksDharma Talk: The Promise Of YouA new Dharma Talk is now available. The title is “The Promise Of You.”The offering was given on Saturday, April 6th, as a Dharma Talk during O-An Zendo’s Vesak Sesshin. The centerpiece is a passage from Dōgen Zenji’s Genjōkōan, which encourages us to think differently about how events in our lives relate to each other and about the past and future generally.I close the talk with the reminder that all of us are necessarily free and liberated, that the promise of our lives is never lost but renewed...2024-04-1328 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - The Promise of You - Vesak Sesshin - April 6th, 20242024-04-0628 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksStep Five: Part ThreeFrom February 10 - 17, I will be away on a solo retreat at the Center of Solitude in Belmont, NY. There will be no posts during that time. Thank you for understanding.Also, I’m trying out article voiceovers. All thoughts welcome.This week our time with Step Five comes to a close, at least for now. (I anticipate revisiting these first efforts to articulate my understanding of the Twelve Steps from a Buddhist perspective in the future.) It’s a challenging thing to write out on paper—or type into a digital document—what feels clear an...2024-02-0811 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksTrusting OthersNote: From February 10 - 17, I will be away on a solo retreat at the Center of Solitude in Belmont, NY. There will be no posts during that time. Thank you for understanding.There is a collection of stories in the Pāli Canon in which the Buddha discourages “blind faith” in himself and his teachings (and any other religious or spiritual teacher and their teachings too). Instead, the Buddha outlines methods by which claims to perfect enlightenment and true teachings may be investigated and tested, and then willingly submits himself to examination by those present. The Vimaṃsaka Su...2024-02-0612 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksDharma Talk: Rebirth and RecoveryFor this week’s Buddhism and recovery post, I thought to share an older Dharma Talk. I’m steadily approaching my second sobriety birthday; it seems appropriate to revisit where I was roughly one year and three or four months ago. Also, I spent the last two days driving across a large section of the United States. There was very little time to write!The Dharma Talk offered here presents my recovery journey prior to and including about eight months of enduring sobriety. It appears as but one entry in a series of talks offered at O...2024-01-2539 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksDharma Talk: Limitless, Ceaseless TrustFor my second-to-last post of the year, I’m sharing the Dharma Talk that I offered during O-An Zendo’s O-Bon Sesshin. This is also the talk that I offered the day before Shukke Tokudo, Novice Priest Ordination.As the talk’s title indicates, the focus is Trust—trust in oneself, trust in the Dharma, and trust in the universe. Trust has been at the center of my practice for the last couple of years, and I suspect that it will continue to sit there (and I with it) for many more. Enjoy!The Hut by T...2023-12-2529 min
Hōan Taishin's Dharma TalksDharma Talk: Roethke's Auction, Siddhartha's AwakeningToday I am sharing the Dharma Talk that I offered during O-An Zendo’s Rōhatsu Sesshin. “Rōhatsu” is one of the terms used for an assembly on the occasion of Shakyamuni Buddha’s Enlightenment. Every year, Buddhists, the Buddha-curious, and spiritual practitioners generally gather to practice and celebrate what is otherwise called “Bodhi Day,” and marks the turning of the Dharma Wheel in this world.The Hut by Taishin Michael Augustin is a reader-supported publication. Consider supporting my practice by sharing this post, becoming a free or paid subscriber, or making a one-time donation through Paypal...2023-12-1125 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Roethke’s Auction, Siddartha’s Awakening - Rohatsu Day 1, December 9th, 20232023-12-0925 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - This Mountain Monk Doesn’t Understand - November 19th, 20232023-11-1926 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Will This Hut Perish or Not? - November 5th, 20232023-11-0527 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Limitless, Ceaseless, Trust - O-Bon Sesshin Day 3 - October 28th, 20232023-10-2829 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - The Perfection of Energy - October 22nd, 20232023-10-2227 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - The Perfection of Practice - October 8th, 20232023-10-0826 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - May All Beings Be Happy! - October 1st, 20232023-10-0124 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Falling Down to The Sky - September 10th, 20232023-09-1026 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - The Five What? - August 27th, 20232023-08-2722 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - All Five Skandhas Are Empty - August 13th, 20232023-08-1330 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - On Way Seeking Mind - Udumbara Sesshin Day 2 - July 29th 20232023-07-2925 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - On Chanting - July 23rd, 20232023-07-2330 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - What to Say When You Want to Say Nothing - July 9th, 20232023-07-0932 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Got Anger? - June 11th, 20232023-06-1132 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - The Treasure is Within You - May 28th, 20232023-05-2824 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON JIJUYU ZANMAI - May 7th, 20232023-05-0724 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON THE BODHISATTVA’S GREAT COMPASSION - Vesak Day 4 - April 10th, 20232023-04-1030 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON THE BODHISATTVA’S SICKNESS - Vesak Sesshin Day 1 - April 7th, 20232023-04-0730 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - Trust, Doubt, and The Night Sky - December 17, 20222022-12-1731 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON PRAJNA’s COMPANION - December 4, 20222022-12-0424 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON A SIMPLE LIFE - November 13, 20222022-11-1323 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON WHOLENESS - October 23, 20222022-10-2327 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON Rebirth and Recovery - October 2,2022-10-0339 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON YOU ARE COMPLETE JUST AS YOU ARE - August 21, 20222022-08-2122 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON RESTLESSNESS AND WORRY - July 31, 20222022-08-0128 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON THE LIMBS AND THE TRUNK - July 17, 20222022-07-1827 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON WHERE IS YOUR SELF NATURE? - June 5, 20222022-06-0630 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - ON LOOK INSIDE - May 15, 20222022-05-1621 minO-An Zendo Dharma TalksTaishin Michael Augustin - On OBSERVANCE - May 1, 20222022-05-0216 min