Opening the Hand of Thought (Chapter 1)

Mayne Island resident and longtime MRZC practice leader Jikai Vicki Turay continues our exploration of Opening the Hand of Thought by Japanese Zen teacher Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. She dives into Uchiyama's discourse on the cultivation of sweet persimmons, how Buddhist practice can manifest and flourish in the West, and how the practice of zazen helps us awaken to our universal nature.

Finding Our True Home

Back from a recent trip to Europe, MRZC priest and teacher and Sunshine Coast resident Dai-i Flo Rublee reflects on homecoming, home-leaving, and how we are all just walking each other home.

Opening the Hand of Thought (Intro)

“Zazen is precisely the posture of sitting in the sphere of absolute peace of mind that is like the big sky in which the many clouds of thoughts come and go.” (Kōshō Uchiyama)

Shinmon Michael Newton introduces Opening the Hand of Thought by twentieth century Japanese Zen teacher Kosho Uchiyama Roshi.

This is the first of a ten week dharma seminar with MRZC guiding teachers and practice leaders. Uchiyama’s teachings are accessible, down-to-earth, wise and humorous.  He was a student of Kodo Sawaki Roshi ("Homeless Kodo"), and the teacher of Shohaku Okumura Roshi, Kate and Michael's first Soto Zen teacher in Japan. If you have the book you are welcome to follow along, but advance reading is not necessary. 

Mother of all Buddhas

In what way does our innate ability to nurture reflect the perfection of wisdom? Dharma Talk with Shinmon Michael Newton. 

Zen Poetry through the Ages Part 6/6: Contemporary Poets

Last of a six-week Wednesday dharma seminar series with MRZC Guiding Teacher Myoshin Kate McCandless. What is zen poetry today in North America? How can we make zen poetry of everything?

Practicing Restraint to Make Room for the World

Guiding Teacher Myoshin Kate McCandless explores the practice of restraint using the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum (Hebrew: contraction), and asks: can we understand restraint not as something externally imposed and enforced by fear, but internally chosen and based on care and concern?

The Taste of Silence

Guiding Teacher Shinmon Michael Newton introduces The Taste of Silence: How I Came to Be at Home with Myself by Belgian author Bieke Vandekerckhove. He speaks of how we can find freedom in stillness, and in what Dogen refers to as 'the backward step' — the deep and healing flow of silence.