Tag: zenphilosophy

So, today I want to talk about demons (or yokai, in Japanese).  You might have heard me refer to the threshold to the dojo as the demon-tripper. This is a traditional way of describing the purpose of the raised piece of wood that separates the dojo from the rest of the temple.  Of course, we…

For the past couple of months I have been practicing with the Sewanee Sangha, a student-led sitting group at the University of the South. Sam Kearley leads the group with great commitment, and the university has been very supportive, dedicating space in the Meditation Chapel of the beautiful All Saints’ Chapel. We sit for only…

Sewanee Zen will open for the first time on April 2, 2023, with an Introduction to Zen Practice at the new Stone Nest Dojo at 3818 Sherwood Road in Sewanee, Tennessee. The three-hour workshop will provide the basics of Zen practice: zazen (sitting concentration), kinhin (walking concentration), and dojo etiquette. Background on Zen Buddhism and…

A talk given at the sesshin, 13 May 2023, New Orleans Zen Temple, by Richard Reishin Collins, Abbot Sometimes we have to be a sangha of one. We hear all the time about the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. These can be very abstract terms, however, so I always encourage you to nail those down…

Having at last succumbed to the barrage of Barbenheimer mania, I can now share my thoughts on the two films from a Zen perspective. (For now, though, I’ll restrict my remarks to Barbie.) My first reaction to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was that it was the story of the Buddha. Like Siddhartha, she begins life (if…

A talk given at Stone Nest Dojo by Richard Collins, 28 May 2023 An integer is a positive natural number or a negative number, with no fractional part, and includes zero. One thing that we see in the Zen masters whom we read about from long ago is that they had integrity. This doesn’t mean…

Zen poetry comes in many forms. There are the essential ancient wisdom poems by masters, like the Shodoka, the Shinjinmei, and the Hokyo Zanmai. There are koan poems and poems that comment on koans. There are poetry contests, like the one described in the Platform Sutra. There are satori poems and death poems. There are…

“The Supreme Lord [Krishna/Vishnu] said: I am mighty Time, the source of destruction that comes forth to annihilate the worlds. Even without your participation, the warriors arrayed in the opposing army shall cease to exist.” – Bhagavad Gita 11:32 While there are no overt references to Buddhism in Oppenheimer, the underlying themes that connect to central…

Richard Reishin Collins, Abbot Kusen, Stone Nest Dojo, 19 May 2024 Yesterday, as I was reading in my study, I heard a thump against the glass of the outside doors. When I looked to see what had caused the noise, I saw a bird twitching on the bricks, but it didn’t twitch for long. It…

What follows are the memorial remarks made at Stone Nest Dojo on 10 December 2023 by Richard Collins, Abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple, on the death of Aubrey LeBlanc. Endless Journey When the great Zen master Sengai (1750-1837) was asked by a parishioner for a blessing for his new baby, the old monk…