If you click on a talk below, your computer will play the talk
(and also will probably concurrently download the talk). Enjoy!
Wednesday am, Michael, on Teaching
Starting from the perspective that this sesshin is a conference of teachers,
Michael addresses what each of us can offer as teachers.
He reviews and leads a discussion of the various forms, focusing on what is common and supportive of practice and courtesy in the zendo.
Wednesday pm, Michael, on Practice
Starting from Dogen's instructions on how to practice zen and zazen,
Michael leads a discussion of the most important aspects of sitting practice.
Mindfulness in practice, and full awareness of breathing, are perhaps the focus of the early discussions;
leading to the relation of between posture, appreciation and awareness .
Thursday pm, Barbara
After "Not Yet", some difficult lessons in timing, Barbara learned that each thing is perfect in and of itself,
and that in cooking for a sesshin she was cooking for Buddhas. She contrasts her practice, leaving No Trace, and her ideals versus the actual, Just As It Is.
Friday pm, Cliff
Beginning from Taezumi Roshi's book "Appreciate Your Life",
Cliff reads and discusses several selections relative to faith, trust, and confidence in practice.
Michael then introduces a discussion of Shikataza, with perspectives from four other students.
Saturday pm, Doug
Doug also starts from trust, having hitchhiked the prior weekend to the Sierras after his truck had disappeared, putting one foot after another
until he reached his conference destination.
He discusses the people who helped and his reception, and ends with advice for breathing and focus in Zazen.
Peter Szydlowski, on Be Still and Know, May 29 2011
Peter starts from an ancient zen master's saying "stop thinking and talking, and there is nothing that you cannot know.
Dan Zigmond, on Belief, and Faith, May 22 2011
Dan discusses beliefs in the context of the dharma, and the role for beliefs in our practice.
Cliff Isberg, on Awakening Mind, January 30 2011
Cliff uses quotes from Jikoji's lineage of Zen Teachers to describe Mind and Awakening through Zen practice.
Shoho Michael Newhall, on Jikoji's New Years practice, January 2011.
Jikoji's resident teacher,
Shoho Michael Newhall, on January 2 2011, relates the traditional New Years practice at Jikoji to ancient and historical Buddhism.
The rather dark and cold winter weather contributes to practices,
reflecting kleshas (major obscurations to freedom). In New Years practices, we re-dedicate ourselves
to the spirit and intentions of practice, while admitting prior shortcomings.
Selected Dharma Talks, before 2011
Listed in chronological order:
Gerow Reese, on Dukkha, Anatta, Anicca, August 2010
Gerow shares his experience and understanding of Buddhism's Three Marks of Existence, Dukkha (suffering), Anatta (non-self), and Anicca (impermanence).
Gerow is a Jikoji Resident, grounds keeper and landscape architect who offers ceremonial tea the first and third Sundays of the month, see
Jikoji's Sunday Activities.
Robert Jackson, on Desire and Sitting Practice, June 27 2010
Shortly after his ordination at Jikoji, Robert discusses desires experienced both within and outside sitting
in relation to the precepts and his practice. His
talk ends with discussion of experiences in meetings and relationships without praise or blame, and without
either disparaging others or inflating oneself. .
Mark Gonnerman, on the Heart Sutra, on June 13 2010.
As a preface to a workshop on the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra study sesshin, Mark titled his talk
"Religion does not exist, and its non-existence also does not exist."
He discusses several seminal religious theologians in relation to Zen and the Heart Sutra.
Dan Zigmond, on the Sixth Patriarch, on June 5
Dan Zigmond begins from his recent camping and sesshin experiences,
but addresses the famous legend of how Hui Neng became the sixth Patiarch in China,
as well as the subsequent teachings of Hui Neng and their implications for practice.
Shoho Kerstin Kuebast, on May 30 2010
Shoho's discussion talk brings out different experiences and expectations in our practice of meditation,
emphasizing its immediate and ultimate potential, and pitfalls.
Shoho Michael Newhall, May 23 2010, on "Self"
This down-to-earth talk and informal discussion was given by Jikoji's resident teacher,
Shoho Michael Newhall, on May 23 2010, to a relatively small but
experienced group of students and residents at Jikoji.
He talks of his own day to day experiences and problems in noticing
how he somewhat habitually tends to distinguish and separate Self, or egocentric understanding of Self, from others and from his environment.
Dan Zigmond, on Sesshin Practice, May 2010
Dan Zigmond's talk, given at the end of Jikoji's 2009 Ango period during the Rohatsu Sesshin,
discusses in part the meaning and purpose of our intensive sesshin practice.
Dan served as Shuso for the Ango period, and with Michael co-led the Rohatsu Sesshin.
Angie Boissevain, on Shusos and Angos at Jikoji, November 2009
Angie Boissevain's talk introduces Jikoji's Ango period of intensive practice, in November and December of 2009.
Angie served as Jikoji's first director and, later, as a teacher. She describes past Ango periods and Shusos at Jikoji,
and in Japan's ancient traditions, as well as the purpose and meaning of the traditions.
Many of Angie's dharma talks are at posted at Floating Zendo, Jikoji's sister Sangha in San Jose,
where Angie is the founder and head teacher.
Several talks by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi, from the late 1970s.
These talks by Kobun were given at the Santa Cruz Zen Center in the late 1970s, and recently were restored and digitized
for convenience of web access by Kokyo Henkel, the head teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center, and friends.
A number of other dharma talks, by Kokyo and other visiting teachers,
are also linked for convenient listening
at that site.
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Updated 2011 —
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Audio Talks at Jikoji