Zen Talking
Zen is a tradition from India that passed into China. Zen culture is based on the Five Lay Precepts, teachings compatible with the Four Statements of Zen, and Zen's only practice: Public Interview. The Zen reddit forum has a huge diversity of discussion about Zen ranging from scholarship and unique translation work to doctrinal discussions based on Zen's history: Why is Zen not compatible with Buddhism? Why are meditation religions not the Zen they claim to be? What are koans about?
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Zen Talking: Zhaozhou's Nothing Lacking
11/18/2025
Zen Talking: Zhaozhou's Nothing Lacking
Read the History, Talk the History #Post(s) in Question ###Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1ou8o2m/from_the_open_thread_not_lacking/? ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? What is poverty? Zen Masters bragging on poverty of possessions vs possesion of faith/wisdom/truth. Zhaozhou's chair brag. Racism/sexism/bias of all kinds are negative views are similar to all kinds of "holy bias". Drive-a-car enlightenment vs Pope Powers Activate. Zen is the flashlight of awareness -Huineng. Wisdom is not supernatural or the right answer, but the flashlight illuminated world. Concepts, MacGyver, Ego death, Conditioning # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Moon Face Buddha - Social Media and Mental Health
11/11/2025
Zen Talking: Moon Face Buddha - Social Media and Mental Health
Read the History, Talk the History #Post(s) in Question ###Post: ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Social media... rZen... health... Zen has always been "social media" in it's history 95 Theses and Periodic table of the Elements as personal Zazen and LSD appeal to schiotypical thinkers... Blyth and Suzuki and Zen do not. Does Zen attract people with mental health problems? No. Is social media in or out of Zen culture unhealthy? No. Corrilation is not equal to causation Freshman dis-orientation, pastoral life vs industrial life Luddites and Captialism and the modern propaganda in political discourse Philosophical/Industrial vs Religious/Authoritarian # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Bodhidharma's Mind and Anxiety Pacification
11/05/2025
Zen Talking: Bodhidharma's Mind and Anxiety Pacification
Read the History, Talk the History #Post(s) in Question ###Post: ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Short term clarity, long term confusion... or contrarywise. Mental health and transitory crisis versus chemical crisis... how separate or interdependent? Bankei's cold spring water Punch and Judy # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Zhaozhou's Bright or Dark
11/04/2025
Zen Talking: Zhaozhou's Bright or Dark
Read the History, Talk the History #Post(s) in Question ###Post: ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Bright and dark: jewel and mirror. Lanka and Platform sutras have jewel in the tile? What?? The Zen Community AS A CHARACTER in koans Enlightened head monk? No name, no victory, so no? Touzi vs Zhaozhou... BUY MOR OIL "Permission" to trust, doubt and skepticism... Climbing a tower when the sign says DONT CLIMB THIS TOWER Zhaozhou as class clown... even when he is 80. Danger, doubt, and mental health. # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking - Eating Grass: Reincarnated Almsgiver's Ox
10/26/2025
Zen Talking - Eating Grass: Reincarnated Almsgiver's Ox
#Post(s) in Question ###Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1o6d09y/lonely_footnote_60_feeding_grass/ ###Link to episode: Alms Giver's Ox, Tribeless Men, and the Loneliness Epidemic ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? THE MALE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC IS ROOTED IN NOT HAVING A "TRIBE" IN BOOKS Knowing: Blurt vs know-where-to-search vs believe it must be "somewhere". Five Ox herding Zen pictures IS NOT NOT NOT the Buddhist 10 bulls. New word! Oxbullcow. Is the "white bull" = Zen bull #5 ? Oxbullcow Cases by type: 1. Zen Masters acting like cows; what about Puhua as a donkey? 2. Mystery of, e.g. Lattice Window 3. ? If you have a degree in French poetry? You bring it up at Starbucks. # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Zen's Traditional Violence... which goes a little off topic
10/19/2025
Zen Talking: Zen's Traditional Violence... which goes a little off topic
#Post(s) in Question ###Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1nwytsk/i_choose_violence_zen_study_in_a_violent_tradition/ ###Link to episode: ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Cancel Culture as violence. Zen Cancel Culture via Xiangyang. Physical violence. Psychological violence. Political speech, political violence. And some nerd segues into Asian desserts, Asian studies funding, the monkey in Edgar Allen Poe, the 49th Case. # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: How hard are koans?
09/06/2025
Zen Talking: How hard are koans?
#Post(s) in Question ###Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1n9p3s9/some_zen_koans_can_be_incredibly_absurd_but_how/ ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Theory of study: If you can't read French, then of course French confuses you. If confusing yourself is your religion, you still can't claim that the French intended to confuse you by using French language. Specific translations questions. How the Case makes total sense if you translate it correctly. # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Belly for Zen
08/15/2025
Zen Talking: Belly for Zen
#Post(s) in Question ###Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1mgiv6r/building_a_single_belly_for_zen/ The Illusory Man by Zhonfeng Mingben 12. Enter The Gate Abruptly Understand that the Great Illusory Dharma Gate is right at the soles of your feet and has never moved a single hair. You just need for your delusions to be snuffed out, for your point of view to end. When you take a false step and trample on your attachments, then you'll know that Taiyuan heard a gong at the same moment Dongshan crossed the river, and there will be no separation between us. When you get here to the place where the Great Illusory Dharma Gate is entered, kick it over with a single kick. Don't preserve your footprints: only then can you be ten feet tall. An emancipated person must be able to enter the gate abruptly. If you drift through live (sp, life?) frivolously, your mind always in a single revery of delight, then obviously you're still taking part in yesterday's bewilderments. This matter is not explained thoroughly, and then you rest easy. Nor is it something you finish seeing, and then you can take a break. It is done incessantly and without deviation, from beginning to end. When you're ten feet tall, you don't cling to a single truth like it's a fish basket. Being adequate only to the burden of the Buddha's teachings is just sowing weeds. Even at this very moment the truth of the Way is not an antique; people's minds are just lazy and idle. They may behave like teachers and behave like disciples but really, they just seek to balance one another's accounts. Day and night they entice each other with appearances when they ought to be building a single belly for Zen, the Way, the Buddhadharma. There, life and death are the family treasure. It hasn't ever yielded its dwelling high up on the cliff, and if it's cut off behind, it just comes around again rejuvenated. ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? danger and seriousness # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Xuefeng's Grain of Rice
08/07/2025
Zen Talking: Xuefeng's Grain of Rice
#Post(s) in Question ###Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/askZen/comments/1mg51jw/making_sense_of_the_bcr_case_5_xuefengs_grain_of/ Xuefeng said to his group, (One blind man leading a crowd of the blind. It's not beyond him.) . "Pick up the whole world, and it;s as big as a grain of rice." (What technique is this> I myself have never sported devil eyes.) ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Reading this case from two viewpoints: original audience and modern audience. Two entirely different contexts with different challenges. # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Zen and Buddhism
08/03/2025
Zen Talking: Zen and Buddhism
#Post(s) in Question ### Post: There wasn't a post! ###Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Despite connection problems and mic quality, an interesting conversation with someone who knocked on some doors and has thoughts about that. I didn't edit the longest part because of integrity! No? It's because low production value is our brand! Not really? Okay, then... because it takes too long and I'm busy? # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Cause, Effect, and Community
07/11/2025
Zen Talking: Cause, Effect, and Community
#Post(s) in Question Post: Cause Effect and Community Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? 1. cause & effect 2. "chilling effect" - people being discouraged from participation 3. Hermits v.s. socialites (retreating from public v.s. being beholden to public) 4. Being dangerous 5. Seeing with the same eyes as all the buddhas The hermit delusion loop vs community conformity loop # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking - Don't Misconceive, from Dahui's Shobogenzo
07/07/2025
Zen Talking - Don't Misconceive, from Dahui's Shobogenzo
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1ls8bau/treasury_492_dont_misconceive/ 'Muslin Robe' Zhao one night pointed to the half moon and asked elder Pu, "Where has the other part gone?" Pu said, "Don't misconceive." Zhao said, "You've lost a piece." Dahui said, "He gets up by himself and falls down by himself." Link to episode: Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? When is it not a metaphor? When you can't see the moon? Is what you can't see still there? Two halves to the moon, the "two" of knowing and not knowing". Cases mentioned: 1. Guichen asked, “Where are you going?” Fayan replied, “On an ongoing pilgrimage.” Guichen said, “Why do you go on a pilgrimage?” Fayan replied, “I don’t know.” Guichen said, “Not knowing is most intimate.” At these words Fayan instantly experienced enlightenment. 2. One day Master Yunmen brought up this story about one of his teachers: “A monk once asked Master Yuezhou Qianfeng, 'The honored ones of the ten directions all had a single gateway to ultimate liberation. Where is this gateway?' Then Master Yuezhou drew a line in the ground with his staff and said, 'Here.'” Master Yunmen then held up his fan and offered this comment: “This fan jumps to the uppermost heaven and hits the god Indra; when it strikes the carp of the Eastern Sea, the rain pours down in torrents. Do you understand?” # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking: Falling into Cause and Effect
07/04/2025
Zen Talking: Falling into Cause and Effect
#Post(s) in Question Post: Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Zen Masters tell people that enlightenment is not based on cause and effect, and that enlightened people are not subject to karma. This was heresy as far as 8fp Buddhists were concerned. Cause and effect mattered to Buddhists back in the day... what is the modern version that matters to people now? # Keep in Touch Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking - May 4 - Lady Zen Master Case 2: Zen is the Best!
05/10/2025
Zen Talking - May 4 - Lady Zen Master Case 2: Zen is the Best!
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/askZen/s/AiaILuDT3X Link to episode: Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Who are the Patriarchs? Previous translation errors. How to make sense from one sentence to the next in Zen formal poetic instruction. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking - April 26 2025 - Miaozong, Woman As Zen Master - Case 1
05/03/2025
Zen Talking - April 26 2025 - Miaozong, Woman As Zen Master - Case 1
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/askZen/comments/1k3q9px/a_zen_lady_in_translation_case_1_the/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Translating the first Case of the book of instruciton by a female Zen Master. Discussion of translation, history, Zen vs Buddhism. Propaganda, 1900's vs Chinese history, etc. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Zen Talking - April 12, 2025: Koans: 1,000 years of history about how to survive Tariffs, Trumps, and Turmoil
04/30/2025
Zen Talking - April 12, 2025: Koans: 1,000 years of history about how to survive Tariffs, Trumps, and Turmoil
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1jucfhx/koans_1000_years_of_history_about_how_to_survive/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? How do we know what "donkey" means in China, on a Zen commune, 1500 years ago? This is the problem that caused 1900's religious writing about Zen to implode. Why have koans lasted so long and continued to be more relevant to daily life than meditation? #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 31 2025 - Talking Zen: Translation Error "Picking and Choosing" from Faith in Mind
04/06/2025
March 31 2025 - Talking Zen: Translation Error "Picking and Choosing" from Faith in Mind
#Post(s) in Question Post: Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? alternate translations mind body problems what you already have is it magic eye pictures, factory error trust in awareness touching awareness you can't see it, you can't not see it substitution game: Ordinary Mind not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Ordinary mind is perfect like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess. Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 29, 2025 - Talking Zen: Zen's Only Sudden Enlightenment
04/01/2025
March 29, 2025 - Talking Zen: Zen's Only Sudden Enlightenment
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1jltjfd/zen_allows_only_sudden_enlightenment_but_how/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? why does enlightenment take so long if it's sudden? do people change over time? what does it mean to be somebody or to change? ship of thesseus #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 23, 2025 - Cats and Tunafish
03/29/2025
March 23, 2025 - Cats and Tunafish
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1jfokwv/nanquans_cat_and_my_tunafish_sandwich/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Judging other people's values versus judging their hypocrisy Ethnocentrism Not knowing what you are Ignorance vs pretending to be ignorant self awareness on a culture by culture basis why precepts conversations are disengenuous - lying all the way down what is conversation for? exchange of info, different perspectives, feedback on conclusions don't have heroes who aren't heroic sometimes the captain of the ship has to break the rules 1900's translators who don't mention the precepts and don't keep them personally tolerance for lying in politics, religion, academics? you don't get to tell me I'm not factual! #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 18, 2025 - Talking Zen: Podcast about Indra building Blade-of-Grass commune
03/23/2025
March 18, 2025 - Talking Zen: Podcast about Indra building Blade-of-Grass commune
#Post(s) in Question Post: Zen Master Buddha was walking with the congregation and he pointed to the ground, "This spot is good to build a [commune]." Indra, Emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass, stuck it in the ground, and said, "The [commune] is built." The World Honored One smiled. Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? difference between a monastic community and a commune Some technical difficulties, but I think it worked out without editing! #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Mar 15 2025 - Tough Guy Zen: Time travel to kill baby Buddha or Hitler
03/18/2025
Mar 15 2025 - Tough Guy Zen: Time travel to kill baby Buddha or Hitler
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1jbcxlb/from_the_famous_cases_treasuryyunmen_if_i_was/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Time travel to kill baby Buddha vs baby Hitler Baby Hitler vs trolly problem Sutras not true, nobody thinks infant buddha said that history of anti-Zen conduct by Buddhists and newagers newagers can't quote books, so they differ from traditional religious bigotry Jim Gaffigan might say Yunmen "too punk rock". More punk than Yunmen? Nanquan's cat killing comments: what don't you understand? new age is like human sexuality peace and tranquility be with you... #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 14 2025 - Zen Talking, Zen Poetry: A Verse for Prajnatara
03/14/2025
March 14 2025 - Zen Talking, Zen Poetry: A Verse for Prajnatara
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1jabfde/a_verse_for_prajnatara/ Link to episode: Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? It took us an hour and change to get here: A cloud rhino gazes at the crescent moon1, its light engulfing radiance; A wood horse2 romps in spring, swift and unbridled. Under [Bodhidharma's] eyebrows, a pair of cold blue eyes; How can reading scriptures reach the piercing of [Shitou Xiqian's] oxhide3? The clear mind produces vast aeons, Heroic power smashes the armies on both sides4. In the subtle round mouth of [Bodhidharma's Emptiness5] the pivot turns the spiritual works. Hanshan forgot the road6 by which he came [to so-and-so's Zen commune at XYZ]— Shide led him back [to his birth place] by the hand. 1. an ancient song that says that the rhino grew his horn while gazing at the moon. In this case its praising Prajnatara saying that she doesn't dwell in conditioned perception. Awareness is a mirror of reality, like the rhino mirrored the moon. 2. wooden horse, stone man, buddha statue 3. The piercing of oxhide line is also a reference to some Zen Master Shitou maybe getting asked why he reads the sutras when he forbids them and him saying something like he understand their meaning while for others it is like putting a piece of oxhide in front of their eyes 4. Wansong explains being surrounded on both sides by armies in his discussion 5. What is the highest holy truth? Emptiness with nothing holy therein. 6. Hanshan's poem, quoted by Wansong: If you want a place to rest your body, Cold Mountain is good for long preservation. A subtle breeze blows in the dense pines; Heard from close by, the sound is even finer, Underneath the trees is a greying man, Furiously reading Taoist books. Ten years I couldn't return-- Now I've forgotten the road whence I came. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 4 2025 - Transcendental Teachers
03/07/2025
March 4 2025 - Transcendental Teachers
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1j3a1bf/huangbo_no_hope_wo_mahayana_master/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Who is your teacher? What does it mean when somebody has no teacher, no text, no tradition? Who are these people that don't? Who are the people who have but can't say? The new age movement and the moment of realization. Why does Huangbo say you need a meeting with a transcendental teacher? #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 4 2025 - Book of Serenity Case 3
03/05/2025
March 4 2025 - Book of Serenity Case 3
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1iv8odu/translating_prajnataras_recitation_of_scripture/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Mostly about the Introduction and Case with Wansong commentary. It's a complex bit of writing with some translating problems. Cleary seems to have wanted to minimize the anti-Buddhist aspsects. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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March 1 2025: Sincerity about Zen
03/04/2025
March 1 2025: Sincerity about Zen
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1ize5fb/sincerity_is_it_the_topic_or_the_format_or_the/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? How do we test for sincerity in books, conversations, and life? Does it matter? This problem just gets worse from every angle. Also a movie recommendation. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Feb 15 2025 | One Finger Zen
03/01/2025
Feb 15 2025 | One Finger Zen
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1io3ped/from_the_famous_cases_treasuryone_finger_zen/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? It's not "boy" or "teenager" or "greeter". It's Personal Assitant to a Zen Master. It's not "arm" or "forearm" or "hand" or even "whole finger". With these translations we have multiple problems: 1. logistical problem, chopping off with what? gotten where? with what medical emergency? 2. language problem, when does the word for arm-forearm-hand-finger-tip get distinguished in cultures? 3. culture problem, if everyone knows about cutting off a fingertip and everyone knows people who are missing a tip of a finger, why would anybody read it any other way? #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Feb 10, 2025 - Wumenguan: Anwan's 49th Case
02/15/2025
Feb 10, 2025 - Wumenguan: Anwan's 49th Case
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/zen/s/VpZF9KQlmn Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Why does it matter what Anwan said? Did Zen Master Buddha talk too much? What is the point if it's direct experience? Translation problems and footnotes. Tiliting at convienence stores. What is art? Does it matter how hard you work or whether it's art? #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Feb 2 2025 - Mazu's Bow Down
02/10/2025
Feb 2 2025 - Mazu's Bow Down
#Post(s) in Question Post: https://old.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/1icc8dx/from_the_famous_cases_treasuryshuilao_facing/ Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Disagree. Not about ignorance. Possible wordings: 1. Bodhidharma came from the West to show reverence 2. In that Bodhidharma came, you should show reverence 3. ? Bodhidharma was able to come from the West because he was reverent 4. If you are asking me about Bodhidharma, then you should bow Showing reverence often takes the form of aggression toward the Zen Master. Beef: Mazu's kick is or is not a rebuke of Shuilao being ignorant. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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Jan 29 - 2025 |
02/01/2025
Jan 29 - 2025 |
#Post(s) in Question Post: "How is my hand like the hand of Buddha?" "How is my leg like the leg of a donkey?" "Everyone exists by a particular cause of birth." I'm not even. Don't listen while driving on a freeway or interstate. I was confused the whole episode. If you want to know what a thankyou letter from a Zen Master sounds like, that what this Case is about. #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call. Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen
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1-12-25 || Zhaozhou's Nice Things We Can't Have
01/29/2025
1-12-25 || Zhaozhou's Nice Things We Can't Have
#Post(s) in Question Post: The master was leaving the main hall when he saw a monk bowing to him. The master struck him with his stick. The monk said, "But bowing is a good thing’” The master said. “A good thing is not as good as nothing. Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831 # What did we talk about? Disagree! Lots of disagreement. Why is there ridicule in Zen? Why is there bowing in Zen? Amnesia! Is Enlightenment earned? What is non-causal? #You can be on the podcast! Use a pseudonym! Nobody cares! Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call.
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