Sokukoji Buddhist Temple Monastery

Does all apparent negativity come from ourselves? Suffering, dissatisfaction, and anxiety; recurring negativity and thought patterns. The momentum needs to be seen closely before it actually gets a foothold. Praise and blame are extra, and are all about getting control. Watch what comes until you see the disturbance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofGyKXseRDM&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1FCjhpatXI

That aspect of causality that’s ignored because we want a result is the deeper cause and effect which goes beyond the physical form, beyond the illusion of the three dimensions. What is this human experience? Don’t jump to conclusions; the main issue is mistaken identity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obWnPPV5oNY

What underlies the stories we get hooked by? What is the difference between observing and noticing or observing and receiving? What does it mean that the wall is the buddha, the dharma and the sangha? These and other questions from sangha elicit profound and unexpected responses from Sokuzan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa1m_qAoUFI

Sokuzan chats with New York comedian, Ethan Herschenfeld, on a variety of topics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDKE5vPp9GE https://www.ethanherschenfeld.com @eherschenfeld

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWnPlklCSRg

Do things arise randomly? Does sitting practice connect us to unseen realms? What is merit? Is there merit in sitting? Sokuzan responds to these and other questions from the sangha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKBfKtNSg_Y

Sokuzan reads from a book of poems by early Buddhist nuns called "The First Free Women". A line from Patacara’s poem says, “Just see all thoughts, words and actions arising all by themselves.” This is a good way of saying what’s happening in the mind stream. You could look at this yourself by sitting down and holding still. Just a little bit of casual movement disrupts the observer of the mind stream. Inside and outside is a misunderstanding; the true understanding is you won’t see anything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKY4N2eMJBY

Sokuzan answers questions from students in the Zendo, on Zoom and YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vaHRovC36M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzTT2DbLLq0

The pushing and pulling and finger pointing is the authority that is based on fear. It might not look like fear at all. It starts out with little tiny oligarchs in your mind-stream. Just saying “I should” is not incorrect, but can be obstructive or aggressive if it’s not based on some kind of clarity about what you’re addressing. The fear comes from our unexamined belief that there is a solid identity that can win or lose; someone who needs protecting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08TPRqBNqT0

#Sokukoji #Sokuzan #Buddhist #Buddhism #Zen #Talk #Sermon #Battlecreek #Michigan #Dharma #awareness #meditation #shikantaza #mindfulness #suffering #dharmatalk #authority https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YxApZSFkT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkA3jAKGpTQ

If you think you are not a thief, look again. When we interrupt someone, not waiting for the period, we are stealing the rest of their sentence. We steal from others when we chatter in our preoccupation with ourselves, usurping their time. We take the lives of other living things to support our own. I call these aspects of consciousness “tiny thiefs.” It’s about awareness; observing the way we interfere with others, observing how we can’t help but break the precepts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDkP62pDQPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9SZz8VZ-GI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Xf9a-AMm4&t=2s

When we laugh aliens, we can see our preconceptions, our ideas and opinions. There are different levels or layers of consciousness. When you are sitting down and training your mind, you are entering those dimensions of your mind that you can’t actually access with your thinking process, although thinking may come along with it. What is this? Find out. Don’t believe and don’t disbelieve what anyone tells you. To observe and see what’s arising could be called the last frontier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74j3komg5nA

Because of our activity all day long, simple actions seem to work smoothly, like picking up a glass of water and taking a drink – total control. This is how the illusion of control keeps getting reinforced. The illusory quality shows up when we can’t get the results we want. Look more closely at control, at creating an outcome based on the assumption that we know what’s happening. The underlying misunderstanding is that there is someone and something else. By making that assumption, we ignore dependent origination. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXozqewKHI

Of the three jewels, the sangha may be the most important. Without it, nothing happens. From the time of the historical Buddha, there have been many changes as it moved to other countries from the cultural context in which it was nurtured, and it is still changing. In our community, The Order of Immediate Light, the first tenet is, "Consciousness Always Finds Its Own Form." It is something you can explain in a couple of sentences, and it can never be explained. Not two. ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpAyfPDmteo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5uR5UO0EnM