Katagiri Transcripts
14 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThis podcast is discontinued. Please see the transcripts at katagiritranscripts.net.
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Episodes
Blue Cliff Record, Case 1: The Highest Meaning of the Holy Truths – Talk 1
May 26, 2021 00:28 - 29 minutes - 28.1 MBKatagiri Roshi introduces a long-running series of talks on The Blue Cliff Record, a renowned collection of one hundred koans (or “public cases”) in the Zen tradition. The first case is the famous story of Bodhidharma’s encounter with Emperor Wu. In Talk 1 of 2 on this case, Katagiri Roshi focuses on the pointer (or introduction). To explain it, he tells some stories about his training as the Anja or Jisha (attendant) at Eiheiji monastery, where the “everyday food and drink” of a monk is to ...
Diamond Sutra: Dharma / Not Dharma / Dharma
May 18, 2021 23:54 - 30 minutes - 28.7 MBIf, as the Diamond Sutra says, there is no dharma which the Buddha Shakyamuni has experienced, no dharma which the Buddha Shakyamuni has preached, then how does the Buddha experience and preach the dharma? Katagiri Roshi addresses this question in relation to the practice of giving. He begins by discussing seven ways we can be giving, even if we don’t have the ability to give a material gift or preach the dharma. To explain how the ungraspable can be taught, he talks about the three division...
Diamond Sutra: Giving and Non-Covetousness
May 12, 2021 00:07 - 37 minutes - 34.9 MBWhy is the the perfection of generosity the most important quality in Mahayana Buddhism, and what is true generosity, and true love? Katagiri Roshi explains how generosity relates to emptiness, or vastness, by sharing a poem from the Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke. Embracing the words of the poem, he says that human destiny is not something that forces us to be always “face to face,” trying to ‘get’ something from each-other, but that we can also know a different way to live, to sit sid...
Diamond Sutra: Emptiness
April 21, 2021 01:47 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBWhat is a Buddha, and what does a Buddha experience? Katagiri Roshi describes three kinds of enlightenment: kaku (awareness), satori, and sho (realization or verification). He explains three aspects of the utmost, right, perfect enlightenment from the Diamond Sutra: the marklessness of all things, the marklessness of their emptiness, and the marklessness of their suchness. Also: Why we exist, how to experience spiritual security, and why we shouldn’t get too caught up in Buddhist Psychology....
Diamond Sutra: Provisional Being
April 06, 2021 02:08 - 36 minutes - 34 MBWhy should we not be disappointed with this world, if there seems to be nothing to help us? To answer this question, Katagiri Roshi examines the aspect of Buddhist teaching that is no perception of self and no perception of object. Going further, he explains why we shouldn’t attach to either a perception of an object or perception of no-object. This leads to an explanation of provisional being, and how we can relate warmly to self and object. Does the morning sun have a mind? The answer may ...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 7
March 22, 2021 23:24 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBThe conclusion to the series of talks on Fukanzazengi takes place during a dramatic thunderstorm, the sounds of which Katagiri Roshi integrates into the talk. The Buddha does zazen during a thunderstorm, but he is not disturbed by the sound of the thunder. Katagiri Roshi discusses why the purpose of zazen is not to reach a state of no consciousness. Also: How to play guitar with two hands and two feet. A Rinzai Zen Master plays a Bach concerto in the zendo. And what does Manjushri do, anyway...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 6
March 17, 2021 03:58 - 58 minutes - 54.2 MBKatagiri Roshi talks about “body and mind dropping off” from a different angle, from a psychological point of view. This talk focuses on samskara, which is usually translated as ‘impulses’, one of the five skandhas or ‘aggregates’. Here he discusses samskara as the “together-maker,” and also as a sort of a bridge or door which enables you to take mind to either the dualistic world or the non-dualistic world, because samskara itself is completely free. In relation to this, he explains a key l...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 5
February 16, 2021 17:32 - 1 hour - 57.8 MBKatagiri Roshi talks about the difference between zazen itself and seeing zazen “before zazen” or “after zazen”, using the example of Genshi Shibi in “One Bright Pearl”. In an extended question and answer period, he explains the difference between physical and psychological exhaustion, how to work with the ‘vomit’ of the mind, and why we should do zazen for future generations. Does the world disappear during zazen? Are there techniques in Zen? And is Zen the simplest, most ‘pure’ way? This ...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 4
January 29, 2021 01:40 - 40 minutes - 37.7 MBKatagiri Roshi discusses the meaning of the line, “In surveying the past, we find that transcendence of both un-enlightenment and enlightenment, and dying while either sitting or standing, have all depended entirely on the strength of zazen,” in relation to Blue Cliff Record Case 46, “Ching Ch’ing’s Sound of Raindrops”. He talks about life and death, and how to “cease fire” in zazen. There is a story about a machine that reads brain waves, and he discusses whether there are any real Zen teac...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 3
January 19, 2021 23:33 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBKatagiri Roshi examines the meaning of the line “from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside” from another angle. He talks about three different kinds of zazen (sitting meditation), and why shikantaza is not a means to an end. He also explains what it means to accumulate merit and virtue, how to understand and work with past karma, and why we have to aim at the life after next life. There is a story about a commando who visited the Zen Center. Also: what to do when death taps y...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 2
December 22, 2020 19:54 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBKatagiri Roshi reviews the six-component system for understanding zazen that he introduced in the previous talk. He further discusses the relationship between regulation of body and mind, samadhi (one-pointedness), egolessness, “no design on having a reward”, and shikantaza (just sitting). The distinction between “religious zazen” and philosophical or psychological zazen is explored. There is an extended question and answer period. This is the June 10, 1979 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Ro...
Fukanzazengi: Dogen's Universal Recommendation for Zazen – Talk 1
December 11, 2020 23:21 - 35 minutes - 33.1 MBThe June 9, 1979 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Roshi, transcribed and read by Kikan Mike Howard. This is the first of seven talks on Fukanzazengi, Zen Master Dogen’s universal recommendations for how to practice zazen (seated meditation). This series of talks took place during a seven-day sesshin (intensive meditation retreat). In this talk, Katagiri Roshi begins by examining the meaning of the critical line, “For you must know that just there, in zazen, the right dharma is manifesting i...
Fukanzazengi – Talk 1
December 11, 2020 23:21 - 35 minutes - 33.2 MBThis is the first of seven talks on Fukanzazengi, Zen Master Dogen’s universal recommendations for how to practice zazen (seated meditation). This series of talks took place during a seven-day sesshin (intensive meditation retreat). Katagiri Roshi begins by examining the meaning of the critical line, “For you must know that just there, in zazen, the right dharma is manifesting itself, and that from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside.” He also introduces a six-component sy...
Diamond Sutra: Introduction
November 27, 2020 03:14 - 31 minutes - 29.7 MBKatagiri Roshi discusses the fundamental point that the Diamond Sutra teaches: “‘A’ is ‘A’, but ‘A’ is not ‘A’, this means ‘A’ is really ‘A’.” He explains the meaning of negation in Buddhism, how it relates to interconnection, and why emptiness means that we have to practice. He also talks about where the sutras originated, and the Indian preference for using huge numbers and concepts to teach about emptiness. In addition, he addresses the question, “If we are sitting in order to help oursel...