SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery
925 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsA Sōtō Zen Buddhist Temple. Visit: SokukoJi.org
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Episodes
Don't Weaponize Emotions - By Sokuzan - Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
January 03, 2018 16:19 - 38.4 MBDon’t weaponize emotions. How do we do this? You actually have to witness your activity of aggression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDLKatj8770
Leavers Of Home - By Sokuzan - Sunday, December 10, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
December 12, 2017 12:36 - 28.6 MBLeaving home can be moving away from your physical home or it can be moving away from your concepts and preconceptions. You show up and open all the doors and practice receiving whatever is happening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhFuUCMVE_Y
Action, Gross, and Subtle - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - SokukoJi
December 11, 2017 14:21 - 32.1 MBDuring SokukoJi's annual Rohatsu Sesshin, Sokuzan helps retreat attendants investigate and explore the contrast between gross action, or karma, and the subtle action in the form of thoughts that precede. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnGoD_jUm7M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_gPxiBiV8I
Action, Gross and Subtle - By Sokuzan - Sunday, December 3, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
December 04, 2017 13:28 - 30.3 MBhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5VP3rKjiJY
Streetwise Mind - By Sokuzan - Wednesday, November 29, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
December 01, 2017 13:48 - 70.8 MBIf anything happens out in the environment that is completely unpredictable, you may not have time to rely on your usual thinking protocol. Strengthen your awareness, so that when you do go out into your life and the unexpected happens you lead with your “streetwise mind”. That might look like not knowing what to do next, and you don’t mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeGCx3izA_c
Chemtrails Of The Mind - By Sokuzan - Sunday, November 26, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 29, 2017 12:46 - 32 MBThe causes and conditions that rise up in the atmosphere are still way too complicated to fully understand, but there seems to be a deliberate stirring up of all kinds of things to cover up or control what is really happening. Train your mind. Use the environment of sitting meditation to see the chemtrails of your mind, your own blockages in the form of beliefs and disbeliefs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNE03xtjoNs
Don't Quiet The Mind - By Sokuzan - Saturday, November 25, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 28, 2017 13:16 - 46.2 MBDon’t quiet the mind. Trying to control what’s happening in the mind by way of techniques like following the breath, reciting mantras and labeling thinking is a subtle form of spiritual materialism. When you do formal sitting meditation, don’t interfere with the very dynamic of thoughts and memories that you really need to witness. Train your mind to be with all things. This is the practice of shikantaza, the teaching of Zen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJo6P6f-3yk
Smart Phones - By Sokuzan - Wednesday, November 22, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 27, 2017 20:33 - 43.2 MBIs there a middle way with smart phones and social media? Is there a way to do just a little bit? There is no particular formula for that other than to train your mind, see the crud that is in the way of the truth and don’t be fooled by what pops up; don’t believe it, don’t disbelieve it, and don’t look away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5cAK5LjiKY
More Do Zen Don'ts - By Sokuzan - Sunday, November 19, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 20, 2017 16:11 - 33.8 MBDo get into the zendo and do meditate. Don’t follow the breath, and don’t ignore the breath either. Do use the natural reference point of the body. Then, whatever arises, don’t do anything. Don’t add. Don’t subtract. Don’t divide. Don’t take away its original value. It takes a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zr3xaGjm4
Don't Conclude - By Sokuzan - Wednesday, November 15, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 17, 2017 19:27 - 39 MBWhat is the motivation or intention of jumping to conclusions? Be generous with the space that is called your mind. If you bring your awareness on the cushion it will invisibly and mysteriously infiltrate your life. You can actually have an open dimension there. Be willing to rest in the space between belief and disbelief. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95MPmVsaYwY
Zombie Thoughts - By Sokuzan - Sunday November 12, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 17, 2017 12:27 - 31.2 MBHow can we work with our minds when we keep resurrecting something that is over with? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNv3CNJy5Mo
Lead With Awareness - By Sokuzan - Saturday November 11, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 16, 2017 14:23 - 35.7 MBWe are generally taught in life to lead with our thinking. This is not necessarily a problem, but we tend to over-do it, but thinking is generally based on partial evidence. Sometimes thinking takes you further down the rabbit hole of difficulty and anxiety. Sokuzan talks about how to train your mind to strengthen the awareness so that when you go into a situation you lead with your awareness rather than a group of thoughts based on hope and fear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndbbgturtos
Just Precisely This - By Sokuzan in Traverse City - Saturday November 11, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 15, 2017 12:18 - 59 MBThis is a translation of the Japanese word “shikantaza” which describes a style of meditation that Sokuzan recommends. It is simple way of using the body as an anchor to observe mind with the intent to find out precisely what this is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlMjRW1bC6Y
Do Good, Don't Do Harm - By Sokuzan - Wednesday November 8, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 14, 2017 13:02 - 42.5 MBTwo of the Three Pure Precepts: Do good, don’t do harm. Sounds simple if you keep it simple. How do you do that? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyf_omifnAo
Addiction Awareness Meditation - (Talk Two) - by Sokuzan - Wednesday November 5, 2017 - sokukoji.org
November 13, 2017 20:36 - 33.1 MBAddiction Awareness Meditation" (Talk Two) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fehMiFpTlg
Addiction Awareness Meditation( Talk One) - by Sokuzan - Wed. November 1, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
November 03, 2017 11:27 - 41 MBhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziNLuDFZ4tY
Sokuzan Interviews Monks - by Sokuzan - Sunday October 29, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 31, 2017 09:33 - 30 MBUnyo asks about how to work with the poison of ignorance, Kozan asks about difficulties that appear to intensify with practice, and Chiezan asks about how to live a sane life when there is intense negativity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRogbSUOtLw
How To Be Perfect - by Sokuzan - Saturday October 28, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 31, 2017 09:27 - 54.2 MBYou might say, or you might think “Let’s have the fruition of this whole thing. I’m tired of running in circles and hearing ‘you’ll get there, keep going!’”. The Second Noble Truth, the cause of suffering is wanting things to be different than they are. We want things to be perfect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GygDYASgUE
Perceive The Perception - by Sokuzan - Wednesday October 25, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 30, 2017 15:02 - 39.5 MBKeep practicing. At some point you will look at the thought as an object and you will see if there is someone who sees that and see that what is arising and what thinks is arising is dissolved in perception only. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkxIn1MHvBY
Meditation IS Action- (Talk Five) - by Sokuzan - Sunday October 22, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 24, 2017 12:21 - 32.2 MBIt’s not that you should sit still and meditate 24 hours a day, but you probably would do well to investigate, observe who this is and what the fundamental situation is before you jump into something. Meditation IS action. You watch what moves so that the action that gets strengthened is the ability not to grasp, reject or ignore what is in front of you. We are so fundamentally not separate. Meditation does not produce something. It reveals something. Instead of more peacefulness, you creat...
Meditation IS Action- (Talk Four) - by Sokuzan - Wednesday October 18, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 20, 2017 12:25 - 43.3 MBMeditation is very, very powerful. It is radical. It means going down to the root to find your own buddha nature. You might be a nice person with good intentions, but If you have not inspected radically, you will take your unexamined consciousness, your unexamined agenda and political ideas out into the world and it will get mixed up with the other aggression out there and you won’t be able to tell the difference. Not only will you suffer yourself, you will cause others to suffer. Clari...
Meditation IS Action - (Talk Three) - by Sokuzan - Sunday October 15, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 18, 2017 15:44 - 33.2 MBThere is intense propaganda against the practice of sitting meditation. If you are a meditator, you may hear “why don’t you get up off the cushion and DO something?!” Meditation IS an extremely powerful and subtle form of doing something. You are actually witnessing the intricate machinery of consciousness. The action part is the activity happening in your mind-stream. As you are observing you are not separating yourself. We practice training so that when we get up off of the cushion the fri...
That's Not Pink - by Sokuzan in Traverse City - Saturday October 14, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 18, 2017 15:19 - 57.8 MB“That is not pink” (Sokuzan is pointing to a painting). It is not about not naming, it is to see that the very naming, ever though it has pragmatic use, covers up the very thing you are endeavoring to communicate about. As soon as you label something you turn away from what you are labeling and attach to the label itself. It is very subtle. Someone who is asleep lives in a tight container of words and theories. For someone who is awake, it is more like being in an open field. https://ww...
That Is Pink - by Sokuzan in Traverse City - Saturday October 14, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 18, 2017 11:59 - 76.1 MB“That is pink” (Sokuzan is pointing to a painting). Anytime we have an experience of anything, we add something onto it. That is pink, that is good, that is bad, it is this, it is that, we keep elaborating. It gives our sense of self credibility, a reference point that gives security against the imminent threat of impermanence. We clamp down by labeling and ignore what we are looking at: that there is no solid being. We are afraid of not knowing what is. Become aware of this. The idea is ...
Meditation IS Action - (Talk Two) - by Sokuzan - Wednesday October 11, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 17, 2017 11:30 - 43.6 MB“Why aren’t you doing something? Are you just going to sit there like a vegetable?” Have you ever had anyone say something like this about your meditation practice? Meditation IS action. It is sitting down and witnessing your own self-centeredness. See who you are so when you get up off of the cushion you don’t take the loaded gun in your chest out into the world. Sitting still in front of a wall, doing nothing, is very profound, deep and subtle activity that you really should be doing if you...
Meditation IS Action (Talk One) - by Sokuzan - Sunday October 8, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 09, 2017 11:54 - 37.4 MBSomeone who is working with their mind to stretch the awareness with the motivation to see what is fundamentally true, that intention goes along way. You become more and more fearless. You realize who you are, that nothing can really hurt you, so you extend yourself out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ6fTbBV9ps
Now I Must Do Something Meaningful - by Sokuzan - Wednesday October 4, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 05, 2017 12:05 - 44.3 MBSomeone who is working with their mind to stretch the awareness with the motivation to see what is fundamentally true, that intention goes along way. You become more and more fearless. You realize who you are, that nothing can really hurt you, so you extend yourself out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdmrSO09zvs
Rummaging Through Concepts - by Sokuzan - Sunday October 1, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 17:13 - 33.9 MBWe don’t even know what concepts are, what thoughts are. We know what thoughts do, they drive us crazy. When something triggers a feeling and we rummage through concepts to explain why something happens, what it is and what it’s about, constant chatter that is going in circles, you leave the original situation an opt for something else. Let concepts arise in your mind-stream in or with the awareness. You don’t have to stop thinking, but if you want to see the entire situation, you are proba...
Yield - by Sokuzan - Saturday September 30, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 17:02 - 52.1 MBDispute is a manifestation of confusion. When you feel the very texture of irritation, go there. Yield is when you feel things start to tighten up in any way against someone else, against yourself, against anything….and I rarely use this word but it fits here…surrender. One of the most important acts of generosity is to give someone your attention. When I say yield, it’s just them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2VoH-25A0
Right Under Your Nose - by Sokuzan - Wednesday September 27, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 17:00 - 38.9 MBWhat’s right under your nose is the truth. Whatever is arising with you, actually look at that without adding onto it. Keep returning to just this. Insist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6C_7rUdUjo
Three Doughnuts - by Sokuzan - Sunday September 20, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:58 - 26.7 MBThree do-nots: 1. Don’t accept or believe. 2. Don’t reject or disbelieve. 3. Don’t look away or shut down on anything. Three do-s: 1. Stop. 2. Hold completely still. 3. Observe. Strengthen the witnessing part of your consciousness and uncover the wisdom that is actually your birthright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vP2CKuEX2A
Abandoning Feelings - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, September 20, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:57 - 36 MBIf you are interested in strengthening your awareness about why you keep functioning in a certain way or running into obstacles, it may be a good idea to look at what you are actually experiencing right when you are experiencing it rather than abandoning feelings by explaining, blaming or questioning. Any kind of adding is a form of materialism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhP78adavqE
Receive First- by Sokuzan - Sunday, September 17, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:55 - 30.9 MBFrom Dogen’s Genjokoan (translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi): “To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and express themselves is your awakening”. Here Sokuzan expands on this teaching of receiving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS-kZGqe7RI
Awareness of Attachment - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, September 13, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:54 - 45 MBThere is awareness of attachment and awareness of the attachment. If you try to get rid of the attachment you will find yourself doing it over and over and over. If you sit down, hold still and train your mind in the practice of meditation, you will see more clearly by seeing what attachment really is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot8ttMKmj74
Bodhisattva Vows - Marriage Vows - by Sokuzan - Sunday, September 10, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:52 - 26.4 MBIn our tradition, the bodhisattva vows are the same as the marriage vows given by a preceptor in ceremony. Marriage is yoga, or union. It’s a discipline. The vow is like glue. “I vow to be with all things.” We vow to train our minds to see how we go to war with our own thought patterns that separate. Until you make friends with yourself on a very deep level, you will project your difficulties “out there” including onto your mate. When things get difficult, return to the vow. https://www.yo...
Mind Your Own Business - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:51 - 40.6 MBDon’t take your eyes off of the world, but taking action out of fear is like covering your eyes. When you go out towards you notice that you keep turning away from the gift of reality presented to you offered by your senses. Receive it. Awareness is what is important not what arises in it. If you act out of awareness you see the collection of energy that comes together and changes all the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Sh_y_AloM
Opinions - by Sokuzan - Sunday, September 3, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:42 - 26.9 MBAs soon as you have an opinion about anything, you solidify it. You don’t need opinions about something that is the case. If you relax into it you will know less but you will understand more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI09UCRB9Xg
Wake Up - Wake Down - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, August 30, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 16:41 - 37.2 MBWhen someone awakens, the walls of the mind collapse, and it can be uncomfortable. We wake up to the amazing situation of no separation and wake down to the ordinariness at the same time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlnfWptUkEo
Containers - by Sokuzan - Sunday, August 27, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 11:26 - 26.9 MBContemplate how containers work in your life. Places, time, belief are all kinds of containers. There is the kind of container that prevents vs the kind of container that nourishes something. You can set up a place that is a container to work with your mind, use a container of time like: “I meditate every morning from 7:00 to 8:00.” It’s not about if you do it or not. It’s about awareness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIkX3Mwh_HQ
Seeing Is Not Believing - by Sokuzan - Saturday, August 26, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 03, 2017 11:21 - 46.7 MBJust because you see something doesn’t mean that it is true. Look at your tendency to use belief and disbelief to fill up space, to manipulate your own mind so that you don’t have to be completely present. Not knowing is threatening to our self-centeredness. Wait until your life in your milieu of circumstance pulls you in a direction because your perception is clear. This is called patience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRUsDj6Z5BE
Praising and Blaming - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, August 23, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
October 02, 2017 12:26 - 41.1 MBTo the wisdom mind that has no reference point, cause and effect may be obvious, but there is no praise or blame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1BDb12CIh4
Being Comfotable With Nothing - by Sokuzan - Sunday, August 20, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 29, 2017 11:29 - 34.5 MBSitting meditation is experiencing nothing. How can you be comfortable with no result? That is the result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-mta3AceM
The Invisible Poison - by Sokuzan - Sunday, August 13, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 26, 2017 12:32 - 10.5 MBThe Invisible Poison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpZ6QcjNukA
See Separations - by Sokuzan at Traverse City - Saturday, August 12, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 26, 2017 11:47 - 19.3 MBSokuzan, while visting SokukoJi Traverse City, Michigan, gives a talk about seeing separations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XoxSxIac2w
More Space, Less Space - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 22, 2017 13:06 - 36.6 MBPractice observing the space in which things arise. Look at how space shows up in your life. What is the actual interval between apparent singularities? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcilj2Tzk-U
Should I Teach - by Sokuzan - Sunday, August 6, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 21, 2017 12:17 - 30.3 MBBefore we start reaching out towards others to instruct them based on our own ideas, opinions and analysis of what’s happening it is a good idea to first get to know yourself, get to know your own negativities and how you buy into your thought processes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixwc0SE7ojk
Upaya or Skillful Means - by Sokuzan - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 20, 2017 11:50 - 36.8 MBTo practice upaya or skillful means, look at the perception of self and the perception of other. Look for the beating hearts and emphasize what is basically good. You have to first stretch your awareness and see the separation to see that fundamentally nothing is separate. When you are functioning out of wisdom, you can’t actually do skillful means, you are skillful means. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G3JihgeXno
What Is Moving - by Sokuzan - Sunday, July 30, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 19, 2017 12:31 - 27.5 MBIf you sit down, hold very still and ask “what is moving?" with the motivation to see the truth for yourself and a willingness to not know, then anything that arises is exactly what you need to see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8ZNcAogkIk
Anger, Belief-Disbelief- by Sokuzan - Saturday, July 29, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 18, 2017 14:14 - 40.6 MBWe are conditioned to think some things are true and some are false, but your ideas about what is arising are ALWAYS a projection. When anger starts to arise, if you add any kind of story at all, you perpetuate the negativity. If you believe something is true you validate it. If you disbelieve it, you are trying to get rid of what is arising. You don’t have to believe or disbelieve anything. This path is about being genuine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb2YfotNZ7s
Get Your Own Authority - By Sokuzan - Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - http://sokukoji.org
September 15, 2017 11:43 - 40.1 MBLook closely at your mind and see what authority is and you see that there really isn’t any authority. That’s how you get your own authority. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IPpMI2Jddg