Preferences 4

Preferences 3

Preferences 2

Preferences

Zoketsu comments on "Tao Wu's Condolence Call" from The Blue Cliff Record. Yuan hits a coffin and says, "Alive or dead?" Tao Wu said, "I won't say alive and I won't say dead." Zoketsu discusses how birth/death are not opposites.

How can we be there for others who are dying, when we are in denial and cannot explain death with words or phrases? Zoketsu discusses how birth/death can be experienced as nirvana and not as polar opposites.

Talk on right view/Eightfold Path.

Seventh talk on Dogen's Bendowa.

Séptima plática sobre el Bendowa, "Practicar el camino con todo corazón."

An ancient set of Buddhist slogans offers us six powerful techniques to transform life's difficulties into awakening and benefit.

Norman gives the ninth and final talk of the Zen's Women Ancestors series on Zhaozhou's Intimate Touch. This series is based on Record of the Hidden Lamp: One Hundred Koans of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon (forthcoming from Wisdom Publications, 2013

Norman gives the fifth talk of the Santa Sabina Sesshin on Practicing With Death. In this talk Norman also speaks on the koan "Ziyong's Last Teaching".

Norman gives the third talk on the Zen's Women Ancestors series on Miaozong's Dharma Interview.

Norman gives the second talk on Zen's Women Ancestors on Iron Grindstone Liu's Feast. This series is based on Record of the Hidden Lamp: One Hundred Koans of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon (forthcoming from Wisdom Publications, 2013

Norman gives the first talk on the Zen's Women Ancestors series on Zhaozhou And The Old Woman's Obstacles. This series is based on Record of the Hidden Lamp: One Hundred Koans of Awakened Women, edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon (forthcoming from Wisdom Publications, 2013

A Forum with Zoketsu Norman Fischer, Zenkei Blanche Hartman, Myogen Steve Stucky and Mary Morgan, with an Introduction by David Chadwick, published in the fall issue of Buddhadharma Magazine. The PDF is available here as a download.

Celebrating the Memory of Susan B. Jordan-an evening of teachings, meditation and discussion with her teacher, Zoketsu Norman Fischer. Norman's wit and wisdom inspired Susan to incorporate the principles of meditation into her everyday practice of law.

A video interview with Norman Fischer, conducted by Richard Chess and Kitty Kendall of University of North Carolina, Asheville.

New translation of Book of Serenity, with good comments by a contemporary American Zen teacher.

Translation (with traditional commentary) of 100 koans.

The Lotus Sutra is an important text for all of Far East Asian Buddhism. It recasts the Buddha as a cosmic principle rather than a revered teacher, and shows the importance of a path of faith and devotion in Buddhism. This translation by Burton Watson is the text Norman uses in his five talks on the Lotus Sutra.

Good discussion of the Four Immeasurables

Text on which many of the audio files below are based. A useful discussion between the Dalai lama and others on emotions.

A secondary text for the philosophically/academically minded: Brilliant philosophical exegesis of Dogen’s thought. First published more than thirty-five years ago.

The pun of the title is a clue to the spirit of this informed and informative book.

Bernard’s brilliant discussion of comparative philosophy East and West.

The poems and life stories of 48 Chinese Buddhist nuns over 16 centuries. Much of the poetry is exquisitely beautiful and imbued with the dharma, and the life stories shed a clear light on the difficulties that faced female practitioners and women drawn to a monastic life in China.