Sue Moon speaks to the Mar de Jade December Sesshin on Teachers.

Talk on EDZ teachers followed by a talk on the Senses given at Samish Island Sesshin 2007.

Norman gives the first talk of the Samish Island 2011 Sesshin on "Teachers Meeting; Six Step Breathing Practice". Due to technical errors the volume on the recordings for the Sesshin are very low.

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.

Teachings on Death (AYALA) 2006

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.

Norman gives the second talk at the Mar De Jade December 2011 Sesshin on the Ten Paramittas.

Third talk of Mar de Jade Sesshin December 2008. This talk is the first of four talks on the Tenzo kyokun by Dogan.

First Talk on Tenzo Kyokun or Instructions for the Zen Cook by Dogen as found in "From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment - Refining Your Life" by Kosho Uchiyama, or "Moon in a Dewdrop" by Kazuaki Tanahashi.

A beautiful essay by Susan Moon about vision and her father's blindness.

A very important sutra that includes material on perception and consciousness. The complete version of the sutra offered here as a text file was downloaded from the Buddhist Text Society. It is also available at the Gold Buddha Monastery website.

"This is a difficult piece I wrote for "enough" a poetry journal published especially in protest of the bombing of Afghanistan. While its point is difficult, and maybe too extreme, I think it is an interesting piece and says some things that are important to me."

Do sectarian differences between schools of Zen really mean any thing? Zoketsu suggests we re-consider the roots of our Zen Buddhist tradition.

Sometimes when I get far afield with my practice, as I can too easily do, I have to bring myself back. I am doing a million things – there is poetry, my family, household chores; I am reading the bible, or science- it is all very interesting. But then I have to stop myself and ask, what am I doing? Where is my anchor, my home? What’s my basic commitment?

"When your life is ending how will you be free?" Zoketsu discusses practice in the light of our living and dying.

Zoketsu introduces the emptiness teachings of the Vajracheddika Prajna Paramita Sutra, also known as the Diamond Sutra.

Zoketsu continues an exploration of the essential emptiness of phenomena, as taught in the Diamond Sutra, with a discussion of the practice of renunciation.

Drawing on Zhaozhou's reminder to wash our bowls, Zoketsu explores the Zen approach to the material world.

In this profound and beautiful sutra, translated here by Robert Thurman, Vimalakirti, a layman, teaches the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness.

Another collection of scholarly essays about the origins and uses of the koan literature in Zen history.

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.

Now the standard version.

A much lauded commentary on Shantideva's text, published by the Padmakara translations group. In this commentary, Kunzang Pelden has compiled the pith instructions of his teacher Patrul Rinpoche, the celebrated author of "The Words of My Perfect Teacher."

More extensive text than either the Diamond or the Heart Sutra. Conze has also translated the 100,000 line Perfection of Wisdom sutra.

The Platform Sutra records the teachings of Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch, who is revered as one of the two great figures in the founding of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism.

The Platform Sutra occupies a central place in Zen (Ch'an) Buddhist instruction for students and spiritual seekers worldwide. It is often linked with The Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra to form a trio of texts that have been revered and studied for centuries. However, unlike the other sutras, which transcribe the teachings of the Buddha himself, The Platform Sutra presents the autobiography of Hui-neng, the controversial 6th Patriarch of Zen, and his understanding of the fundamentals of a spiritual and practical life.

The first and most important among Faure’s many works that completely re-conceive Zen history. Brilliant, erudite, witty, and well schooled in French de-constructionism, Faure’s books are a treat if you have a taste for them.