Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday Morning 08/15/2021
From The Book of Serenity, Case 75 – Ruiyan’s ‘Constant Principle’
Shugen Roshi asks “What is change?”. Impermanence means that nothing stays the same. We want to escape suffering and we crave pleasure. Our very behavior creates suffering as we cling to things that are impermanent and try to escape what is unpleasant. So the question is: “How can we be free from suffering?” Roshi suggests that a first step would be to practice patience.
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Calling Forth the Master Within the Barrier
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday Morning 08/08/2021
From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 56 – Ch’in Shan’s One Arrowpoint Smashes 3 Barriers
Shugen Roshi chose this koan to coincide with the conclusion to our annual kyudo retreat that ran throughout the week at the Monastery. From the standpoint of the practitioner, the three barriers might be the three poisons: greed, anger and ignorance. Or the three marks of existence: impermanence, suffering, and emptiness of self. It could be whatever seems to be posing a problem. When we insist on maintaining our own delusion, including the delusion of our barriers and our separation from true reality, we need to call forth the master within the barrier. This is the one who truly knows, the archer who is not separate from the target.
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Proliferating Variants
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday Morning 08/01/2021
From The Book of Serenity, Case 19 – Ummon’s Mount Sumeru
Apologies for the microphone problem during the first 10 seconds obscuring Shugen Roshi’s voice for the first sentence of the koan: “The pointer: I always admire the novel devices of Master Ummon.”
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Dongshan's Five Ranks - Part 3 of 3
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday Morning 07/25/2021
From Master Dongshan’s Five Ranks
Shugen Roshi teaches that the “Five Ranks” describing stages of realization in Zen Buddhism can seem remote and abstract, but in essence they address the question of how to live fully in the world, peacefully and joyfully, without conflict. They are aspects of the interrelationship of our relative, moment to moment existence, and the absolute nature of reality, and so are never far away at all.
Here, in Part 3, Shugen Roshi takes up the 4th and 5th Ranks: “Arrival at Mutual Integration” and “Unity Attained”.
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Dongshan's Five Ranks - Part 2 of 3
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday Afternoon 07/24/2021
From Master Dongshan’s Five Ranks
Shugen Roshi teaches that the “Five Ranks” describing stages of realization in Zen Buddhism can seem remote and abstract, but in essence they address the question of how to live fully in the world, peacefully and joyfully, without conflict. They are aspects of the interrelationship of our relative, moment to moment existence, and the absolute nature of reality, and so are never far away at all.
Here, in Part 2, Shugen Roshi takes up the Third Rank: “Coming from within the Real”. Habitually, we experience the World as objects including ourselves and others. All forms seem different and we mistakenly see ourselves as distinct from everything else. How can we shift this perception and see the interdependence of all things? Roshi talks about the importance of zazen in settling into this realization.
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Dongshan's Five Ranks - Part 1 of 3
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday Evening 07/21/2021
Dongshan’s Five Ranks
Shugen Roshi teaches that the “Five Ranks” describing stages of realization in Zen Buddhism can seem remote and abstract, but in essence they address the question of how to live fully in the world, peacefully and joyfully, without conflict. They are aspects of the interrelationship of our relative, moment to moment existence, and the absolute nature of reality, and so are never far away at all.
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Untangling the Tangle
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Sunday 07/11/2021
True Dharma Eye, Case 227 – Priest Xixian’s “I’m Am Watching”
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Continuous Practice - Part 3
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Sunday 06/27/2021
Teachings From Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo: “Continuous Practice”
In this third talk on Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo fascicle “Continuous Practice”, Shugen Roshi asks us to reflect on these questions: How do we embody our potential as enlightened beings? How do we bring forth a life well lived as we’re living it? How can we be at ease within this human body and not be bound by fixed ideas of the self?
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Continuous Practice - Part 2
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Saturday 06/26/2021
Teachings From Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo: “Continuous Practice”
Continuing from his discourse of June 23rd, Shugen Roshi draws from Master Dogen’s fascicle to encourage us to shed confusion and use every opportunity to practice.
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Continuous Practice - Part 1
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Wednesday 06/23/2021
Teachings From Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo: “Continuous Practice”
Master Dogen says that our practice affects the entire Earth and the entire Sky in the Ten Directions. Shugen Roshi speaks about this as a responsibility that we as Bodhisattvas take up, of continuous and sustained practice.
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The Whole Of What We Are
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 06/13/2021
Gateless Gate, Case 16 – “The Bell Sound and the Priest’s Robe”
At the conclusion of this month’s introductory “Zen Training Weekend”, Shugen Roshi evokes our Zen path; a path which is not something separate; it’s our life, it’s the whole of what we are.
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Monastic Ordination for Yusen Taikyo Gilman and Josen Hokyu Aronson
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/6/2021
On June 6th, the Monastery held the first double monastic ordination in our 40+ year history. Shugen Roshi officiated this shukke tokudo ceremony for Suzanne Taikyo Gilman and Hokyu JL Aronson. Tokudo marks the formal taking of monastic vows and, in our tradition, expresses a lifetime commitment to the Monastery. Taikyo was given the monastic name Yusen, meaning Courageous & Devoted River, and Hokyu was given the monastic name Josen, which Shugen Roshi translated as Humble Mystic.
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Here, There's More For Us To Learn
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/29/2021
Gateless Gate, Case 48 – Ch’ien-feng’s “One Way”
How do we harmonize inner and outer and learn to understand the expression of dualities? As there will always be more for us to learn, how can we go forth knowing that at each stage of our life we are functioning within a degree of ignorance and blindness? Master Ch’ien-feng’s answer is: “With humility”. The mind of the person on the way gets transformed from samsaric hunger to the appetite of a seeker. Shugen Roshi suggests that we can delight in our hunger to know more rather than be distressed by our ignorance. This is not an egotistic process however; we should remember that our seeking must be for everyone.
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What Isn't Picking and Choosing?
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/27/2021
Blue Cliff Record, Case 57 – Zhaozhou’s “Stupid Oaf”
In the language of the Dharma, how is “the self” a barrier, and how is it different from our true nature? The challenge when hearing an insult is to see into our own suffering——reactivity and delusion——as the stuff which are the barriers themselves. Shugen Roshi asks the question: While our basic nature is good, happy and peaceful, how do we practice when suffering seems all pervasive? How do we investigate our delusions, remembering that all beings have buddha nature?
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It's Not Complicated
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/16/2021
Blue Cliff Record, Case 58 – Zhaozhou’s Can’t Explain.
As we share this earth with countless other creatures, we easily forget that we come from one primordial source. In the Dharma we can recognize that each being is a manifestation of one great body. So then, Shugen Roshi asks, why do we make it so complicated? From the perspective of our deluded views, everything is separate and apart, but even this view is the path of awakening to our true nature.
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Jukai Ceremony, Spring Ango 2021
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 5/09/2021
Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery in which two students received the sixteen Buddhist precepts: Scrap Kyuko (“Enduring Peace”) Wren & Pat Shosen (“Sacred River”) Carnahan. Kyuko and Shosen have each been practicing as formal students and studying these moral and ethical teachings for a number of years. During the ceremony Shugen Roshi offers joyful encouragement to the recipients as they take up these vows.
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Dharma Encounter April 2021
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 04/25/2021
Dharma Encounter at the Conclusion of the 2021 Apple Blossom Sesshin
Shugen Roshi begins with the koan in the last paragraph of Master Dogen’s fascicle “Ten Directions”. Priest Fungshan was asked by a monk: “The World Honored Ones in the ten directions are all on the one path to Nirvana. Let me ask you: where is the path?” Fungshan drew a line in the air with his staff and said: “It’s here”. Shugen Roshi asks us: What are the ten directions? Where is the path to liberation? Is it the path that we are on? Why do teachers describe the path in so many different ways? Are there different paths to liberation?
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Within There is a Jewel
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 04/24/2021
Blue Cliff Record, Case 62 – Yunmen’s “Within There is a Jewel”
Shugen Roshi reminds us that we are the creators of our lives. Our pervasive sense of being lost or broken is a creation of our mind. Out of habit we look outside of ourselves for relief. This koan tells us to “Turn the light around” and find the jewel within that shows us the path to the end of suffering.
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Serenity in a World of Trouble
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/21/2021
Book of Serenity, Case 60 – Iron-Grinder Liu
Evoking this pithy exchange between Liu Tiemo and her teacher Guishan, Shugen Roshi asks us to reflect on how we meet these teachings. How do we turn towards what we do not understand but somehow know is true? And ultimately, how do we become serene in a world of perceived adversity?
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Novice Ordination for Kien Martin
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/18/2021
Halfway through ango, Shugen Roshi officiated this novice monastic ordination for Jeffrey Kien Martin. Kien is currently the Monastery cook (among other responsibilities), but his involvement with the Monastery goes back two and a half decades. Now, as he takes on the robes of a novice, Kien will further explore the monastic vows and train in the role of a monastic, though it’s worth noting that one does not formally commit to those vows until full ordination, leaving the discernment process open to further clarification. Those lifetime vows are: simplicity, service, selflessness, stability, and following the path of the Buddha. See photos and find a link to the video here.
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Thursday Evening 05/26/2022
Dharma Talk during the Ocean Gathering Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony
To navigate the Path, the Buddha taught an approach of skillful means. But what does that term mean for us as unique individuals, with our own karma, and in a world that is not fixed? In this talk, Shugen Roshi takes up this essential teaching as part of a Renewal of Bodhisattva Vows ceremony.
Danica Shoan Ankele, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 05/25/2022
How does one accomplish Buddhahood? And how long does it take to do so? Using the story of the Dragon King’s Daughter from the Lotus Sutra, senior Monastic Shoan Ankele investigate this precarious question and offers guidance on the art of letting go.
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/22/2022
What is true compassion and how do we develop it? If Buddhist teachings say a compassionate heart is our birthright, what must we do to reveal it? With Leonard Cohen’s song Sisters of Mercy as a muse, Hogen Sensei explores the nature of compassion, its relationship to wisdom and loving-kindness, and the vital role our own suffering plays.
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/15/2022
From the Book of Serenity, Case 18 – Zhaozhou’s Dog
If buddha nature is ineffable, if it has no characteristics, then how do we turn towards it? We want to direct our attention towards it so we can examine it and realize it. But it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t have a form. So how do we study that which is our true self, our true nature? Shugen Roshi takes up these questions using the well known koan “Does a dog have buddha nature?”
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 05/15/2022
How do we bring all of who we are into practice? How do we embrace the full reality of the world while not getting turned around by external causes and conditions? In this talk, Chikei Levister explores the teachings of Zen Master Hongzhi on the practice of true reality.
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/08/2022
From Master Wu-men’s Gateless Gate, Case 35 – Ch’ien and Her Soul Are Separated
How do we remain undivided amidst the divisive forces within and around us? And where can we truly go to seek wholeness in our lives? In this talk, Shugen Roshi explores the experience of division and wholeness, and how Zen practice brings us closer to the heart of the matter.
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 05/08/2022
How do we practice fearlessness in the midst of fear? In this talk, Hojin Sensei invokes the dragon – a being that is often referenced in the Zen tradition as an embodiment of our enlightened nature. It is through turning around and facing the dragon with direct, kind awareness, she says, that we develop our capacity for fearlessness.
Dharma Encounter: How Do We Know This Practice Works?
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/01/2022
This Dharma Encounter with Hojin Sensei took place at the conclusion of the Apple Blossom Sesshin. What are our reasons for coming to the Dharma? Is our practice helping to answer those questions? And how do we know that our practice is working? Hojin Sensei takes these questions up with Ango participants in a lively discussion.
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 04/30/2022
From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 87 – Medicine and Disease Subdue Each Other
Why do certain afflictions arise for us? Are we simply victims of our karma, of causes and conditions? Or might our hardships be helping us cultivate something that we need? In this talk, Shugen Roshi illuminates how it is through our suffering that we find our path to liberation and that our teachers are often closer than we think.
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday Evening 04/29/2022
Dharma Talk during the Apple Blossom Sesshin 2022 Fusatsu Ceremony
Not Creating Evil, Practicing Good, and Actualizing Good For Others — these are The Three Pure Bodhisattva Precepts. But what does it mean to truly take up these vows in our own lives? In this talk, Hojin Sensei explores the meaning of each precept and how they can guide us in our practice.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Danica Shoan Ankele, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei