When launching the Buddhist Poetry Festival in 2018, David Hinton was one of the first writers who came to mind and it was no accident that we scheduled him to open up the event on the first morning. Hinton bridges past and present, distinguishing himself as one of the foremost translators of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy working today. His translations strive for accuracy while coaxing the aesthetic potential out of each phrase. The results are fresh takes on early Daoist and Buddhist literature, inviting us into the heart/mind of practitioners who lived centuries and even millennia before today.
After many years of publishing highly lauded books of translations and essays about translation, Shambhala Publications recently brought out an original collection of Hinton’s own poetry, influenced by the hermits, scholars, and monastics of antiquity that he’s studied so deeply. At the Buddhist Poetry Festival, he read from that new collection, Desert, on the cusp of its release. He also read from No-Gate Gateway, a recent translation of Master Wumen’s koan collection, and from Mountain Home, an anthology of ancient Chinese poetry that helped cement Hinton’s reputation when it was first published in 2002.
Following the reading, festival director Hokyu JL Aronson sat down with David Hinton for this live conversation that also included the festival audience.
A video of the reading, featuring Achong Jusan Chen reading some of the poems in their original, classical Chinese:
Learn more about David Hinton on his website, or click here to visit the festival’s website.
In September, Zen Mountain Monastery hosted the biannual conference of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association for three full days of practice, discussion and exploration. Close to 70 ordained priests and transmitted teachers joined the conference, representing dozens of training centers and sitting groups throughout North America. Following the conference, we spoke with Tenku Ruff who serves as the president of the SZBA Board of Directors and was very involved in the organization of the event. CLICK HERE to see photos from the conference. (more…)
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/25/2022
From the Book of Serenity, Case 75 – Ruiyan’s “Constant Principle”
We might normally think we understand that nothing lasts, everything is impermanent, yet we suffer from our misunderstanding of this all the time, for instance when something happens and we react thinking oh, this is forever, this is the way it’s going to be from now on, I am this, I am that,…. This is why it’s so important to deeply study our suffering; not just know that we suffer, but to deeply study the intricate details of how we suffer.
Chris Yudo Abraham, Senior Lay Student
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/18/2022
From Shunryu Suzuki: “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”
What is beginner’s mind? Where is beginner’s mind? Yudo describes his path in zen practice as one of appreciating Beginner’s Mind and the constant returning to Zazen as the heart of it.
Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 09/18/2022
Yunen offers insight into the thusness of negative experiences and emotions. He explores what comes when we allow sad to just be sad, tribulations to simply be tribulations.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/11/2022
From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 35 – The Dialog of Manjusri and Wu Cho
“In the first moment of contact, what we see, what we hear, is not obscured. Sound and form are purely real, they are just as they are, they are not anything other. But our mind, in an instant, before we know it, without our seeing it, floods that image or that sound or that taste, or touch, with all of our mind’s karmic burden. All our perceptions, our views, our beliefs, our memories, and so on. While our senses simply perceive things, non-obscured, our mind then begins to in a flash obscures and gives meaning, which is taught. Everything in society teaches us what those things mean. All of those ways we separate and exclude and include and create conflict and wealth and poverty, the whole mass of suffering.“
“To be able to separate the profound from the naive, to distinguish a jewel from a stone, is actually necessary. If we can’t discern within our own practice of what is practice according to the dharma and what is not, what is a serving or habitual desire, and what is an impulse or sense of a direction that we can trust, it’s going to be very difficult to practice. So we need to learn how to distinguish. But to do so without malice, without ill will. With clarity. And without infusing a sense of absolute truth into those things that we are discerning.”
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/04/2022
Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of our 90-day Fall Ango Intensive training period, “Moon Thusness.” If you’d like to learn more about our Ango program and possibly participate, please click here: https://zmm.org/teachings-and-training/ango/
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 09/04/2022
Hojin Sensei offers opening reflections on the Fall 2022 Ango training period, introducing the primary texts that training students will be working with as well as the themes of art practice, nature contemplation, and Dogen’s Fascicle “The Moon.”
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 08/28/2022
From the Mahayana teaching The Uttaratantra Shastra – The Sangha Treasure
Shugen Roshi encourages us to look deeply and realize the three treasures as our own nature, our own body and mind. And although we manifest them (how we relate to the ancestors, how we receive the teachings, how we practice, how we gather together as a community, etc.) in terms particular to the Buddhist path, when we truly take refuge in the three treasures we are realizing them as the nature of all of humanity. No boundaries. Sangha is community. We can think of it as “the sangha of one”; i.e. you and the many beings that populate your mind and body. We can think of it as this community practicing together. Sangha is the virtue of harmony. Sangha is the Three Treasures.
Degna Chikei Levister, Senior Lay Student
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 08/28/2022
Chikei Levister explores practicing in the midst of our busy lives. She discusses harnessing attention as a means to better understand our anxiety and fear of missing out.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 08/27/2022
From the Mahayana teaching The Uttaratantra Shastra – The Dharma Treasure
“Dharma” refers to The Law, The Teachings, Reality. But what is it actually, beyond the superficial? Shugen Roshi explores all the many aspects of Buddhist practice which together bring us to a true encounter with the Dharma.
Danica Shoan Ankele, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday 08/26/2022
From The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind
“The Buddhas and all living beings are only one Mind. There is no other reality.” Shoan uses Huang-Po’s teachings to reflect on the notion of progress in Zen training, encouraging us to relax and let go of this kind of seeking and instead use our wholehearted practice as a way of open discovery. Have faith and trust yourself!
