Thousand Harbours Zen: Recent Episodes
Zen Nova Scotia
Dharma talks by Koun Franz at Thousand Harbours Zen in Halifax, NS. If you find these talks beneficial, please consider joining Thousand Harbours Zen or making a donation at https://thousandharbourszen.com/support.
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A re-examination of the fourth bodhisattva vow: "The awakened way is unsurpassable; I vow to embody it.".
A re-examination of the third bodhisattva vow: "Dharma gates are infinite; I vow to enter them."
A re-examination of the second bodhisattva vow: "Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them."
A re-examination of the first bodhisattva vow: "Beings are countless; I vow to free them all."
In the face of injustice, don't let compassion be an endpoint. Don't let not-knowing be an endpoint. Move, somehow—that's what a bodhisattva does.
On Shantideva's Prayer, and what it means to commit to something—to really commit—forever.
Those who are staying at home right now may find themselves falling into little rituals meant to make things feel regular, and safe; in this practice, ritual is something else.
Dogen likened the spiritual life to the experience of falling off a horse. Can you feel it happening?
On the tenth precept, "Not defiling the three treasures." The three treasures are just fine, but still, we forget who we are in relationship to them.
Freedom—the freedom we want (perhaps especially in the age of social distancing), and the freedom we already have.
A simple act of refraining, like not touching your face in a pandemic, can be both a practice of mindfulness and an act of generosity.
Buddhism offers what looks like two contradictory ways of meeting our mind in each moment. But maybe we can hold both.
On Precept 9 (not indulging in anger)—it doesn't say there aren't good reasons to feel anger, just that we should learn not to be seduced by it.
On Precept 8 (not withholding dharma assets), clinging vs. letting go, and realizing what you're capable of giving.
On Precept 7 (not elevating yourself and blaming others). We have more capacity for sympathy—and for delusion—than we're comfortable admitting.
On Precept 6 (not speaking of the faults of others) and how the keyword isn't "faults," it's "others."
On Precept 5 (not indulging in intoxicants) and the ways in which we feed our addictions.
On Precept 4 (not lying) and the reasons why we lie. What narrative are we trying to control?
On Precept 2 (not stealing) and the question of what we have been offered versus what we just think belongs to us.
On Precept 1 (not killing) and the mindset we can bring to all the precepts. It's not about becoming more pure.
Imagine that taking refuge in buddha, dharma, and sangha isn't about choosing to enter some new space, but rather that it's an act of falling without any hope of control.
A reflection on climate activist Greta Thunberg and others who have shaped their lives around a singular intention. How do we root ourselves that deeply?
On taking up a path that has boundaries that were created by people centuries ago—why do we do it, and how do we do it sincerely?
The three poisons—attachment, aversion, and ignorance—and how sometimes ignorance is at the centre.
What do we need to take with us on this path? If that's different from what we want, how do we reconcile the two?
There is a difference between how we address the complexity of identity in ourselves, and how we relate to it in others. The approach can't be the same.
We chant, "Now, actualizing the buddha ancestors means to bring them forth and look at them respectfully. It is not limited to the buddhas of past, present, and future, but it is going beyond buddhas who are going beyond themselves." What's it all about?
Every teacher and every temple have different ideas about the student-teacher relationship; Koun shares some of his perspective on the complexity of it all.
Bodhidharma famously described Zen as a "special transmission outside the scriptures". What does that mean and why does it matter?
The ground of this practice isn't what we experience, or what we feel, or even what we see—it's what we do, regardless of the rest.
We talk a lot about some experience called "awakening," but the real task is simply to be awake.
On how we work with the feeling that there's no way out of wherever we are, or whatever we're experiencing.
In the Terminator movies, Sarah Connor has the burden of knowing what's coming and having to cultivate someone who can address it. We're in the same position.
There isn't anything you have now that you won't eventually lose. So why not start letting go now?
Zen usually frames itself in terms of "goallessness", or at least of a practice without object. But that doesn't mean there isn't a method to it.
We don't just get rid of delusions, as much as we may want to. So how do we treat them?
How do we deal with panic, fear, sadness, anger? Buddhism isn't therapy—it doesn't take any of it away. But it does raise some worthwhile questions about how we feel, and about how we feel about how we feel.
In both "Precious Mirror Samadhi" and "Harmony of Difference and Equality," there are references to arrow points meeting. This is how it works.
Zen traditionally doesn't talk so much about compassion, yet we chant about it a lot. What are we chanting about? Why?
Zazen as a moment of silence in which we just hold everything. We're doing it already, but we can also choose to.
We have a tendency to take ordinary activities like walking, insert a spiritual feeling, and call it "walking practice."
But what this tradition asks us to explore is dharmic activity, which is not the same thing.
Zen practice is outside of any measurement—it's not a place where you can succeed or fail. So how to proceed?
What is at the core of resolve? We think of it as a decision to do something, but we can also understand it as a choice to plant ourselves where we are.
Following an eye-opening ceremony at ZNS's new location, a discussion of how we see the Buddha, and how buddhas see.
How do we commit to doing our best while honestly confronting the impossibility of getting it just right?
From Dogen's Zuimonki 6-17: "Forget not only the different views on the dharma, but also worldly affairs, and hunger and cold as well... When you listen with this attitude, you will be able to clarify the truth and resolve your questions."
We all want to be inspired, but inspiration can only get us so far. What do we feel, beyond inspiration, that drives us?
We know there's delusion, but what do we think we see if we see completely past delusion? Layer after layer, it's still our own creation. What do we do with that?
Why do we practice? Why do we gather in this way, sit in this way? Why do any of it? It starts with not knowing why.
On Buddhism, plateaus, and the idea that there are tools we can use to progress in the practice.
Dogen said, "When someone asks about the dharma or the essentials of practice, Zen monks must reply on the basis of the true dharma. Do not answer on the basis of expedient means that are not true, thinking the person is not a vessel (of the dharma), or is incapable of understanding because he is only a beginner."
Dogen said, "If you first change your physical behavior, your mind will be reformed as well."
On Buddhist teacher scandals and the notion that we should "not confuse the teachings with the teacher." Can we even do that? And if not, then what?
Dogen in "Record of Things Heard": "You must practice the Way with the attitude of a person owing a vast debt and being forced to return it despite being penniless. If you have this frame of mind, it is easy to attain the Way.'"
“I desire to practice the Way, but the world is in its last period (which is degenerate) and I have only inferior capabilities. I cannot endure the formal practice which accords with the dharma. I want to find an easier way which is suitable for me, make a connection, and attain enlightenment in the next lifetime.” Dogen replies, "This is entirely wrong."
"We should not necessarily rely on the words of the ancients, but we should grasp just true reality." From Dogen's "Record of Things Heard" 4-2.
“Associating with a good person is like walking through mist and dew; though you will not become drenched, gradually your robes will become damp.” From Dogen's "Record of Things Heard" 4-4.
From Dogen's "Record of Things Heard," 2-26: "As long as we only think about the buddhadharma with our minds, we will never grasp the Way, even in a thousand lifetimes or a myriad of eons."
An explanation of what we call the "private ceremony," a service we can perform at home every day.
From Dogen's "Record of Things Heard," 2-17: "You should spend your time carrying out what is worth doing. Among the things you should do, what is the most important?"
From Dogen's "Record of Things Heard," 1-15: "A student of the Way must cool his mind as if he were giving up his life, and consider if what he is about to say or do is in accordance with reality or not. If it is, he should say or do it."
From "Record of Things Heard" (Zuimonki) 1-13. Dogen: "You should believe your teacher if he says that buddha is nothing but a toad or an earthworm, and throw your former ideas away."
What's the gap between what we see and what's really there? On the Zen imperative to look beyond simple appearances.
How do we open ourselves to being inspired by our heroes without losing sight of them, and ourselves, as three-dimensional beings?
From a one-day retreat, a talk on Dogen's Genjo Koan and the idea that there's something we're missing.
We imagine that clarity feels sure, and confusion feels uncertain, but there's another clarity in not knowing.
A reminder about interdependence and how we work so hard to convince ourselves that the things in our minds are real.
How can we respond to the things that are out of our control? What can we honestly offer?
How Buddhism can either make us complacent or clarify how and where to push for change.
The fourth of the bodhisattva vows: "The awakened way is unsurpassable; I vow to embody it."
The second of the bodhisattva vows: "Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to put an end to them."
On how spiritual practice sometimes convinces us that the invisible is more real or important than the visible.
From a half-day sit on a snowy day —Reflection on how we're all like snowmen, dissolving and making way for something new.
Talk #2 from our series on Dogen's "Guidelines for Studying the Way." (Hint from the title: one of these things is not like the others.)
"Happiness" is just another way to measure a life and make it smaller. There's another view.
How would you hold yourself if you had one minute left to live? How would you breathe? What clarity would you have, knowing this is the final moment?
A talk on the nature of the vow behind the Buddha's enlightenment. A spirited discussion follows about the ways in which the Buddha's backstory is actually much like our own.
On how we can't help bring expectations to this practice, and where disappointment fits in.
What do we perceive as obstacles in our lives? Can we eliminate them, or is there another approach?
The story of the prodigal son from the Lotus Sutra: what it is to really see who someone is.
On how even the word "spring" leads us deeper into confusion about how things really are.
The conclusion to our series of talks on Keizan's Yojinki, or "Notes on What to Be Aware of in Zazen."
The fifth in a series of talks on Keizan's Yojinki, or "Notes on What to Be Aware of in Zazen."
The fourth in a series of talks on Keizan's Yojinki, or "Notes on What to Be Aware of in Zazen."
The third in a series of talks on Keizan's Yojinki, or "Notes on What to Be Aware of in Zazen."
The second in a series of talks on Keizan's Yojinki, or "Notes on What to Be Aware of in Zazen."
The first in a series of talks on Keizan's Yojinki, or "Notes on What to Be Aware of in Zazen.": Appreciating the teachings of Keizan Zenji.
Let's imagine this practice isn't about illumination, isn't about enlightenment. Let's imagine it's the opposite.
On how we can't help but see this practice as a self-examination even after we see that we're being asked to look at something bigger.
There's a lot of talk about transcendence, even in the greater culture. But that's not what we're doing—some things, we just have to learn to hold.
The conclusion of a series of talks on the precepts: on the tenth precept of not slandering the three treasures.
The tenth in a series of talks on the precepts: on the ninth precept of not indulging anger.
The ninth in a series of talks on the precepts: on the eighth precept of not sparing dharma assets—or anything.
The eighth in a series of talks on the precepts: on the seventh precept of not praising oneself while blaming others. We do this in more ways than we might think.
The seventh in a series of talks on the precepts: on the sixth precept of not speaking ill of others.
The sixth in a series of talks on the precepts: on the fifth precept of not indulging in intoxicants. What is an intoxicant? And what does it mean to indulge?
The fifth in a series of talks on the precepts: on the fourth precept of not lying. To anyone.
The fourth in a series of talks on the precepts: on the third precept of not misusing sex—or anything.
The third in a series of talks on the precepts: on the second precept of not stealing, or not taking what is not freely given.
The first in our series on the precepts: on the three pure precepts and fundamental choice not to add and not to take away.
The second in the series of talks on the precepts: on the first precept of not killing.
Talk at a one-day sitting marking the Buddha's enlightenment—the beauty of the story, and not getting caught by it.
What is it about "religion" that makes us uncomfortable? And what is spirituality without it?
On Buddhism's legacy of racism, sexism, nationalism, and more; the nature of realization; the inevitability of blind spots.
The concluding eighth in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
The seventh in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
The sixth in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
The fifth in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
The forth in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
The third in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
The second in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen"
First in a series of talks on Dogen's "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen.": The Way is originally perfect and all-pervading.
A quick overview of what the Heart Sutra is really talking about—emptiness, yes, but not just emptiness.
How do we stay grounded in practice while trying to affect change? How can we be effective citizens of the world?
The eighth and concluding talk in our series on Dogen's "Eight Awakenings of Great Beings": on which conversations we can let go.
The seventh in the series on "8 Awakenings of Great Beings": the way to wisdom is not aimed directly at wisdom.
The sixth in the series on "8 Awakenings of Great Beings": on meditation and what it really means to find stability
The fifth in the series on "8 Awakenings of Great Beings": A talk on mindfulness, where we set our sights, and how easily we can slip up and become Darth Vader.
The forth in the series on "8 Awakenings of Great Beings": also known as continuous practice.
The third in the series on "8 Awakenings of Great Beings": enjoying serenity in seclusion. It's about knowing where you are.
The second in the series on "8 Awakenings of Great Beings": knowing how much is enough (it's not easy).
The first in a series on Dogen's "8 Awakenings of Great Beings." On the difference between attraction and attachment, and what it might mean to be an adult.
On embracing function in our relationships with others; the concluding talk on Dogen's "The Bodhisattva's 4 Methods of Guidance."
On how the kinds of generosity that are right in front of us are the very ones that seem beyond us.