Taizan Gendo and the A-town Sangha
Wild Country Zen
Dharma Talks and Guided Meditations by Taizan Gendo and friends
Taizan Gendo invites you to the A-Town Sangha Meditation:
LIVE on Zoom, Tuesday, Aug. 4 @ 7PM PST
HEARING THE CRIES OF THE WORLD
By Taizan Gendo (Mark Adams)
In this time of uncertainty and suffering we may be called to more than listening to the cries of the world. We may be called to action, to follow in the footsteps and example of a most favored saint in all of Zen—Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva.
This is heartfelt work, in a confusing, frightening, and painful time, when spiritual practice can be a powerful shared medicine, much more than simply a welcome, soothing balm of comforting habit. The reason it is such powerful medicine is that the bodhisattva ideal cuts to the heart of this mystery of being alive. And that mystery, that essence, is shunyata, the emptiness detailed so exquisitely in the Heart Sutra.
But accepting the emptiness of shunyata, how do we embrace the role of shedding blood and tears, searching desperately (and often futilely) for a skillful response? To suffer ourselves as a bodhisattva while recognizing the emptiness at the heart of all things?
The upaya (skillful means) required for this path seems celestial in quality—not earthly for us mortals. Perhaps this is why in our Mahayana practice of Zen, there are two types of bodhisattvas—earthly and transcendental. The first type (earthly) we may undertake to follow as intentions, as a vow in Jukai, with precepts and paramitas as the guiding lights. The second (celestial), serves as an inspiration for courage, for energy, for resilience, like a morning star. And like the sun, we can all feel it’s effects, but we can never look at it directly with our naked eyes without losing our vision. Yet we know (feel) it is there.
Hearing the cries of the world is gut wrenching, despair-making, but essential to remind us of our intentions. Shunyata, “uncovered” and revealed through the meditative power of prajna paramita, holds the mysterious power of enlightenment that allows us to be effective and not “submerged by the things of the world” as the refrain in the Metta Sutra advises.
Instead of denying reality, or becoming numb to those cries, instead of generating elaborate myths of future rewards, ultimate answers, or a comforting meaning in suffering, recognizing Shunyata encourages us to be with things exactly-as-they-are, just “thusness” and “suchness,” with an open-to-all, loving heart for all sentient beings, and with action—not just ideas, ideals, or meditation.
For each of us, the “how” will be specific to our circumstance, context, timing, and skills. The bodhisattva path is not general—it is specific, derived from the actions we take in response to hearing those cries.
With a deep bow,
—Taizan
That will be our topic of the A-Town Sangha Meditation
LIVE on Zoom, Tuesday, Aug. 4 @ 7PM PST
Zoom Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81187623341?pwd=WTVmbnFZdGJNL3ptb0tUWEFvL2lWdz09
Meeting ID: 811 8762 3341
Passcode: 596526
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Meeting ID: 811 8762 3341
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Tuesday SCHEDULE August 4, 2020:
7pm.-- Guided Meditation
7:20pm -- Dharma talk & discussion
8pm-- Zazen (silent meditation)
...and usually ends just before 8:30pm
You are welcome to join us on Zoom at any point. All times are California (Pacific Standard Time).
About Wild Country Zen
Meaning of the name "Wild Country Zen"
During these times of Quarantine and Shelter-in-place I invite everyone to sit TWA--together while apart--by setting up your laptop or phone to listen to the guided meditations I will continue to post above and the dharma talks on our Sound Cloud site (soundcloud.com/taizangendo).
You can also personally message me at Taizangendo@gmail.com
Let me know what you would like to hear from me, and if these offerings are "on the mark."
How did the name "Wild Country Zen" come about? I think of "Wild" as the true, boundless, wordless state of nature; "Country" is meant to signify an open, healing spaciousness, a joyful "allowing" of our true buddha-nature to emerge; "Zen" of course is my Buddhist lineage. I am a guiding teacher of meditation and dharma with the A-Town Sangha in Aromas, California, and sangha member of the Jikoji Zen Meditation Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I hope you enjoy the name "Wild Country Zen" as much as I do--it always makes me smile! Let's see how it manifests going forward. Come walk this path with us and see... -- Taizan Gendo
Taizan Gendo (Mark Adams)
My own path in Zen began in earnest in 1989 with the winter residential practice (Ango) period at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and my first teacher, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, who set me on a 30 year path. In 2009, I received the Jukai precepts and lay ordination, and was given the name "Taizan Gendo" (meaning "peaceful mountain, subtle way") from Eiko Carolyn Atkinson, a dharma heir of Kobun Chino Otagowa Roshi. In 2018 I was ordained a Zen priest in Kobun's Phoenix Cloud lineage by Jikoji Zen Meditation Center's guiding teacher, Shoho Michael Newhall. I have come to love this practice. I hope to be a skillful vehicle in sharing it with all sentient beings...
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In-person MEDITATION MEETINGS CANCELLED
Please contact me at Taizangendo@gmail.com with your email to receive updates when talks and scheduled events will be resumed. For nearly 2 years, we had been meeting Monday's at 7pm in the Aromas Water District Conference room at 388 Blohm Ave Aromas. With the shelter-in-place order, that has ended for the time being...