[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the second talk given by Nona Strong Roshi at the June 2022 zen sesshin at Mercy Center Burlingame. In the Heart Sutra, we read: Form is no other than emptiness; emptiness is no other than form. Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form. The Diamond Sutra has the same factContinue reading “awakening ain’t thinking it”
Author Archives: EmptyCloudWestZen
keeping it simple
[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the third talk given by Nona Strong Roshi at the June 2022 zen sesshin at Mercy Center Burlingame. So, we have the essential world (emptiness), and we have the phenomenal world (form). They may not seem so, but they are co-equal. In fact, according to the Heart Sutra, they areContinue reading “keeping it simple”
the never-ending story
[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the fourth talk given by Nona Strong Roshi at the June 2022 zen sesshin at Mercy Center Burlingame. Despite the sensation we have of time passing, from life’s beginning to its end, life – especially our own life – is really a never-ending story, isn’t it? When we call upContinue reading “the never-ending story”
intimacy with God, intimacy with ultimate reality
[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the 1st talk given by The Rev. Alice Cabotaje Roshi at the Holy Week 2022 retreat. Reading: Holy Thursday, 14 April 2022 | Psalm 139:1-18 O God, you have searched me and you know me.You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.You discernContinue reading “intimacy with God, intimacy with ultimate reality”
the sound of the rooster crowing
[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the 2nd talk given by The Rev. Alice Cabotaje Roshi at the Holy Week 2022 retreat. Reading: Peter Denies Jesus | Luke 22: 54-62 (New Revised Standard Version) 54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 WhenContinue reading “the sound of the rooster crowing”
the sound of loss, the sound of grief
[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the 3rd talk given by The Rev. Alice Cabotaje Roshi at the Holy Week 2022 retreat. Reading: The Death of Jesus | Luke 23: 44-46 (New International Version) 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. AndContinue reading “the sound of loss, the sound of grief”
listening to see, hearing to see
[AUDIO AND TEXT] This is the 4th talk given by The Rev. Alice Cabotaje Roshi at the Holy Week 2022 retreat. Reading: On the Road to Emmaus | Luke 24: 13-35 (New International Version) 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with eachContinue reading “listening to see, hearing to see”
Howard Thurman
[AUDIO AND TEXT] I want to share with you some words of an African-American mystic and minister named Howard Thurman (1899 – 1981). Born and raised in Daytona, Florida, Howard Thurman began his religious studies in his early twenties, after graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. He attended the Rochester Theological Seminary in Rochester,Continue reading “Howard Thurman”
on zen
[AUDIO AND TEXT] Let’s start by revisiting this “On Zen” verse from the National Teacher, Dai-o Kokushi (Japan, 13th century), and see where we end up after that. He says: There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth.Indeed, it has no form, much less a name;Eyes fail to see it; it has noContinue reading “on zen”
mind
[AUDIO AND TEXT] [This is the first of two sequential talks. The second talk is “Our Life Force.”] Those of you who are familiar with Zen literature know that the term “mind” comes up a lot. We know it from stories and koans, and it shows up often in the teachings of the masters. InContinue reading “mind”
EMPTY CLOUD ZEN 