Sangha News
thus have I heard from Dainin Katigiri
by Brian Taylor The following is an example of how I sometimes like to digest writings by Zen teachers. While reading one or more books written by a particular teacher, I copy short passages that strike me, putting them in verse form. Later, I rearrange these short...
Pandemic Dharma Words
by Gyoshin Laurel Ross Driving toward my block, hoping for a parking space, I was annoyed when the pickup truck ahead of me suddenly slowed. Was he going to snag my spot? No. He turned left into the alley and as I pressed down to accelerate I saw the problem. A...
Land Acknowledgment
Today we honor and uplift that this territory is home to the original stewards and guardians of Chicago-land: the Miami, Oceti Sakowin ("Oh-chey-tee Sha-koh-ween"), Kickapoo, Peoria, Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. The alliance of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and...
Getting the Goose Out of the Bottle – Douglas Floyd, April 19, 2020
Helping Each Other, Helping Ourselves – Talk by Eishin Nancy Easton, March 29, 2020
Ecosattva Vows
Based on my love of the world and understanding of deep interdependence of all things, I vow: To live in Earth more lightly and less violently in the food, products and energy I consume. To commit myself daily to the healing of the world and the welfare of all beings;...
Bob Dylan’s Ongoing Critique of Social Injustice and Masters of War
by Taigen Dan Leighton Copyright © 2020 Taigen Dan Leighton This is a much-expanded version of a talk presented at the World of Bob Dylan International Symposium, May 30 to June 2, 2019, at the University of Tulsa’s Institute for Bob Dylan Studies. Bob...
Zazen as Enactment Ritual
Taigen Dan Leighton Article for the book, Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice, edited by Steven Heine and Dale Wright (Oxford University Press, 2008) Buddhist meditation has commonly been considered an instrumental technique aimed at obtaining a...
We are all Refugees: Tree of Life Massacre
We are all Refugees: Tree of Life Massacre (from Lions Roar Magazine, Oct 30, 2018) BY TAIGEN DAN LEIGHTON| OCTOBER 30, 2018 Zen teacher Taigen Dan Leighton attended the Tree of Life synagogue while growing up in Pittsburgh. He reflects on how all of us, near and far,...
Meeting Our Ancestors of the Future
Taigen Dan Leighton Published in "Shambhala Sun," September, 1996, as "Now is the Past of the Future." When we can fully see our own time in the dynamic fullness of time, without being blind to cause and effect, without being caught by limiting views of time itself,...