Mindfulness, Metta, Mystery by Myo Denis Lahey

Although I have put this talk under the "Thursday Talks" heading it was in fact used as the talk for the Soto Zen group's monthly Retreat Day last Friday.

Rev. Myo Denis Lahey (born July 14, 1951) is a Soto Zen priest practicing in the Shunryu Suzuki lineage. Myo is practice leader at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and at Iron Bell Zendo (now Valley Streams Zen Sangha) in Sacramento, California. A Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Soto Zen Buddhist Association of North America (SZBA) and is a member of the Association for Soto Zen Buddhism of Japan (ASZB). Raised in an observant Roman Catholic home, Myo was drawn to religion and spirituality at an early age and found Zen Buddhism in his teens. He began sitting in 1969 with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and befriended many San Francisco Zen Center practitioners and teachers, including Issan Dorsey.



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Understanding Sankhara by Tempel Smith

Tempel Smith teaches Mindfulness, Insight and Metta meditation with an emphasis on Buddhist psychology and mind-body awareness. He spent a year as a monk in Burma with Sayadaw U Pandita and Pa Auk Sayadaw, and he has completed the four year teacher-training program run by Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society.



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Meditation and Mindfulness by Martine Batchelor

This talk by Martine Batchelor is from a recent retreat at Gaia House entitled "Meditation and study".

Gaia House is a Silent Meditation Retreat Centre – a sanctuary of contemplative calm set amongst the gentle hills and quiet woodlands of South Devon.

The original Gaia House was a former vicarage in Denbury, purchased in 1983. Maurice Ash simultaneously offered to host a Buddhist community in Sharpham House. At that point, Stephen and Martine Batchelor, returning from Korea, came to be part of the community. In time, they became part of the Gaia House teaching team.



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Final Talk at July Sesshin 2011 by Rev. Master Olwen Crookall-Greening

This talk is by Rev. Master Olwen Crookall-Greening who used to be Prior at Reading Buddhist Priory which was founded by the late Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett in 1990. It is one of a number of temples of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (www.obcon.org) in Great Britain, Europe, Canada and North America. The Priory has had a number of resident monks over the years.

The Priory, to which the Newport Soto Zen group is affiliated, is located in a residential area of Reading and provides a place of peace and calm in the city where people can come to learn about Soto Zen Buddhism and meditation and participate in a regular weekly schedule of events.



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Similes of the Buddha by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana is the founding abbot of the Bhavana Society. Born in rural Sri Lanka, he has been a monk since age 12 and took full ordination at age 20 in 1947. He came to the United States in 1968. “Bhante G” (as he is fondly called by his students) has written a number of books, including the now-classic meditation manual Mindfulness In Plain English and its companion Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness. Bhante G regularly leads retreats on vipassana, mindfulness, metta (Loving-friendliness), concentration, and other topics both at the Bhavana Society and elsewhere.



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Awaken Your Unborn Buddha Mind by Edward Espe Brown

Kainei Edward Espe Brown (born March 24, 1945) is a Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and a well-known gourmet cook. A Dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, Brown is the author of the best-selling Tassajara Bread Book. He regularly leads instructional cooking and baking classes and has been featured in the 2007 documentary film How to Cook Your Life by Doris Dorrie. Brown was ordained a priest by Suzuki-roshi in 1971, and from the mid-1960s on through the 80′s Brown lived at any one of the three San Francisco Zen Center locations—City Center, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and Green Gulch Farm. Currently Brown leads the Peaceful Sea Sangha in California. Brown is a member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association.



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Freedom - The Third Noble Truth by Gina Sharpe

Gina Sharpe was born in Jamaica and immigrated to New York at the age of 11. She has an A.B. in Philosophy from Barnard College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. Before practising law, she worked for the New York City government (the Lindsay Administration), in the motion picture industry (as Assistant to the Producer of feature length films Little Big Man, Paper Lion and Alice’s Restaurant), as well as conducting research in public not-for-profits. As a lawyer, she practised as a corporate litigator and then as a corporate lawyer. She also served as an executive in the fields of venture capital and mergers and acquisitions.

After retiring from the practice of law, she co-founded New York Insight Meditation Centre. She currently serves as the Guiding Teacher. Trained as a retreat teacher in a joint Teacher Training Program of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Insight Meditation Society, she teaches at various venues around the United States including Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, Vallecitos Mountain Refuge, Mid America Dharma, Garrison Institute, Asia Society, Tibet House, the New York Open Center, the Katonah Yoga Center and a maximum security prison for women. She has been teaching the Dharma since 1995. She has served on the boards of directors of several not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.

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Unholy Emptiness by Stephen Batchelor

Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, was invited to visit the Emperor Wu of Liang, who was a great patron of Buddhism. The Emperor had built many monasteries, and he asked Bodhidharma what merit his generosity had earned. "No merit," said Bodhidharma. Startled, the Emperor asked Bodhidharma the supreme truth of the Dharma. "unholy emptiness" replied Bodhidharma. Finally, the Emperor asked, "Who are you?" "I don't know" said Bodhidharma.

Stephen Batchelor examines "Emptiness" in the context of the Buddha's teaching of the "Four Noble Truths".



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Reflections On The Lions Roar - Parts 1 & 2 by Ajahn Sucitto

Ajahn Sucitto

Was born in London in 1949. He had his B.A. in English and American Literature at Warwick University in 1971. He went to Thailand in 1975, where he happened across a class in Buddhist meditation in Chiang Mai. After a few days' practice, he decided to make a tentative commitment to the Holy Life. He returned to England in 1978 and he decided to stay and train with Ajahn Sumedho and he was responsible for editing and publishing his talks, as well as other Sangha publications.

Ajahn Sucitto was one of the original groups of who founded Chithurst Monastery Cittavivekha in 1979. He also helped to establish a vihara in Northumberland, Aruna Ratanagiri on 1981. In 1984 he was part of the community that moved from Chithurst to Hertfordshire to start Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, where had the responsibility of supervising the nuns training, as well as other teaching duties. During this time he also began teaching overseas. In 1992 he was asked to take over the function of senior incumbent at Chithurst Monastery where he now resides.

Reflections On The Lions Roar - Part 1



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Reflections On The Lions Roar - Part 2



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Nun's Tea and the First Noble Truth by Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia

This talk is by Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia which tells of one of her stays in Rocana Vihara, the Nun's Cottage, at Chithurst. She introduced the subject for the "Lay Forum" on our last visit to the monastery.



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