Page Text: These are commentaries and teishos (dharma talks) by various Zen teachers and some academics.
Questions, broken links, suggestions, etc, please
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BuddhaNet File Library: huge collection of zipped files on Zen. I have the same link on the ZenEssays page.
Modern Zen Teachers: this site, A Buddhist Library , has a large collection of teishos by a wide variety of teachers, from Deshimaru to Sheng Yen, Shodo Harada to Uchiyama and many more. A venerable site worth exploring.
This site also has a large number of Zen teachings of the ancients (many are excerpts from previously published works). These include works by Dogen, Lin-chi, Bodhidharma, Hui Hai, Chi I and many more. Explore the site; you won't be disappointed.
Female teachers of Zen : this site lists some 37 female Zen teachers, many with links to their home pages or talks or sanghas. Worth visiting for those who believe Zen teaching does not include women.
Dharma Tallks by Korean Zen (Seon) Masters : This site has talks by 15 Korean Seon masters. Historical Korean Buddhist teachers are here . An extensive introduction to Korean meditation, Ganwha Seon , is here.
Robert Aitken: On the Ten Grave Precepts . A dharma talk by one of America's best-known teachers.
Subhana Barzaghi: teisho on Dogen's Mountains and Waters sutra
Empty Cloud:
Master Hsu (Xu) Yun (Empty Cloud): an eclectic collection of materials by the Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun, one of the greatest Zen masters of the 20th century. Includes essays, sutras, visual arts, dharma talks by a variety of authors, poetry and readers' contributions. Best accessed from here .
The Essentials of Ch'an Practice A translation by Ven. Guo-gu Bhikshu of a discourse by the modern Ch'an patriarch Master Xuyun (Hsu Yun) (1839-1959), also known by his English name, Empty Cloud. Daily Lectures at Two Ch'an Weeks , Edited, Translated and Explained by Lu Kuan Yu [Charles Luk]
Empty Cloud: the Teachings of Xu Yunm as compiled from the notes and recollections of Jy Din Shakya (93 pages in .pdf) available here.
More of Hsu Yun teachings here , as well as other teachers. Scroll down.
Fazang: Treatise on the Golden Lion Fazang (643–712 CE) was a prolific writer in early Chinese Buddhism. This treatise illustrates the Huayan Doctrine through the medium of the golden lion in Her Majesty's palace.
Zoketsu Norman Fischer: (as well as others of the Everyday Zen Foundation ), former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. There are dozens of talks here by someone who studied at the SFZC for nearly 30 years.
Ruben Habito, from the MKZC in Texas, offers up some talks and teishos . Habito is from the Yasutani lineage.
Hakuin: Some Talks by Hakuin ; a sample of Hakuin's unique style.
Thich Nhat Hanh: Thich Nhat Hanh gives a brief talk on mindfulness on YouTube. There are many other videos of this Zen master to be found here.
Thich Nhat Hanh gave a public talk on September 25, 2001 at the Riverside Church, New York. How can one address great tragedy with great compassion? Very important talk from one of the great compassionate teachers. See also an interview with Hanh about this issue, "What I would say to Osama bin Laden."
Master Hsing Yung: There are links to 4 talks here. Master Hsing Yung is the leader of the sect that built the Nan Tien Temple in Woolongong, NSW, Australia.
Jack Kornfeld: The Eightfold Path for the Household free e-book (143 pages in .pdf)
Stuart Lachs: Hua-t’ou: A Method of Zen Meditation Lachs discusses both the history and the method of using hua-t'ou, or "critical phrase", as a Zen meditation, drawing on his own experiences of thirty years practice of this method.
Sister Annabel Laity: Beginning Anew discusses the importance of listening in building a sangha. "…the practice of listening is a very deep one and it is very useful when you are building a sangha. To build a sangha means to make a community of practitioners and to build a sangha really is building work."
Instructions on meditation from Shasta Abbey by various teachers. There is quite a lot of information and teachings under the sub-heading "Teachings". Here's a link to their 'Dharma articles' page.
David R Loy: The Problem with Karma subtitled "What are we going to do about karma and rebirth?", this essay by scholar and teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Japanese Zen Buddhism gives a very lucid and informative outlook on two of the most problematic and thorny issues in contemporary Buddhism. Highly recommended
Pat Enkyo O'Hara: abbot of the Village Zendo, New York, affiliated with Maezumi's White Plum Linage. Dharma Talks ; the link will take you to the archive. Here you'll find some talks about practice .
AMA Samy : Meditation and Therapy: Zen is therapeutic, not therapy
Life and Death : Amy Samy gives a teisho on "Tosotsu´s Three Barriers". "All religions deal with the question of death, so much so that someone has said that religions are a defense against or a denial of death... All of us have to face this question of dying, death, and what´s beyond death." Beautiful.
Koan, Hua-t'ou, and Kensho : Amy Samy discusses the link between these three concepts and gives some instruction and insight on working with koans.
Why Did Bodhidharma Came from the West excerpt from his book. Covers practice, shikantaza and koan studies.
AMA Samy's Zen center in India, the Bodhi Zendo , is here.
Shodo Harada Roshi: On the Heart Sutra Harada Roshi begins a talk on the Maka Hanya Haramita Shingyo. see also The Way of Zazen brief bio of Harada Roshi here
Sojun Mel Weitsman : talks by this teacher of the Berkeley Zen Center here. His teishos on the Heart Sutra also available here.
Some audio talks on the Heart Sutra by Weitsman are available here.
An interview with Mel Weitsman is available here.
Joan Sutherland: Talks & Essays Joan is the co-founder (with John Tarrant) of the Pacific Zen Institute. This link will take you to some of her talks and essays.
Harada Tangen Roshi: Tangen Roshi is master of Bukkokuji. Here you'll find 14 of his teishos in MP3 format with translations.
A talk by Harada encouraging students to practice hard.
John Tarrant: You can find a biography of John here. A collection of articles by Tarrant and others is here.
Working With Koans : John discusses a number of koans and how to work with koans generally. Here he talks about the koan Mu
Kankan Roshi : director of Cold Mountain Sangha in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This site has an extensive collection of Kankan's talks, most as MP3's as well as some PDF files.
Vladimir K.: On Thoughts in Zazen Everyone is plagued by the constant arising of thoughts during zazen. Here are a few ideas that may help.
Alan Watts: talks, lectures and essays by one of the early "interpreters" of Zen Buddhism. He was very influential in his day. The Official Alan Watts website is here.
Koun Yamada Roshi: Zazen and Christianity: a talk given by on May 9, 1975 at San-un Zendo in Kamakura, Japan.
Hakuun Yasutani Roshi: Why do we recite Sutras? A short Dharma talk
Nyogen Yeo Roshi: dharma heir to Maezeumi Roshi. Dharma talks . Includes podcasts, video, and transcribed talks.
Shinzen Young: Stray Thoughts on Meditation "Being an introductory overview of some techniques for mental development within the various Buddhist traditions of Therevada, Tantra and Zen and including reference to traditional Christian Contemplative practice." Shinzen Young is a Vipassana teacher.