Castlemaine Zen Podcast

When Yamada Roshi was asked what Zen practice is for, he said, “The perfection of character.” In this talk we track the evolution of the teacher Deshan, from young firebrand to mellow custodian of the Way, to explore the importance of character in a world that often seems to sneer at gentleness and compassion.

On the third night of sesshin we meet Daowu and his student Jianyuan, who are off to conduct a funeral in the nearby village. Things take an unexpected turn when the student Jianyuan raps on the coffin and demands, “Living or dead?” Daowu takes his student’s question and cares for it in the most thoroughgoing way, beyond even his own death.

On the first night of sesshin we take up three encounters from Shitou Xiqian (700-790) to see how they illuminate “Mu”, the great syllable of emptiness. We also spend a bit of time with dogs, who never fail to shake off the very human temptation to “have or have not”.

In this talk, we meet Yanguan Qi’an, one of Mazu’s primary dharma heirs. Yanguan lived right up until the Huichang Persecution of 840-845, where 4,600 Buddhist temples were destroyed and 260,000 monks and nuns were displaced. Not only did his teaching endure, but his influence led to a restoration of temples and practice throughout China, and a flourishing of Zen that continues to this day. So what did he teach? How did he convey the simplicity of Mazu’s “ordinary mind”? And how might this be useful in our own time of uncertainty, with so much violence and displacement shaking the globe? This talk was given as part of Zen Open Circle’s Taking Part in the Gathering.

Birds have always been great Zen teachers. In this talk, we take up the miscellaneous koan, “My relaxed gaze freely follows the tracks of flying birds” and examine what implications this might have for our practice today. We also meet Niutou Farong, a fascinating figure from the 6-7th Century, who meditated in a cave and was visited by birds “with flowers in their mouths”. What was going on? And why did these very same birds stop arriving with flowers in their mouths after Niutou spoke with the fourth Zen ancestor, Daoxin? This talk was given in Castlemaine on 15/3/26.

With our end-of-year Jukai Ceremony fast approaching, we take up the questions, “What is a Bodhisattva? How does a bodhisattva act in the world? And how do the precepts liberate wise action in the world?” To bring this forth we meet Mahasattva Fu, a younger contemporary of Bodhidharma, who became a teacher of the Emperor. Affectionately known as “The Motley Bodhisattva”, he demonstrates just how inclusive the Way is, and how with every move we make we can “take hold of the plough with empty hands.”

What does it take to build a temple, right where you are? When Shakyamuni Buddha was walking with Indra, he announced that, “Here would be a good place to erect a temple.” Indra immediately took a stem of grass, inserted it in the earth, and said, “The temple is erected.” Just one blade of grass was all it took. So how do we erect a temple in our day-to-day activities? And what, exactly, are we erecting? This talk was given at our regular Sunday morning zazen, teisho and dharma inquiry.

What is Mu? Why do we constantly return to this not-quite-a-syllable in our Zen practice? In this talk, given at the Zen Open Circle Spring Sesshin, we look at how Mu undoes our habitual thinking and liberates a life of not-knowing. In Japan there is a word, “sa’pari”, which means something like “unblemished by understanding.” What does a life unblemished by understanding afford? Why would we want to draw close to its promise?

Before he died, Furong Daokai left a death poem. On this fourth and final night we investigate this poem to see how it might illuminate our own life and death. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.

Zen Master Furong Daokai walked into his assembly and said, “The green mountains are always walking.” What did he mean? What was he pointing to? In this talk we scale the highs and lows of our own life to seek not just the stability of mountains, but their living dynamism. This talk was recorded at the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, Tasmania.

How are you with mistakes? What do you do when something goes wrong? In this talk we join three Zen adepts as they bumble their way through a tea ceremony, exploring what it’s like to own mistakes without being owned by them. This talk was given as part of our monthly Teisho and Inquiry at Castlemaine Zen.

When Shakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star he cried, “I and all beings of the great earth have in this same moment attained the Way.” He was not describing an experience limited to one human being. He was describing an experience that leaves nothing out, affirming the true human being. So how do we wake up together? And what does that even mean? This talk was given on the fifth day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.

It’s easy to feel that something has been lost in childhood - something precious that we yearn to reclaim or embrace as we get older. The Chinese folk story “Chien and her Soul are Separated” brings this matter into direct focus, questioning whether anything is truly lost and how we might experience reunification. This talk was given on the third day of the Great Ocean Sesshin 2025.