Episodes
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Recorded May 18, 2024
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
If we mean to fulfill our life journey, our personal pilgrimage to maturity — which is the point of Zen practice — what we seek can’t be somewhere far off, but must be in our own back — or front — yard.
Gateless Barrier, (Wu-men Kuan, Mumonkan), Case 37: “Chao-chou: The Oak Tree in the Front Garden” goes like this:
The Case
A monk asked Chao-chou, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?”
Chao-chou said, “The oak tree in the front yard.”
“Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?” is a traditional Zen way of saying, “What is the highest teaching of the Buddhadharma?” It means, why did Bodhidharma, at an advanced age too, choose to make the difficult crossing from Southern India to China? What was so important that it was worth risking his life to do it? And how does “the oak tree in the front garden” answer this question? Let’s take a look!
Photo credit: "Tree Heart" by Rafe Martin -
Recorded May 4, 2024.
Two Zen Classics: Mumonkan and Hekiganroku. Translated with commentaries by Katsuki Sekida
May 6, 2024 is the 20th Anniversary of the passing of Roshi Philip Kapleau. Rose and Rafe Martin were his personal disciples. They traveled with him, shared meals with him, watched movies with him, were his attendants for various formal functions, stayed with him by his invitation in Mexico, New Mexico, and Florida. Roshi Kapleau also chose Rafe to be his editor for his two final books.
On May 4th 2024 at our annual 1/2 day zazenkai/memorial for Roshi Kapleau at Endless Path Zendo, a recorded teisho originally presented by Roshi Kapleau’s at a 7-day sesshin at Bodhi Mandala in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico in 1986 (which Rafe attended), was played. The teisho is on case 37 of the Blue Cliff Record, P’AN SHAN’S (BANZAN’S) “THERE IS NOTHING IN THE TRIPLE WORLD and the case is as follows:
"P’an Shan (Banzan) said to his disciples, 'There is nothing in the triple world; where then can Mind be found?'"
Roshi Martin adds: “Roshi Philip Kapleau was a unique man. Former Chief Court Reporter for the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal as well as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, he came to Zen through a recognition of the horrors to which human beings can sink when lost from their True Nature, as well as through a sense that the Zen he first encountered while in Japan for the trials, offered a doorway to something of great value. We are the fortunate heirs of his determination to find out what that unknown "thing" of great value actually was."
Book cited:Photo credit: Roshi Kapleau, by Casey Frank
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Missing episodes?
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Recorded on April 27, 2024
The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Translated and with a Commentary by Robert Aitken The Record of Transmission of Light (Denkoroku), Master Keizan JōkinComplete Poison Blossoms from a Thicket of Thorn: The Zen Records of Hakuin Zenji, Translated by Norman WaddellThe Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen
This talk, given by Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin, explores case 35 of the Gateless Barrier: “Which is the True Ch’ien?” This wonderfully creative koan uses a T’ang era ghost tale of a young woman divided from herself, to help us uncover our own real Self today. It’s the old old story of Identity — the essential quest of myth and folklore worldwide — recast as a koan with the power to help us live more fully. [This case is sometimes also known as “Sei and Her Soul Are Separated.”}
Books cited:Original Painting — “Moon Among the Clouds” by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded on April 20, 2024.
The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Translated and with a Commentary by Robert Aitken The Story of Zen, by Rick McDanielThe Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
This talk, given by Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin, explores case 38 from the Gateless Barrier - "Wu-tsu's Buffalo Passes Through the Window." A most interesting koan!
In the case, a buffalo's massive head, horns, shoulders, legs and hooves all pass easily through the latticed window. So, why can't the tiny tail pass through? Impossible! Crazy! -- and yet -- it's a wonderful koan in which the Buddha's most profound wisdom meets the lively wisdom of fairy tales. Zen Master Hakuin called this a nanto koan, meaning that he felt that it was one of the eight most difficult koan cases. Is it? See what you think.
Referenced:Photo credit: Buffalo/Ox, by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded April 13, 2024.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the RingsThomas Traherne, Centuries Poems and Thanksgivings. Vol. 1: Introduction and Centuries
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin explores the meaning of the Buddha's birth, which took place roughly 2600 years ago. A birth that is so remarkable prompts us to ask: Where did someone come from who was able to so quickly give up all wealth and privilege, and by devoting himself fully to the great anguish of our common human condition, realize a way of helping all beings? What does his effort and insight mean for us today?
Roshi Martin reads from his recently published book -- "A Zen Life of Buddha" (Sumeru Books, 2023).
Referenced:Photo credit: Buddha Birth Altar at Endless Path Zendo by Rose Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded March 30, 2024.
The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Translated and with a Commentary by Robert Aitken - Case 25 Yang-shan's Sermon from the Third SeatWallace Stevens, “The Snow Man”William Blake - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Keizan Jokin, DenkorokuThe Odyssey, Robert Fitzgerald, trans.Basho — in Haiku “Spring” R.H. Blyth
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin shares Case 36 from The Blue Cliff Record "Ch'ang Sha Wandering in the Mountains."
With Ch’ang Sha’s spring time stroll in the hills we discover (and clarify) that ongoing Zen practice means a full life, not isolation. The Buddha got up from under the Bodhi Tree. The point of Zen — if we can speak in such terms — is not to stay forever seated in zazen facing a wall, but to live fully, maturing with family, careers, relationships, interests, ups and downs, sickness and health, activism, citizenship, music and art all as the Way. Ch’ang Sha shows how it goes. Hsueh t’ou, compiler of The Blue Cliff Record, says, “I’m grateful for that answer.” As are we!
Additional works cited —Photo credit: Highland Falls, by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded March 23, 2024.
The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Translated and with a Commentary by Robert Aitken - Case 28 "Lung-t'an (Ryutan) Blows Out a Candle" (also titled "Lung-t'an Renowned Near and Far")The Blue Cliff Record, Translated by Thomas Cleary and J.C. Cleary - Case 4 "Te-shan Carries His Bundle" The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Translated and with a Commentary by Robert Aitken - Case 13 "Te-shan: Bowls in Hand"Dogs, Trees, Beards and Other Wonders: Meditations on the Forty-eight Cases of the Wumenguan by Ken Tetsuzan Morgareidge
Roshi Rafe Martin completes his exploration of the Zen pilgrimage of Te-shan and the things he carried as he matures from youthful firebrand into refined and mature teacher. In this teisho, Te-shan is carrying his bowls to the noon-day meal. Is he early? Is the meal late? What is "the last word"? Does he have it or doesn't he? Does anyone? And how about us -- what is the last word? Can we say?
Selected references:Photo credit: Standing Buddha/Seated Buddha, by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded on March 17, 2024.
The Blue Cliff Record, Translated by Thomas Cleary and J.C. Cleary - Case 4 "Te-shan Carries His Bundle"The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment by Roshi Philip KapleauOriginal Chan Teachings of Buddhism Selected from The Transmission of the Lamp, Translated with Introductions by Chan Chung-Yuan
In this second teisho on the trilogy of Te-shan koans, Roshi Martin looks at Case 4 of the Blue Cliff Record: “Te-shan Carries His Bundle.” In the previous teisho Te-shan set down the backpack of brilliant commentaries on the Diamond Sutra he’d been lugging around. Here he carries his bundle of monk’s gear and, post-satori, seems hardly to know what to do with it.
Selected references:Photo credit: Wooden Buddha in the shrine room at Endless Path Zendo, Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded March 16, 2024
The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan), Translated and with a Commentary by Robert Aitken - Case 28 "Lung-t'an (Ryutan) Blows Out a Candle" (also titled "Lung-t'an Renowned Near and Far") The Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan, Zenkei Shibiyama
At the start of this two-day sesshin, Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin delivers the first in a trilogy of teishos on the koans of Te-shan — and the things he carried. Setting down his backpack of brilliant commentaries on the Diamond Sutra, Te-shan personally discovers that even the greatest knowledge is like a drop of water tossed into a vast ravine, compared to realization of his own Mind.
Roshi Martin starts with a short review of the koan practice in our combined Diamond Sangha /Kapleau Roshi lineage.
Selected references:Artwork: Galaxy -- painting by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded on March 9, 2024.
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Rose Martin is a lay ordained, senior student of Sunyana Graef Roshi, who is the founder and Abbot of the Vermont Zen Center and a Dharma Heir of Philip Kapleau Roshi (author of The Three Pillars of Zen). Along with her husband, Roshi Rafe Martin, Rose is a personal disciple of Philip Kapleau Roshi, and is presently head of zendo at Endless Path Zendo.
In the Footsteps of the Buddha: A Buddhist Pilgrimage (February 10-23, 2024) was led by tour leaders Buddha Path. Rose writes of the experience: On the pilgrimage we visited sites of deepest significance to Buddhist tradition and history -- the places where the Buddha was born (Lumbini), where he spent his childhood (Kapilavastu), attained full enlightenment, (Bodhgaya), as well as various places where he actually taught, meditated, and finally passed away and entered parinirvana (Sarnath.) We saw the remains of ancient monasteries and stupas as well as temples and villages that have changed little since the time of the Buddha 2,500 years ago. We also visited the Buddhist cave-temples of Ajanta and Ellora with their awe-inspiring paintings and sculptures, (declared World Heritage sites by UNESCO).
Photo credit: Buddha at Ajanta Caves, India, by Rose Martin -
Recorded on March 2, 2024.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin explores Case 97 from the Blue Cliff Record - "The Diamond Sutra and Being Reviled." In commenting on the koan he uses the 2500 year-old story of the robber, Angulimala, (Grisly-Garland"), to bring alive a Buddhist vision of paying back karmic debts and facing head-on the causes of our own suffering.
The koan itself is as follows: "The Diamond Sutra says, “One who is reviled by others has done wicked acts in former lifetimes which doom him to fall into evil worlds, but because of the scorn and vilification by others in the present life, the transgressions in the former life are wiped out.”Selected references:
The Pasture, by Robert FrostUnpublished commentary on the Diamond Sutra, Yamada RoshiThree Zen Sutras - The Heart Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, and the Platform Sutra, translated by Red PineTorei Enji’s vow"Angulimala the Robber" from The Hungry Tigress: Buddhist Myths, Legends and Jataka Tales: Fully Revised and Expanded Edition by Rafe MartinSo should you see all of the fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in the stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud;
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
–The Diamond SutraPhotography: Monju and the Students, by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded February 24, 2024.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin explores Case 92 from the Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku). In this exploration, Roshi Martin points to "where the vast ocean meets the shallows of our actual life."
The case: One day, the World-Honored One ascended to the rostrum. Manjusri struck the table with the gavel and said, “Contemplate clearly the Dharma of the Dharma-King! The Dharma of the Dharma-King is like this!” Thereupon, the World-Honored One descended from the rostrum.Selected references:
From The Gateless Barrier | The Wu-Men Kuan CASE 6: The World-Honored One Twirls a Flower CASE 42: Mañjuśrī and the Young Woman in Samādhi From The Blue Cliff Record | Hekiganroku CASE 67: Fu Daishi Expounds the Sutra CASE 82: Dairyû and the “ Dharma-Body”The Golden Age of Zen by John Wu_________________________________________
"The teisho of the actual body is the harbor and the weir. This is the most important thing in the world. Its virtue finds its home in the ocean of essential nature. It is beyond explanation."
- from Dogen's ShobogenzoPhotography: Buddha in the EPZ Shrine Room, by Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded on Saturday, February 17, 2024.
The Hungry Tigress - Buddhist Myths, Legends, and Jataka Tales (revised and expanded edition) by Rafe MartinThe Zen Life of Buddha by Rafe MartinFoundations of Tibetan Mysticism by Lama Anagarika GovindaSee also: February 3, 2024 teisho on Sumeda's encounter with Dipankara
The traditionally recognized date of the Buddha's Parinirvana is February 16, which is the date of his complete entrance into nirvana, his death that is understood as a great fulfillment and completion of his life and his vow.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin details and explores the meaning of this event to the historical Buddha as well as to our own lives, underscoring the opportunity inherent in committing to the Bodhisattva Vow and the practice of zazen.
I saw in Yoshino's billows of blossoms
that long ago time of great passing
when the sala trees surrounding him
had turned as white as cranes.
- Saigyo (1118 – March 23, 1190)
Referenced:
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Photography: Parinirvana altar, Rafe Martin. -
Recorded on February 10, 2024.
Roshi Rafe Martin explores Case 32 from The Gateless Barrier - A Non-Buddhist Questions the Buddha (also known as The Buddha Responds to an Outsider).
An outsider asked the World-Honored One, “I do not ask for the spoken; I do not ask for the unspoken.” The World-Honored One just sat still. | The outsider praised him, saying, “The World-Honored One with his great compassion and mercy has opened the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter the Way.” He then made bows and took his leave. | Ānanda asked, “What did that outsider realize to make him praise you?” | The World-Honored One said, “He is like the fine horse who runs even at the shadow of the whip.”
Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen“Genjokoan” (“Manifesting Suchness”) Shobogenzo, Eihei Dogen.“The Place Where We Are Right,” poem by Yehuda AmichaiCase 84 from the Blue Cliff Record — “Vimalakirti’s Gate of Non-Duality”
Referenced:
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org -
Recorded on February 3, 2024.
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin discusses vows - the vow of the Bodhisattva, our own vows, Zen practice vows, and how vows play out in our lives. In raising the question - where do vows come from - Roshi Martin brings us to the Jataka tales (past lives of the Buddha), explaining how all the Pali tradition Jataka follow from a single mythic vow that arose when Sumeda (a past life of Gotama Buddha) encountered Dipankara (a Buddha of the more distant past).
Photography: Wooden Standing Buddha by Rafe Martin -
Recorded on January 27, 2024.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin explores Layman Pang's Beautiful Snowflakes (Case 42 in the Blue Cliff Record).
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Photography: Snow at Endless Path by Rafe Martin -
Recorded on January 20, 2024.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin continued to read and comment on selections from The Heart of Shobogenzo.
Roshi Martin leads into the talk by sharing writings of Blake and Emily Dickinson illustrating how - paraphrasing Hakuin - Zen is something that has always been right here, wherever human beings are.
The Heart of Shobogenzo, translated by Norman Waddel and Mateo AbeEmily Dickinson's Complete Poems edited by Thomas H. Johnson
Referenced:
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Photography by Rafe Martin -
Recorded on January 13, 2024.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin offers the first teisho of the new year. He addresses the subject of why we practice and, as lay practitioners, the forms that dedicated practice could take.
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Referenced is Case 17 of the Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku): A monk asked Kyorin, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the west?” “Sitting long and getting tired.”
Photography: Persisting Buddha, by Rafe Martin -
Recorded on December 16, 2023.
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin offers a teisho in preparation for Jukai (taking precepts) that will be done by EPZ community members on New Year's Eve. The talk begins with a selection of winter haiku.
Haiku Volume 4 - Autumn Winter by R.H. BlythTaking the Path of Zen by Robert AitkenZen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China by Red PineRoad to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits by Bill Porter (Red Pine)
Referenced:
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
Photography: Manjushri and the Buddha on the Endless Path altar, Rafe Martin -
Recorded on December 9, 2023 during the final day of the EPZ Rohatsu sesshin.
A Zen Life of Buddha, Rafe Martin
Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin shares the story of the Buddha's great enlightenment - the moment when "after life times of effort, [and after] six very intense years of practice, he glanced up at the morning star and realized the falling away of all self centeredness; the universe itself entered and awoke."
Referenced:Photography: Endless Path Zendo Rohatsu altar, Rafe Martin
Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org - Show more
