Blog

A Zen approach to food and community in Rutland

Zen community serves the homeless By Shudder Hurd-Burnell Correspondent Rutland Herald A man walks into the kitchen with a loud, “Thank you, ladies!” as he hands off his plate to a woman at the sink. “Did you get enough, Dave?” she asks. “Did you get a doughnut? Do you want

Read More »

Plunge In and Open Wide

A Street Retreat Reflection by Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community resident, Willie Kunert Departing out of Penn Station on the train, as I rushed through the crowds to catch the train, I found myself wondering, “Who am I?” There are whiffs of an eerie underworld in the question, mixed too,

Read More »

Everybody eats

Every Thursday, Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community residents and volunteers, several from the Rutland sitting group, gather at the yellow house at 197 West Street in Rutland for an “everybody eats” community meal.  The food is wholesome, hearty, and delicious. It is cooked with great care from scratch using fresh,

Read More »

Power and Superpowers in the Lotus Sutra

I’ve been thinking about Power and Superpowers lately. It comes from studying the Lotus Sutra while I’ve been at Upaya this month leading the spring practice period. The Lotus Sutra, which is so important in our Soto Zen tradition, is a fantastical piece of spiritual literature that ranks among some

Read More »

Dharma talk Joshin on the Four Great Bodhisattva vows (part 2)

In this episode, Sensei Joshin Byrnes lists and speaks about the six factors of delusion. These include karmic inheritance, objects or things, the influence of people and culture around us, the following of false teachings, habits, and mistaken conceptualizations. He also discusses different ways in which we might see through delusion.

Read More »

We Vow to Realize Its True Meaning

The following is an excerpt from Joshin on the Street Retreat he did in Albuquerque. Dear Brothers and Sisters, This is just a gentle reminder to all of you to practice good self care in these days of transition out of street retreat and back into the realities of your daily

Read More »

Embrace of the Bodhisattva

To our modern ears the word “embrace” might seem a bit sentimental.  But I like that Dogen used it back in 1243 to talk about the four ways a Bodhisattva caringly engages with suffering in her midst.To embrace something means to encircle, surround, and to wrap your arms around. How

Read More »

True Belonging

Zen Master Dogen says that “Enlightenment is the intimacy of all things.” Every moment and everything is included in it. Of course, this means all the things and people that we love. Right now, I love summer in Vermont! The intimacy of all things also includes those who are out

Read More »