Summary: Episode Description: Kaz Sensei traces the emergence of the core Mahayana teaching of Shunyata, the boundlessly contingent "zeroness" of all things (not only of the individual, as in early Buddhism). He speaks of two kinds of meditation: a superficial but useful kind that solves problems, and a deeper meditation in the dimension where right and wrong, momentary and timeless, life and death are not divided. This zeroness that knows no boundaries is a big part of our consciousness, and is Prajna Paramita. What is awakening? Is it stoned and glorious, as in the Avatamsaka Sutra? For an account of the awakened mind, Roshi Joan gives us a close (intimate...?) reading of the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo (a liturgy invoking the Bodhisattva of compassion). She gives special attention to the word "intimate," quoting richly from the Zen literature and invoking the several intimacies of ethics/compassion, zero/samadhi, and wisdom/not knowing. The intimacy of zazen is that its purpose never lies outside itself: like music, like dance, "the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment" (Alan Watts). For Teacher BIOs, please visit Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Rohatsu Sesshin Series: All 6 Parts
