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Mitra-roshi
Registrace 31. 08. 2013
Mitra-roshi established Mountain Gate in 1996 in northern NM; Mountain Gate is a shoestring nonprofit that teaches Zen meditation and offers Intensive, guided, Zen meditation retreats. Through the RegainingBalance Program Mountain Gate also offers special free, nonsectarian retreats for women veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress. We are supported entirely by donations, and currently are hoping to rescue our small, ramshackle Kannon-do building by rebuilding part of it and adding on to provide essential space. If you would like to help, here is a link to donate through; you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser for it to come up: www.classy.org/give/429825/#!/donation/checkout
2024June3 D2 Working with Feelings of Abandonment
Why speak about abandonment when giving a Zen meditation teisho or talk? Because it is such a common, and negatively impactive, experience humn beings, at least in the Western hemisphere, have had. And it definitely comes up in our lives and in our meditation practice. Here is some background on the condition and also effective ways to work with it.
zhlédnutí: 90
Video
2024June2 D1 Creating Meaning, Life After Life
zhlédnutí 129Před měsícem
Although there are sesshin teishos for March, April, and May that have not yet been uploaded, this teisho and the one given the following day were specifically requested to be uploaded right away. Creating meaning begins in infancy and results in assumptions about ourselves and the world: Is it safe? Are we worthy? These assumptions keep us imprisoned as they create a self-image and way of work...
An Excerpt from Deepening Zen: The Long Maturation, Book 2
zhlédnutí 63Před měsícem
In an episode of his podcast, Becoming Human, Zen student and artist Jarad McHugh, shares Chapter 12: Nirvana from Mitra-roshi Bishop's forthcoming book, Deepening Zen: The Long Maturation, Book 2. Find the Becoming Human podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
2024Feb9 D6 Staring into the Abyss with Friends
zhlédnutí 40Před měsícem
If we are to truly become free, truly come to Awakening, we must let go of the face mask, the false image we take to be our self. The classic Zen saying describing this point in our practice is, "Let go your hold on the cliff, and leap, hands held high, into the fiery abyss." Sound terrifying? It can seem so. Yet when this body dies at the end of its physical life we will have no choice but to ...
2024Feb8 D5 The Dance of Zen Training
zhlédnutí 81Před měsícem
When we go to school and take a course, or learn to play a musical instrument, there are specific ways to proceed to study and learn the material, and clear results. But in Zen practice we are dealing with something very different and seemingly quixotic. There are no obvious results for a long time, and there are many times, especially in our early years of practice, where we seem to be going b...
2024Feb7 D4 How Habit Patterns Affect Zazen
zhlédnutí 102Před měsícem
Human beings are beings of habits. They can have a positive role in simplifying our life-or complicating it. But the habit of constantly distracting ourselves from the moment as it is can negatively influence our ability to focus on our Zen practice, not to mention on whatever other task may be on hand in our daily life, independent of our meditation. How to work with them?
2024May6 D2 The Teaching Life of Philip Kapleau
zhlédnutí 167Před 2 měsíci
May 6, 2024, was the twentieth year following Roshi Philip Kapleau's death in 2020. Mitra-roshi trained intensively under Roshi Kapleau, including extensive periods where she served as his secretary, both in Santa Fe NM and in Tepoztlan, México. Twenty years training with him she was deeply impressed by his skill as a teacher, his ethical conduct, and above all, his deep commitment to his own o...
2024Feb7 D4 How Habit Patterns Affect Zazen
zhlédnutí 209Před 3 měsíci
We give little thought in Zen practice to the role of habit in impacting our progress in letting go, yet habit patterns are so often intensely reinforced without our realizing it. This includes our moment-to-moments zazen, expecially in the earlier years of practice. How to work with this challenge?
2024Feb5 D2 Search for the Holy Grail of Zen
zhlédnutí 266Před 3 měsíci
What IS the Holy Grail of Zen?
2024Feb4 D1 Pre Sesshin Jitters and What To Do About Them
zhlédnutí 122Před 3 měsíci
It's quite common in our earlier years of Zen practice to get anxious before a sesshin. Most of us don't want to be anxious, period, and we may be concerned it will hamper our work-and our performance in sanzen-during the retreat. How to work with it?
2024JAN27 D7 Right Speech Is Not So Simple
zhlédnutí 125Před 4 měsíci
There are three Bodhisattva Precepts that point to Right Speech because it is so important. Countless times, "wrong" speech has caused harm or created suffering. But to engage in Right Speech is not so simple as it sounds. Mitra-roshi goes into specifics on this portion of the Eightfold Path.
2024JAN26 D6 Exploring the Six Realms
zhlédnutí 100Před 4 měsíci
The Six Realms of Existence are a traditional way of expressing how people are in life. Often taken as being in a particular real in this life, in actuality we can find ourselves in any one of these realms as we move through our life. We are not necessarily tied to one alone. Mitra-roshi explains.
2024Jan25 D5 Melting AWay The Negativity Bias
zhlédnutí 67Před 5 měsíci
Neuropsychologists tell us that the brain has a negativity bias. It does make sense that we would remember negative experiences more readily than positive ones. After all, if we remember the negative ones we're less likely to repeat them and may stay alive longer. But that leaves us with a tendency to feel negative or morose in general. Instead, the truth is that we have the capacity to feel po...
2024Jan24 D4 Possibility Inherent in Impossibility
zhlédnutí 87Před 5 měsíci
Even when things seem impossible, there is within that impossibility a possibility. With deepening zazen, those possibilities are revealed. And what seems at first impossible becomes possible. Zazen works miracles.
2024Jan23 D3 Fine Print in the Zen Meditation Contract 2
zhlédnutí 115Před 5 měsíci
People in general think that Zen practice will bring them bliss, but check that zazen contract again and read the fine print! Listen here...
2024Jan21 D1 Courage the Fourth Pillar edited 2
zhlédnutí 111Před 5 měsíci
2024Jan21 D1 Courage the Fourth Pillar edited 2
Becoming Human: An Interview with Mitra-roshi
zhlédnutí 196Před 5 měsíci
Becoming Human: An Interview with Mitra-roshi
2023DEC7 D7 Words Before the Final Night of Rohatsu
zhlédnutí 129Před 5 měsíci
2023DEC7 D7 Words Before the Final Night of Rohatsu
2023DEC6 D6 Exploring Living and Dying
zhlédnutí 88Před 5 měsíci
2023DEC6 D6 Exploring Living and Dying
2023DEC5 D5 A World Infinitely Free in this Silence
zhlédnutí 101Před 5 měsíci
2023DEC5 D5 A World Infinitely Free in this Silence
2023DEC3 D3 Exploring the Edges of Zen Practice Discussion with Senior Student
zhlédnutí 73Před 6 měsíci
2023DEC3 D3 Exploring the Edges of Zen Practice Discussion with Senior Student
2023DEC2 D2 True Freedom Where and How
zhlédnutí 87Před 6 měsíci
2023DEC2 D2 True Freedom Where and How
2023DEC1 D1 Sensing Your Way Deeper in Zen
zhlédnutí 271Před 6 měsíci
2023DEC1 D1 Sensing Your Way Deeper in Zen
2023DEC13 Thank You Message from Mitra roshi
zhlédnutí 120Před 6 měsíci
2023DEC13 Thank You Message from Mitra roshi
2023NOV11 D7 To Realize Peace Simply Receive
zhlédnutí 250Před 6 měsíci
2023NOV11 D7 To Realize Peace Simply Receive
2023NOV10 D6 Like a Boulder Sinking Deep into the Ocean
zhlédnutí 107Před 6 měsíci
2023NOV10 D6 Like a Boulder Sinking Deep into the Ocean
2023NOV9 D5 An Answer to the Question of Suffering
zhlédnutí 522Před 7 měsíci
2023NOV9 D5 An Answer to the Question of Suffering
2023NOV8 D4 Sitting in the Cloud of Unknowing
zhlédnutí 342Před 7 měsíci
2023NOV8 D4 Sitting in the Cloud of Unknowing
2023NOV7 D3 "The Mind Squirms and Flops About"
zhlédnutí 173Před 7 měsíci
2023NOV7 D3 "The Mind Squirms and Flops About"
Beautiful my lady!
Thank you!
Powerful and useful teisho, mitra-roshi.🙏
Thank you!
19:15~19:25 just a drop ~ bright sea awakening ~ the one taste uncontrived ~ no haste 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you!
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Oooo ~ Ensō Out of not One thing arise the ten thousand things 🙏🙏🙏
Kapleau Roshi, my first Zen teacher. Thank you 🙏
Thank you Roshi Kapleau for everything you did.
Gasho
I attended a two day meditation trg. he did at Harvard in 1970 or 71. Of all the great people I was fortunate to see from that era, he was the one who impressed me the most. He just seemed very disciplined, no-nonsense and devoted to his mission of teaching us what we could do if we tried. I was a dilettante practitioner for forty years always promising myself some day I would make a serious commitment to it. In my early 60's I had a very painful life event and decided this was the time. For the last 15 years I have been devoted to it and now view it as the most valuable things I have ever learned. I am grateful to Kapleau.
Thanks for writing, Bryan! It can take quite awhile for one's karma to mature in the direction of undertaking Zen practice, and I'm glad yours has brought you to serious practice. Roshi Kapleau was a true Zen master; I trained with him for twenty years full time, until he retired. In the intervening years of continuing practice I cocntinue to realize what a gift it was to train with him.
His students gained immensely from his guidance - I would have loved to meet him. This work is so rich and so foundational. Thank you for doing this.
The longer I practice, the longer I teach, the more I realize what an incredible teacher he was.... Thank you for writing.
Thanks for your kind reply. I think it is up to us to believe or not. Some scholars used to scare masses about rebirth in poor families or as animals depending on our behavior in this life. I follow teachings of a sage ( Thiruvalluvar) who wrote 1330 couplets of poetry which covers three stages of our present life and to attain peaceful, joyous life. They are guiding principles for Tamil people from South India. He doesn’t mention about rebirth or reincarnation. There are also other sages who teach about different saivite faiths.
Wonderful.
Thank you!
I have doubt about rebirth or reincarnation. What is the original teaching from Buddha himself not from his followers? Is it possible to find out about after life?
HiSaroja! That is a big question! When the Buddha was asked questions about deaath and after-life, he refused to answer. I'm sure he himself knew, and he spoke of memories of his past lives coming up during his time meditating under the Bo tree. Tibetan Buddhists have a strong believe in life continuing after "death" and have many teachings about it. The Buddha taught of eternal life-beginningless life. Yet we do experience death in many ways, including at the end of what is termed "thhis life." It gets more complicated than that, and is not a question that can be easily answered as there are so many levels to it. As we continue to meditate and reach deeper levels of understanding, we begin to realize how complex a question rebirth is. In Buddhism we do not speak of "reincarnation" because, if life is beginningless and endless, how can we leave life to reincarnate in a new body? The difference between a living body and a dead body is clear. But where does the energy that animated that body before it died go? Science tells ius that energy cannot be lost, but only transformed. In this sense, life IS eternal. And yet...
You look like Reggie Ray
Very helpful Roshi☺️👍👨🎨🎨🎼🌅🙏🥰 thank you
Thank you!
Can’t see her eyes because of the screen light reflection.
thank you for this! A good reminder.
nice! keep it up!
Thank youQ Do you know about the book recently published of my teachings? Deepening Zen: the Long Maturatiion, is available through Amazon.com and also directly through the publisher, Sumeru Press, and lo9cal bookstores.
Very nice teisho on right speech. I came across on one acronym for right speech. Think is the word. Is it T for Thoughtful, I is it intelligent , N is for is it necessary, K is for, is it Kind.
Thanks Saroja! Hope all is well!
Beautiful, Saroja! Thank you for sharing this!
I wanted to thank you for your teisho(s). For a part of my journey in Zen I used to listen to you quite regularly, which gave me an idea about some of the qualities a true teacher should have. I live in Europe and becoming your student has therefore never been a realistic option, but while I kept searching for a capable teacher closer to where I live you remained a kind of guiding light. I had contact with a local Soto teacher (dharma heir to roshi Kobun Chino), who strangely had stopped leading a sangha and apparently also had no interest in working with me, or presumably anyone else, on Zen. Another teacher was from a particular lineage that doesn't really speak to me and I also knew him as one of my old highschool teachers. He also puts up videos on CZcams, but I've never felt much of a connection to him. In the end I found a teacher who you might even know personally, as it is Migaku Sato, one of the current Masters of Sanbo Zen. He was an assistant to Koun Yamada in his later years and then studied under roshi Kubota. I am now working on my koan with him. Again, thank you, as it was the effect of your teishos that guided me to him.
I am so glad you have persisted in your search for a true teacher that you could resonate with, and that you found my teishos helpful! May your practice continue to deepen, and ultimately bring you to full Awakening!
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I'm so glad you've found someone effective and with whom you resonate!
I could really relate to this. Thank you for sharing, Bodaiko.
Very optimistic and heartfelt teisho. Most useful when traveling challenging times. 🙏
Thank you, Jeremy!
Thank you Mitra-Roshi the breath is such a simply, dynamic and freeing practice. I'm working and slowly gaining a ground with this practice.
Wonderful, John! Susok'kan is an incredibly powerful and effective practice, as simple as it is! So glad you're experiencing its benefits.
👍☺️👨🎨🎨🙏
Thank you!
Great reminders.
Beautiful Teisho. Thank you Mitra-roshi.
You're welcome, Genshin! Zen practice can have have those surprises, can't it!
Helpful… thanks…👍☺️👨🎨🎨☝️💫
Glad to here it is helpful!
As the seed buried in the earth cannot imagine itself as an orchid or hyacinth, neither can a heart packed with hurt imagine itself loved or at peace. The courage of the seed is that once cracking, it cracks all the way. ~ Mark Nepo courage blossoming the cracking of unpacking seed coats drop away
The Seed Market: A perfect falcon, for no reason, has landed on your shoulder, and become yours. ~ Rumi Deepening Zen … where Rumi’s wisdom falcon meets “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. Thank you for the kindness of this offering 🙏
Thank you both for this warm conversation. I'm going to look into getting the book. Much love to you.
You're welcome! Andhope you find the book worthwhile!
☺️👍👨🎨🎨🥰🙏
Helpful thank you Roshi Mitra👍☺️👨🎨🎨🥰🙏☝️
You're welcome!
Your true nature is something never lost to you even in moments of delusion, nor is it gained at the moment of Enlightenment. ~ Huang Po neither lost nor found this sitting is not waiting freedom’s embracing ! It is all-pervading, spotless beauty; it is the self-existent and uncreated Absolute. … a jewel beyond all price! ~ HP Swirling Perpetual Stillness Boundless 💎💎💎💎Witness who laughs 🌼🌼in flowers or cries as rain showers? This Impervious View See Countless One Mirror Mind True
Ah fear! Ah Anger...Love zen's undying wisdoms. Thank you.
Thanks, Kathy!
☺️👍👨🎨🎨🎉
So helpful Roshi Mitra, thank you for sharing your wisdom and grace…☺️👍👨🎨🎨🎉🥰🙏🛎️💫🎇🌅
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for sharing your stories… very helpful!👍👨🎨🎨🙏🥰🎉🌅🛎️
Thank you for sharing real stories of challenge and zen practice. Very helpful to realize that after kensho all is not hearts and flowers! Very moved by Roshi Kapleau’s experiences as well as yours!👨🎨🎨🙏🙏🙏💫🌅🎇🛎️Kenzen: Satori Sun Art Studio
You're welcome; I'm glad it is helpful!
Thank you for this talk, so very inspiring & encouraging. 🙏
You are so welcome!
🙏
You're welcome!
Thank you Roshi for putting all these video up for us, is it possible for someone who doesn't have Rinzai teachers in their proximity to benefit from Koans somehow withtout a teacher? Or in that case it would be better to 'just sit' like Soto do?
Dear Michaeol, thank you for your kind words! It is possible to work on koans long distance, but it must be done with a teacher. There are other practices that are effective beside the Soto practice of "just sitting," and can actually be more effective. "Just sitting," when done properly-which takes long practice with a teacher in order for it to truly be done properly and not just as a centering practice. If you would like to get in touch, please go to the Mountain Gate website: www.sanmonjizen.org and write through the "Contact us" link. I will be happy to respond.
You’re very easy to listen to. Thank you!
Thank you!
Amazing personal experiences touching my heart. The importance of meditation in our colorful life is very impressive. Thanks for your service.
You're welcome!
I have a very deep understanding of what you are saying....lol oddly enough I'm trapped in slab city ca near Niland. They make sure in the community I have just enough of what I need. Smiles Sandra pipkin Slab city
Perfect-we can practice anywhere!
Perhaps he was misheard. "Does a dog have Buddha nature?" "Moot!"
The monk was misled by his assumptions about dogs and about Buddha Nature. Chozu was not misled when he said "No" one time and "Yes" on another occasion.
@@MountainGateNM indeed, for when a topic is moot, both answers are incorrect and correct at the same time. Curious, incongruous, trans-linguistic puns aside, Chuzo was probably answering the questioner rather than the question. And in a sense this is what we all do.
According to an obscure manuscript only discovered in 2018, the original character in the koan is actually "哞" (mōu). This is the sound a cow makes. Obviously this means that that guy was calling the monk a cow for asking such a question, and as we all know the Japanese worship cows as divine brutes.
Excellent insightful talk, definitely will help many of seekers. Thanks Mitra.
Thanks, Saroja!!!!
You're veru we;cp,e!
I am so excited to read Mitra Roshi’s book. Words cannot express how grateful I am for her guidance over many sesshins. To have these teachings in written form is something I will treasure. Thank you and congratulations!
You're very welcome! We are now working on Book 2, which we hope will be out this coming September.
Congratulations! 🎉
Thank you!
i just noticed this video and it's from 2015! has the building been demolished?
No. We hadn't built the addition yet.
yes, thank you Mitra-roshi.
Thank you, Kathy!