SIT-A-LONG with Taigu: Meeting the real self

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Part 2:


Part 3:


Dear All,

NOTE: OUR FIRST SITTING TODAY IS 10 MINUTES SHORTER THAN THE SCHEDULE DUE TO TECHNICAL NON-PROBLEMS.

Well, thought I could cross one item off the BUCKET LIST this morning, as a TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN passed above our town in Japan. Except, I soon found out, it was technically

Dear All,

Please 'SIT-A-LONG with DOKAN' (and my son Leon for a little bit) to welcome Dokan to Japan and Treeleaf!

Today's sitting is abbreviated, consisting of our

00:00 – 00:15 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA in English ONLY) and Dedication
00:15 – 00:45 ZAZEN
00:45 – 00:50 KINHIN
00:50 – 00:55 FOUR VOWS, & VERSE OF ATONEMENT

Hello All,

WE WELCOME TREELEAF MEMBER LOU (aka "MR. LOU") WHO IS TRAIN RIDING AND THEN BICYCLING FROM NEIGHBORING GUNMA PREFECTURE JAPAN, HOURS FROM HERE, IN ORDER

Furthermore, the whole body far transcends dust and dirt: who could believe in the means of sweeping and polishing? In general, we never depart from the place where we should be: of what

Don't become a living clutter, a collection of piled up items.

Practice is meant to free you out.

When freedom is, wisdom blooms.
I don't get wisdom

In the very begining of Shobogenzo, Dogen quotes a famous poem of Nyojo, his teacher:

My late master, the eternal buddha, says:

Whole body like a mouth, hanging