No Abode Hermitage Talks

Human consciousness limits reality so that it can grasp "things".

Buddha nature. Story about Uncle Mi and Dongshan discussing a rabbit crossing the road.Lotus Sutra story about the destitute child. Enlightenment and delusion. Human agency (or training) and...

If you’re a Buddha, do you know it?

Being clear about our ultimate concern. Remember, aspire, commit to, and train to realise this. The story of Tong-an and Liangshan: what is the business under the patched robe? Intimacy. Another...

Compassion is the teaching of the Buddha. Stories of the different statues and scrolls at No Abode. Yunmen and Daowu, the thousand arms of Avalokiteshvara.

All compounded phenomena are unworthy of confidence. Compassion to these unstable phenomena is our practice. Zen stories are about enacting awakening within social interactions. Attend to your body,...

A conversation is what we are doing together. Buddhas are sitting upright and still, in the midst of everything, having a conversation with silence. The story of his Nanchuan and his sickle. Meeting...

Meeting a teacher, asking about the teaching and listening to the teaching. Bodies and minds sitting silently and conversing.

Opportunities for compassion - with friends and enemies; the story of the destitute son from the Lotus Sutra

Verifying the truth of the teachings through words and phrases

Introducing the Brahma's Net Sutra: https://www.tinyurl.com/Brahma-Net

Origin of the tathagathagharba teachings; the Huayen school in China; three marks of existence and four inverted views; skillful means of milk medicine described in the Nirvana Sutra.

Avalokiteshvara clearly seeing the emptiness of five skandhas; listening to the cries of the world, the suffering of beings.

Buddha's sitting - who do you think you are; ; Buddha, dharma and sangha are all-pervading; Yunmen's appropriate response.

The personal practice of paying attention to the posture of samadhi; mindfulness of breathing; remembering stillness as transmitted by the ancestors;

How to be with the fire that surrounds us; Buddha sitting upright, clearly observing, accepting all suffering; watching our fears about not being able to control things.