After the recent experience of a day without electricity at the temple, Rev. Clairissa reflects on what may be gained when in the course of Zen practice we unexpectedly find ourselves prompted to let go of personal individual “power” and respond to conditions as needed.

On the first Sunday of the New Year, Rev. Clairissa points toward reminders of our Original Buddha Nature which reverberates through all beings. She speaks of the various forms of Maitreya, the Buddha Yet to Come, and she invites us to join her in listening to Keizan’s teaching on Kayashata and his teacher Sōgyanandai, two…

As we approach the turning of the year, Rev. Clairissa considers the teaching on keeping vigil which is intrinsic to our practice of meditation, following the Precepts, and being fully present with ourselves. She explores examples from the spiritual journey of ordinary life, pointing out how our willingness to be resolute links us together with…

In “Finding a Way” Rev. Clairissa explores the bodhisattva attitude of mind available to all by meeting whatever arises with an open heart: responding to conditions, willing to help beings.  She relates the inspiring examples of three ordinary bodhisattvas who appeared one after the other to help here at the temple on an unexpectedly heavy…

During this season of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, as we enter the dark of winter, Rev. Clairissa illuminates some of the teaching on Great Compassion from our festival offertory.  Compassion appears in many varying ways in Buddhist iconography, scripture, and practice. Rev. Clairissa reminds us that compassion — however you define it, pronounce it, or spell…

In “The Buddha’s Enlightenment” Rev. Clairissa introduces possibilities for practice and reflections at home during the upcoming weeklong Searching of the Heart retreat, when Buddhists commemorate the Buddha’s Enlightenment from December 1st until the morning of December 8th.  She speaks of the teaching on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, and of our…

In “The Sixteen Buddhist Precepts” Rev. Clairissa reads aloud the late Rev. Master Daizui MacPhillamy’s expression and commentary on the Precepts as passed down in the Sōtō Zen tradition. It includes the Three Treasures Precept, The Three Pure Precepts, and The Ten Great Precepts.  These Sixteen Precepts are our deepest Refuge and the Buddha’s practical…

In the talk on “Meditating While Unsettled” Rev. Clairissa looks at a feeling not unusual in an established practice, that sense of being unable to come to stillness in meditation. It sometimes seems like a resistance to meditation. What can we do, when the unsettled mind arises? She explores various angles of how to approach…

In “Becoming Buddhist” Rev. Clairissa explores the place of the Buddhist Precepts in practicing Zen meditation, reminding us that Buddhism is not only a meditation practice, but equally the living of an ethical life.  On the occasion of this 25th anniversary of Reverend Master Jiyu-Kennett’s death, among other stories Rev. Clairissa recalls what it was…

In “Look With Care” Rev. Clairissa looks more closely at this advice from the Kyojūkaimon, and how we might approach spiritual practice without worrying whether we are doing well or doing poorly.