Wimbledon Zen Wimbledon Zen

Chanting plays a key part in Japanese Soto Zen, but for the Western student, even if you can find the Japanese words set out in English characters,
it can be difficult to know how to pronounce them and the correct cadence to use. In this short recording, Shundo David Haye chants three important Zen texts:
the Bodhisattva Vow, the Robe Chant and the Heart Sutra in Japanese to allow you to see how the chant should correctly be done.

In this interview, Wimbledon Zen sits down with Shundo David Haye to discuss his life in Zen. We discuss how he found the practice,
teachers who have influenced him, his favourite pieces of Dogen and common mistakes that Zen students make.
We also discuss how Zen can become more inclusive, opening itself up to a more diverse reflection of our communities.

Handout available at: http://podcast.wimbledonzen.co.uk/2017.07.08/handout.pdf
In this talk we look at Bussho (Buddha Nature) - widely regarded as one of the most important fascicles of Dogen's Shobogenzo but - for various reasons - often over-looked by modern students. This talk examines the history surrounding the concept of Original Enlightenment and how this philosophy has been very controversial in Buddhism. It also looks at the innovative and unique ways that Dogen twisted the words of previous teachings to more fully reflect how he saw the idea of Buddha Nature. The talk concludes by asking how a modern practitioner should look to use the fascicle. How is it relevant to us now?

In this talk, Martin asks whether there is room for 'hope' in Zen. Drawing again on his background in end of life care, he asks what 'hope' actually is and looks at its relationship to faith. Is hope merely a refusal to be with things as they actually are? Does hope hinder our ability to cultivate compassion for ourselves and for others?

The teaching of anata (no-self) is one of the most frequently misunderstood of Buddha's teachings. In this talk, Alan uses the analogy of a garden to explore what Buddhists actually mean by no-self. He also compares the different ways that schools of Buddhism, such as the Theravada, Yogacara and Madhyamaka, have traditionally advanced this teaching. The talk concludes with looking at practical ways that we can try and explore anata in our daily lives.

In this talk, Martin asks 'Why do we sit?'. He offers a personal reflection on our desire to want to acheive 'something' in our zazen and talks about spiritual materialism. How should we approach our natural inclination to want to know if our practice is making a difference to our lives?