Phoenix Zen Centre in Deagon, Queensland, Australia | Education

Phoenix Zen Centre

Locality: Deagon, Queensland, Australia

Phone: +61 7 3269 7393

Address: 3 c Albury St Deagon QLD 4017 4017 Deagon, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.brisbanezen.com

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25.01.2022 "When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you" - Lao Tzu

25.01.2022 https://youtu.be/j71kOClB4DA

25.01.2022 https://youtu.be/73_Voet2fnc

24.01.2022 Tanzan wrote sixty postal cards on the last day of his life, and asked an attendant to mail them. Then he passed away. The cards read: I am departing from this world.... This is my last announcement. Tanzan July 27, 1892

24.01.2022 Sunday Zen practice resumes this weekend. 8:30am - 12pm. Bring a vegetarian plate to enjoy a shared lunch after practice. All welcome. Contact number: (07) 32697393

24.01.2022 Hi everyone due to government restrictions on group meeting Zen practice at the centre has been cancelled until favour notice. However private interviews will take place on Monday evenings by skype Please phone 07 3269 7393 to book your spot May you live long and happy Dae Haeng

24.01.2022 When I say that the meaning of life is Service The word service can go by many names It can be called love, or compassion, but the central core is no self or the selfless self. This interview with Kai-Fu Lee after touching his own near-death, did he understand his purpose ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHQ16ZZcpQc&feature=youtu.be

23.01.2022 https://youtu.be/jFMtR_vTKDI

21.01.2022 SITTING IN MEDITATION IF IT BECOMES SOMETHING SPECIAL, YOU MUST HAVE A SCREW LOSE SOMEWHERE... As long as you say zazen is a good thing, something isnt quite right. Unstained zazen is absolutely nothing special. It isnt even necessary to be grateful for it.... Wouldnt it be strange if a baby said to its mother, Please have understanding for the fact that Im always shitting in my diapers. Without knowledge, without consciousness, everything is as it should be. Dont stain your zazen by saying that youve progressed, feel better or have become more confident through zazen. We only say, Things are going well! when theyre going our way. We should simply leave the water of our original nature as it is. But instead we are constantly mucking about with our hands to find out how cold or warm it is. Thats why it gets cloudy. Theres nothing more unpleasant than staining zazen. Staining means making a face like a department head, corporate boss or chairperson. Washing away the stains is whats meant by simplicity [shikan]. There are bodhisattvas without magical abilities. These are bodhisattvas who have even entirely forgotten words like practice or satori, bodhisattvas without wonderful powers, bodhisattvas who are immeasurable, bodhisattvas who are not interested in their name and fame. Zazen isnt like a thermometer where the temperature slowly rises: Just a little more yeah thats it! Now, Ive got satori! Zazen never becomes anything special, no matter how long you practice. If it becomes something special, you must have a screw lose somewhere. If we dont watch out, well start believing that the buddha-dharma is like climbing up a staircase. But it isnt like this at all. This very step right now is the one practice which includes all practices, and it is all practices, contained in this one practice. If you do something good, you cant forget youve done something good. If youve had satori, you get stuck in the awareness of having satori. Thats why its better to keep your hands off good deeds and satori. Youve got to be perfectly open and free. Dont rest on your laurels! Even if I say all of this about the buddha way, ordinary people will still use the buddha-dharma to try and enhance their value as humans. - Kodo Sawaki, To You Image may contain: 1 person

21.01.2022 Shortly after Guatama Buddhas awakening, he was wandering off into the jungle to sit down and disappear from society. In this same moment, a man was roaming nearby. Enamoured by the radiance of a figure in the distance he decided to approach. "Dear friend," he said to Guatama "To where are you walking? Please may I persuade you to teach."... Without hesitation, The Buddha answered, "No one would get it!" The wandering traveller replied, "Someone might." Upon hearing these words the Buddha became devoted to teaching. He spent this rest of his life helping others in their practice, on the chance that someone might.

21.01.2022 SITTING IN MEDITATION 'IF IT BECOMES SOMETHING SPECIAL, YOU MUST HAVE A SCREW LOSE SOMEWHERE'... As long as you say zazen is a good thing, something isnt quite right. Unstained zazen is absolutely nothing special. It isnt even necessary to be grateful for it.... Wouldnt it be strange if a baby said to its mother, Please have understanding for the fact that Im always shitting in my diapers. Without knowledge, without consciousness, everything is as it should be. Dont stain your zazen by saying that youve progressed, feel better or have become more confident through zazen. We only say, Things are going well! when theyre going our way. We should simply leave the water of our original nature as it is. But instead we are constantly mucking about with our hands to find out how cold or warm it is. Thats why it gets cloudy. Theres nothing more unpleasant than staining zazen. Staining means making a face like a department head, corporate boss or chairperson. Washing away the stains is whats meant by simplicity [shikan]. There are bodhisattvas without magical abilities. These are bodhisattvas who have even entirely forgotten words like practice or satori, bodhisattvas without wonderful powers, bodhisattvas who are immeasurable, bodhisattvas who are not interested in their name and fame. Zazen isnt like a thermometer where the temperature slowly rises: Just a little more yeah thats it! Now, Ive got satori! Zazen never becomes anything special, no matter how long you practice. If it becomes something special, you must have a screw lose somewhere. If we dont watch out, well start believing that the buddha-dharma is like climbing up a staircase. But it isnt like this at all. This very step right now is the one practice which includes all practices, and it is all practices, contained in this one practice. If you do something good, you cant forget youve done something good. If youve had satori, you get stuck in the awareness of having satori. Thats why its better to keep your hands off good deeds and satori. Youve got to be perfectly open and free. Dont rest on your laurels! Even if I say all of this about the buddha way, ordinary people will still use the buddha-dharma to try and enhance their value as humans. - Kodo Sawaki, To You Image may contain: 1 person

18.01.2022 Lost in our world of the three-poisons, Of Greed Hatred and Ignorance. Thinking them to be our true direction, That is creating our pain and suffering. Believing these self-centred thoughts to be real, ... Which is exactly the dream. Each moment, just as it is, perfect and complete, It is our thinking that makes it not so. Experiencing life without the self is Zen practice, Which is the path of liberation. Just being this moment with attention, Is Compassion’s Way. See more

17.01.2022 Zen students are with their masters at least two years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him Nan-in remarked: I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs. Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realized that he was unable to carry his Zen every minute. He became Nan-in’s pupil, and he studied six more years to accomplish his every-minute Zen.

17.01.2022 Action Zen day - This Saturday 8th February 9am - 12pm

16.01.2022 A picture story of a man who changed many lives including mine, I can't honour him enough https://youtu.be/0iBMyJY_P_s

16.01.2022 If we cut a log of wood and throw it into the river, and that log doesnt sink or rot, or run aground on either of the banks of the river, that log will definitely reach the sea. Our practice is comparable to this. If you practice according to the path laid down by the Buddha, following it straight, you will transcend two things. What two things? Just those two extremes that the Buddha said were not the path of a true meditator indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain.... These are the two banks of the river. One of the banks of that river is hate, the other is love. Or you can say that one bank is happiness, the other unhappiness. The log is this mind. As it flows down the river it will experience happiness and unhappiness. If the mind doesnt cling to that happiness or unhappiness it will reach the ocean of Nibbàna. You should see that there is nothing other than happiness and unhappiness arising and disappearing. If you dont run aground on these things then you are on the path of a true meditator. This is the teaching of the Buddha. Happiness, unhappiness, love and hate are simply established in Nature according to the constant law of nature. The wise person doesnt follow or encourage them, he doesnt cling to them. This is the mind which lets go of indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain. It is the right practice. Just as that log of wood will eventually flow to the sea, so will the mind which doesnt attach to these two extremes inevitably attain peace. Source: Right View The Place of Coolness by AJAHN CHAH See more

16.01.2022 A student asks: What is Truth? How does one see this truth? Any concept of the truth is not itself truth. Can you watch this video without concepts?

16.01.2022 How do I live in accordance with Zen? You live your life normally, you work, you eat, you kiss your children before bed, and you do whatever you like, but do it mindfully. You don't have to change for Zen; Zen will change you, unconsciously, automatically, naturally. zen practice (sitting meditation) will help you concentrate on each act of everyday life, so when you are in bed with your wife, you will concentrate on her, not on work. You will harmonize with the people around you and in return, naturally, they will harmonize with you! Zen practice (sitting meditation) will help make you calm and unshakable.

15.01.2022 CASE 1. JOSHU'S DOG A monk asked Joshu, "Has the dog the Buddha nature?" Joshu replied, "Mu"... Mumon's Comment: For the pursuit of Zen, you must pass through the barriers (gates) set up by the Zen masters. To attain his mysterious awareness one must completely uproot all the normal workings of one's mind. If you do not pass through the barriers, nor uproot the normal workings of your mind, whatever you do and whatever you think is a tangle of ghost. Now what are the barriers? This one word "Mu" is the sole barrier. This is why it is called the Gateless Gate of Zen. The one who passes through this barrier shall meet with Joshu face to face and also see with the same eyes, hear with the same ears and walk together in the long train of the patriarchs. Wouldn't that be pleasant? Would you like to pass through this barrier? Then concentrate your whole body, with its 360 bones and joints, and 84,000 hair follicles, into this question of what "Mu" is; day and night, without ceasing, hold it before you. It is neither nothingness, nor its relative "not" of "is" and "is not." It must be like gulping a hot iron ball that you can neither swallow nor spit out. Then, all the useless knowledge you have diligently learned till now is thrown away. As a fruit ripening in season, your internality and externality spontaneously become one. As with a mute man who had had a dream, you know it for sure and yet cannot say it. Indeed your ego-shell suddenly is crushed, you can shake heaven and earth. Just as with getting ahold of a great sword of a general, when you meet Buddha you will kill Buddha. A master of Zen? You will kill him, too. As you stand on the brink of life and death, you are absolutely free. You can enter any world as if it were your own playground. How do you concentrate on this Mu? Pour every ounce of your entire energy into it and do not give up, then a torch of truth will illuminate the entire universe. Has a dog the Buddha nature? This is a matter of life and death. If you wonder whether a dog has it or not, You certainly lose your body and life!

15.01.2022 Barry, the Enlightened Fish There was a small school of fish swimming around a pond. They were all talking about water, on whether it existed or not? One of them called Barry, who had been to university said yes it did, and it was made up of H2O, so he had been told, but he didnt know where it was or where it existed. Well, one day Barry was swimming around, not thinking of too much, when he saw a fly above him, Ill have him for lunch he thought, and with the fastest dash...Continue reading

15.01.2022 If there is not the possibility of breaking through, of becoming aware of our true nature right now in this very moment, then why contemplate? We must remain vigilant. We do not contemplate for contemplation's sake, we do not sit to merely go through the motions. If it is possible at all, you must recognise it is possible for you, and only possible for you RIGHT NOW! When will you awaken? When will you pass your koan? In what moment will it occur? So why not breakthrough NOW,... what is holding you back... How strong is your intent to become conscious now? If you aren't intending in this very moment then what good is your intent? Show me the barriers to your koan, surely whatever you think they may be they cannot stand up to the power of your curiosity. So I ask, why not now?

14.01.2022 A few words on the journey of life and shifting perceptions.

13.01.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oSGIC_irVs

13.01.2022 A lord asked Takuan, a Zen teacher, to suggest how he might pass the time. He felt his days very long attending his office and sitting stiffly to receive the homage of others. Takuan wrote eight Chinese characters and gave them to the man: Not twice this day... Inch time foot gem. This day will not come again. Each minute is worth a priceless gem. See more

11.01.2022 Hi I thought this would be a good time to remember Max Ehrmann, 1948 poem Desiderata Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to... the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Max Ehrmann, 1948 See more

11.01.2022 Why we practice

10.01.2022 There was once a woman who had heard of the Fruit of Heaven. She coveted it. She asked a certain dervish, whom we shall call Sabar: ‘How can I find this fruit, so that I may attain to immediate knowledge?’ ‘You would best be advised to study with me’, said the dervish. ‘But if you will not do so, you will have to travel resolutely and at times restlessly throughout the world.’ She left him and sought another, Arif the Wise One, and then found Hakim, the Sage, then Majzup the ...Mad, then Alim the Scientist, and many more She passed thirty years in her search. Finally she came to a garden. There stood the Tree of Heaven, and from its branches hung the bright Fruit of Heaven. Standing beside the Tree was Sabar, the First Dervish. ‘Why did you not tell me when we first met that you were the Custodian of the Fruit of Heaven?’ she asked him. ‘Because you would not then have believed me. Besides, the Tree produces fruit only once in thirty years and thirty days. Credit: Wisdom of the Idiots by Idries Shah

10.01.2022 Life and You are one why do we have to separate?

09.01.2022 Hi everyone we start back to practice on Wednesday 13/05/20 Wednesday 7 - 00 pm until 9 - 00 pm ... Monday 7 - 00 pm until 9 -00 pm No Sundays until further notice May you live long and happy Daehaeng

09.01.2022 Does a dog have buddha nature?

05.01.2022 To attain the result of your practice, you must extinguish the small I. You must stop checking and become like a rotten stump, then you can get rid of the I that thinks it exists There are three conditions which are necessary for you to find your true self: 1. a practicing place 2. a teacher and ... 3. a dharma friend. One must follow the Way with sincerity and integrity. Even though there are slightly different teaching styles, the Way is one. If you are not sincere you will be wasting your time and suffer a mental loss.

03.01.2022 This video is the best description I have ever seen or listened to describing our universe and our relationship to it https://youtu.be/m2YJ7aR25P0

03.01.2022 There is a famous Zen story about a disciple, Riko, who once asked his master Nansen to explain to him the old Zen koan of the goose in the bottle. Namely, if a man puts a gosling into a bottle, and feeds the gosling through the bottle’s neck until it grows and becomes a goose and then there is simply no more room inside the bottle how can the man get it out without killing the goose or breaking the bottle? In response, Nansen shouts RIKO! and gives a great clap with his hands. Startled, Riko replies, Yes master! And Nansen says, See! The goose is out!

03.01.2022 For those who enjoy creating and learning, take a look at the possibilities involved in a Zen Beginners mind.

02.01.2022 When walking, standing, or sitting, Lying down, speaking, or being silent, moving, being still. At all times, in all places, without Interruption -- what is this? Meditation in Zen means keeping don't-know mind. https://www.phoenixzencentre.org/

02.01.2022 Hi I have spent most of my life in the building industry, which means I am used to walking and climbing around scaffolding. This means we have to be careful but not afraid of heights; we depend on our common sense when doing things, not by the emotional fear of falling. The same thing goes with the 911 incident that happened in the USA; I go by the science of architects and structural engineers and demolition experts based on science and common sense that tells me it was an ...inside job, not by some Arab in a cave. And now I come to Covid-19, where we have fallen into the political emotional fear and ignorance generated by the media instead of scientific reason and common sense. Where we should isolate the sick, so the healthy can go on living, as we have always done in the past, not isolate healthy and the unhealthy to destroy our way of life. This video made by two MDs will explain where I am coming from and then I encourage you to view it to the end then pass it on to others Dae Haeng may you live long and happy https://www.youtube.com/watch

02.01.2022 "When you are content to be simply yourself and dont compare or compete, everybody will respect you" - Lao Tzu

02.01.2022 Our Deepest Fear By Marianne Williamson Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.... It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of universe. Youre playing small does not serve the world. Theres nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make and manifest in this world The glory of this universe that is within us. Its not just in some of us; Its in all us. And as we let our own light shine, We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As were liberated from our own fear, Our presence automatically liberates others. See more

02.01.2022 Shortly after Guatama Buddha's awakening, he was wandering off into the jungle to sit down and disappear from society. In this same moment, a man was roaming nearby. Enamoured by the radiance of a figure in the distance he decided to approach. "Dear friend," he said to Guatama "To where are you walking? Please may I persuade you to teach."... Without hesitation, The Buddha answered, "No one would get it!" The wandering traveller replied, "Someone might." Upon hearing these words the Buddha became devoted to teaching. He spent this rest of his life helping others in their practice, on the chance that someone might.

01.01.2022 A picture story of a man who changed many lives including mine, I cant honour him enough https://youtu.be/0iBMyJY_P_s

01.01.2022 https://youtu.be/RDzBdDhyJzI Important information

01.01.2022 The Pandemic of 2020 What I am about to say here you may not agree with, thats your prerogative and will depend on your thinking, and thats ok too. I encourage you to come to your own conclusion anyway, and I sincerely hope I am wrong on this one....Continue reading

01.01.2022 Our life is our practice, our practice is our life. Where are you holding on?

01.01.2022 CASE 1. JOSHUS DOG A monk asked Joshu, "Has the dog the Buddha nature?" Joshu replied, "Mu"... Mumons Comment: For the pursuit of Zen, you must pass through the barriers (gates) set up by the Zen masters. To attain his mysterious awareness one must completely uproot all the normal workings of ones mind. If you do not pass through the barriers, nor uproot the normal workings of your mind, whatever you do and whatever you think is a tangle of ghost. Now what are the barriers? This one word "Mu" is the sole barrier. This is why it is called the Gateless Gate of Zen. The one who passes through this barrier shall meet with Joshu face to face and also see with the same eyes, hear with the same ears and walk together in the long train of the patriarchs. Wouldnt that be pleasant? Would you like to pass through this barrier? Then concentrate your whole body, with its 360 bones and joints, and 84,000 hair follicles, into this question of what "Mu" is; day and night, without ceasing, hold it before you. It is neither nothingness, nor its relative "not" of "is" and "is not." It must be like gulping a hot iron ball that you can neither swallow nor spit out. Then, all the useless knowledge you have diligently learned till now is thrown away. As a fruit ripening in season, your internality and externality spontaneously become one. As with a mute man who had had a dream, you know it for sure and yet cannot say it. Indeed your ego-shell suddenly is crushed, you can shake heaven and earth. Just as with getting ahold of a great sword of a general, when you meet Buddha you will kill Buddha. A master of Zen? You will kill him, too. As you stand on the brink of life and death, you are absolutely free. You can enter any world as if it were your own playground. How do you concentrate on this Mu? Pour every ounce of your entire energy into it and do not give up, then a torch of truth will illuminate the entire universe. Has a dog the Buddha nature? This is a matter of life and death. If you wonder whether a dog has it or not, You certainly lose your body and life!