Dharma Dojo 2021: Zen and the Art of the Lotus Sutra Practice #5, "Odaimoku as a Meditation"

Odaimoku as a Meditation is the title of the 5th lecture given by Dr. Rev. Masaki Matsubara in the 2021 Dharma Dojo Lecture Series: Zen and the Art of the Lotus Sutra Practice, where he explains Mahayana Buddhism and meditation practices.  

In this episode, Dr. Matsubara introduces interesting Zen koans and relates them as essentially the same practice as reciting the Odaimoku.    This lecture was recorded on April 4, 2021. 

Masaki Matsubara earned a Ph.D. in Asian Religions from Cornell University.  He taught at the Department of Religious Studies at UC Berkeley and was the BDK Fellow at the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford University.  He is now a Visiting Scholar in the East Asia Program at Cornell and also a Visiting Lecture at the Contemplative Studies at Brown University.  Moreover, he serves as a Visiting Professor at Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo.  He is the abbot of the Zen Temple Butsumoji in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.  He currently resides in New York City.

Chapters

• 1:27 Introduction
• 2:29 Hakuin's Idea of the Lotus Sutra
• 4:27 Buddha Nature = Seeing One's Own Nature
• 6:25 Yasenkanna Text or "Idle Talk on a Boat," by Hakuin
• 8:53 Meditation is Powerful
• 9:40 Zen Sickness
• 11:32 Ideas & Techniques on Meditation
• 14:21 Authentic (Mukan) & Diverse (Takan) Meditation
• 17:48 Meditative Techniques in Detail
• 18:17 Reading of Text 1
• 20:40 Reading of Text 2
• 26:16 Reading of Text 3
• 28:50 Zen Koan Practice
• 30:27 First Gate Koan (Shokan)
• 32:01 Snowflake Koan
• 32:57 Cat Koan
• 34:37 Finger Koan
• 36:09 Recent Koan
• 39:37 Conclusion
• 43:33 Q&A 1
• 46:52 Regarding Snowflake Koan
• 49:21 Q&A 2
• 50:14 Guided Meditation Practice