The Japanese Garden

Another nice Zen Garden site.

Practising Detachment: A short introduction to the F.M. Alexander Technique for Buddhist Practitioners

to counter any tendency to stiffen in zazen, we can simply think of sitting 'as if to stand.'

Dharma Discourse: Carrying Wood, Chopping Firewood by John Daido Loori Roshi

Cooking a meal and washing the dishes are none other than the activity of the marvelous mind of nirvana. Stacking cordwood and building a spring house are in themselves the exquisite teachings of formless form. This very body is the all-pervading true dharma body.

Zen Gardens

Yes, yet more Zen gardens, plus this quote

Whatever the tasks, do them slowly with ease,
In mindfulness.
Don't do any tasks in order to get them over with.
Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Seiwa-en

Site navigation is a bit tricky, but some nice pictures here.

Illness - by Ven. Sevan Ross

It has been said that illness is a unique opportunity for practice. But every experience is. It can also be said that practice prepares us for illness.

Since everyone seems to be getting the flu, I thought this would be of interest.

Absolute Japan - Photographs of rock zen gardens

Nice Zen garden pictures. A bit slow loading.

pla

Odd and fun little animation. Has nothing directly to do with Zen. Turn down your speakers if you're at work. (via Metafilter)

Creating Japanese Zen Gardens

"Information and history of japanese zen gardens with pictures to create your own japanese garden of sand, stones and rocks." Rock on!

From a Lecture by Suzuki Roshi

But even though you study Buddhism nothing happens. And nothing happens even [when] you practice zazen. And, when you feel that way-in your practice-that is enlightenment.

Logical Meanderings between West and East: Aristotle, Nagarjuna and Bhaskar

Here's one for the Zen philosophers out there.

The Ten Oxherding Pictures

Yet another version of The Ten Oxherding Pictures, this one pleasantly cartoony and simple

Buddhism For The Lay Practitioner

some useful links for the budding Buddhist

Maelduin's Gallery - Zen park

3D Zen art.

Welcome to Zen and Photography.com

Some nice pictures. I particularly like this one.

Annotated Bibliography of Zen related books

While words can be counter to progress in Chan since they tend to engage the intellect rather than the intuitive function of the mind and the compassionate function of the 'heart', they can inspire as well, pointing us forward on on the journey. But we must be careful not to mistake the word for the meaning it conveys.

Zaadz Quotes by Topic - Zen Quotes

Zen quotes.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine

Shambhala Gallery

Some nice circles

What is Zen? Why, it's a Metallized Polypropylene Film Capacitor!

Thanks to this diagram, I finally understand how Zen works!

Zen stories and what they teach us about life...

These are more like jokes with Zen interpretations. A good site if you can ignore all the flashing ads. Using Firefox? Get the Adblock extension. Or learn to ignore the distractions . . .

Zen Koans: Transcending Duality

Some good Koans

The Turtle in the Garden
A monk saw a turtle in the garden of Daizui's monastery and asked the teacher, 'All beings cover their bones with flesh and skin. Why does this being cover its flesh and skin with bones?' Master Daizui took off one of his sandals and covered the turtle with it.

Zen masters say "Don't seek the truth - just drop your opinions

Some Zen sayings. Here's a nice one:

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself

Essentials of Buddhism

A Buddhism cheat sheet.

Jataka Story Archives

"Jataka story archives buddhist tales for young and old." If you're middle aged, keep out!

Just kidding. Lots of good stories, some with illustrations.

Buddhist Education Resources for Young Students

Buddhism for kids and teens. Don't miss the Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha coloring book (.pdf).

The Zen Arts - Creative Expression

The implicit question, 'What is the self that is expressed in self-expression?' not only addresses the creative process but the ultimate nature of reality itself.

Contains yet another version of the Ox-Herding Pictures

Buddhist Studies - Schools of Zen Buddhism

"Schools of Zen Buddhism and their temporal and doctrinal relationships" Worth a visit just for the cool subway-map-style graphic.

Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Read the book online (or download it), free.

Visual Arts

Zen inspired art, including the every popular Ten Ox-herding Pictures

Zen Centers of the World

A very comprehensive list.

Zen Valentine's Day

Yes, it's time to cash in on the huge Zen Valentine market. In addition to this trip to France, which bosts a "lovely package," (?!?) there's the Zen Tea Gift Basket and the Original Asian Modern Zen Painting, Feng Shui Valentine.

Zen Haiku for Computer Users (from Salon)

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen, mind, both are blank....

Rowboat

Imagine you are standing at the side of a large lake, with your zen friend keeping you company. You look out on the lake and see a rowboat slowly moving across the water. At this point your friend says to you, 'Stop the distant rowboat using just your mind.'

Brief discussion of this popular Koan.

Zen Teachings - Sesshin For Newcomers by Robert Aitken Roshi

Sesshin is a time to focus wholeheartedly on one thing, just that count, just that koan, nothing else. You must forget yourself in that practice and then things will be worked through.

Zen Meditation - The Seat of Enlightenment

Good basic guide with pictures. Also available as pdf.

Is Zen A Religion?

This article says no. Feel free to disagree

Ch'an Buddhism and the Prophetic Poems of William Blake

This article is way over my head, but perhaps it will be of interest to someone out there. Especially fans of the Courier font.

43 Folders: Systems, ciphers, and the dirty little secret of self-improvement

Interesting article and discussion at 43 Folders:

My theory is that the secret code for most self-improvement systems—from Getting Things Done through Biofeedback and the Atkins diet—is not hard to break; any idea that helps you to become more self-aware can usually help you to reach a goal or affect a favorable solution.

American Zen

Click the little arrow, work your way past the opening rant, then post your own zen thought for all of cyberspace to see.

digitalZENDO Blog

Quick quotes in a Little Zen Companion vein.

Talks on Zen Practice and Meditation

Includes a Dharma Talk of the Month. Some good articles here.

Zen in the Art of Selling Books

We've all heard of Zen in the Art of Archery and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but I thought I'd see what other books use the "Zen in/and the Art of" formula in their title. The answer? A lot. Among the many there are Zen and the Art of Poker, Zen and the Art of Managing Up, Zen and the Art of Falling in Love, Zen and the Art of Knitting, and of course, who could forget Zen and the Art of Foosball: A Beginner's Guide to Table Soccer

180 answers about zen from Master Deshimaru

Some Zen questions and answers, including that time old question, "Can you say that tigers or cats, animals in general, live true Zen?" I asked my own cat this one, and she said "Meow." Or was that "Mu"?

Zen Moments (from The Little Zen Companion)

A few quick "Zen" quotes.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

The Zen Within Community - Weird Zennist

A post on the Zen Within message board asks "I seem to mash zen with 'Nietzschian' ideals. Is this a bad thing?" An interesting discussion follows.

Rinzai Zen

Some good basic Zen info, plus specifics about Rinzai Zen

Why Zen?
According to the teachings of Buddhism we are constantly motivated by greed, hatred and ignorance. Those 'poisons of the mind' are responsible for the suffering all sentient beings experience. In contrast to animals human beings are able to recognize the reasons for suffering and may free themselves.

>-----> z e n >-----> Portal Onto Online Resources for the Path of Direct Seeing Into Mind

Lots of links. That's it.

Koans of the Zen Librarian -- The Laughing Librarian -- Library Humor

For all those Zen Librarians out there, a bit of humor

The Zen Librarian said to a patron: 'If you bring back this book after its due date, you will be fined. If you do not bring back the book after its due date, you will be fined.' The patron was instantly enlightened.

Buddhism Glossary

Pretty thorough.

HARDCORE ZEN: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & The Truth About Reality, the revolutionary new book by Brad Warner. From Wisdom Publications.

The website for this wonderful book includes an MP3 of the HARDCORE ZEN interview on NPR's HERE AND NOW. There are also excerpts from the book. There's also a good picture of the author and more info here.

NoZen

A nicely designed site you can also download to your Palm Pilot or Windows CE device. There are random koans. I got this one:

Wash your bowl

A monk told Joshu, "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me."

Joshu asked, "Have you eaten your rice porridge?

The monk replied, "I have eaten."

Joshu said, "Then you had better wash your bowl."

At that moment the monk was enlightened.

Articles & Talks from the Prairie Zen Center

Includes articles by Joko Beck

What is Guilt?

Guilt is usually a negative focus upon oneself: "I am an evil person. I can't bear myself. I am unworthy." While this response may appear in a religious guise, it often turns out to be a form of self-deprecating laziness. This can even lead to self-hatred, and certainly contributes to lack of self-confidence. Instead of recognising that ones actions are incorrect, one gets the feeling as if one is unworthy, as if "I" is intrinsically bad.

The Gateless Gate

Includes such classics as Joshu's Dog and Nansen Cuts the Cat in Two

Emptiness and Form of The Four Noble Truths & the Eightfold Path

An interesting discussion of emptiness and form in the context of the, well, you can read. Also of interest on the ever interesting subject of form and emptiness there's this poem, which reminds us that "Nothing is permanent / This is what we call emptiness". For a more academic approach, there's Sinicizing Buddhist concepts: emptiness, which says "Emptiness is neither the origin nor terminus for forms; forms themselves at any moment are emptiness." For those who like a little text/graphic/coolness with their emptiness, there's 1-1=0=1-1.
And hey, don't forget:

Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form.
Emptiness is no other than form;
form is no other than emptiness.
In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and
Consciousness are emptiness. Thus, Shariputra,
All dharmas are emptiness.
There are no characteristics.
There is no birth and no cessation.
There is no impurity and no purity.
There is no decrease and no increase.

On Finding a Zen Teacher

Answering questions like, "Do you need a Zen teacher?" and "What is lineage?", this is a good quick guide.

The World of Hakuin's Artwork

Hakuin ink paintings, brought to you by the fine folks at The International Research Instititute for Zen Buddhism

Gathas

Watching a spider at work
I vow with all beings
to cherish the web of the universe:
touch one point and everything moves.

Many more good short poems here.

Mindfulness In Plain English

From the introduction:

The subject of this book is Vipassana meditation practice. Repeat, practice. This is a meditation manual, a nuts-and-bolts, step-by-step guide to Insight meditation. It is meant to be practical. It is meant for use.

This is a long but useful guide.

E-sangha > Zen Buddhism Forum

A fairly active discussion board, only one part of a larger group of Buddhism related forums at E-sangha.

Daily Zen Wisdom

Think about it.... come back to it during the day, if you wish.

A picture and a quote, each day.