A Lecture on Meditation: For Beginners - Soen Roshi

Despite the tiny font, there is some interesting stuff on this site:

"When no thought arises, there is no need to drive thoughts away. When nothing is born, nothing dies. When nothing is good, nothing is bad. What you never had, you will never miss. What you do not see does not disappear. What cannot increase cannot decrease. This is true emptiness. This is samadhi. "

Zen Stories

Many good stories here:

"It Will Pass

A student went to his meditation teacher and said, 'My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!' 'It will pass,' the teacher said matter-of-factly.

A week later, the student came back to his teacher. 'My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!'

'It will pass,'
the teacher replied matter-of-factly."

More lawyers finding their Zen

Interesting article:

"Lawyers are usually known for their analytical brains, persuasive prowess and take-no-prisoners argumentative skills. Zen-like tranquility doesn’t typically come to mind.

A growing number of law schools, though, are teaching the next generation of legal combatants that the system’s adversarial nature can be balanced by a commitment to personal insight gained through the practice of meditation."

Japanese Rock Gardens (Zen Gardens)

Nice short page about rock gardens, I liked this quote:

'What's so special about the garden at Ryoanji?' I asked him, naming the famous rock and sand garden in Kyoto's most brochured and pamphleted Zen temple.
'The spaces between the rocks,' he replied, with his mouth full of toothpaste.'

The Zen Site

Lots of good stuff to be found here

The ZenTeachings section includes teachings, teishos and commentaries by various teachers including Robert Aitken, Augusto Alcalde, Dogen,Thich Nhat Hanh, John Daido Loori, Amy Samy, Harada Tangen, Koun Yamada, (and other Diamond Sangha teachers), Hsu (Xu) Yun and many others. Go to the Commentaries and Teishos link. Also, this section includes translations of sutras, koans, information on the Five Ranks, the Shobogenzo, and the Hsin Hsin Ming.

Announcement: 2nd Annual Blogisattva Awards Nominees

I'm happy to announce that Zen Filter has been nominated for the highly coveted "Best Niche Blog, Unusual-Function Blog, Blog Service, or Serial within a Blog" Blogisattva award. Many thanks to Tom for the nomination, and to everyone who reads Zen Filter for making it all worthwhile.

Dharma Discourse: Not a Single Word by John Daido Loori, Roshi

Your life is the buddhadharma. It’s to be realized right here in your life. Spirituality is not something that happens periodically, or when you’re sitting cross-legged on a pillow doing meditation. Master Dogen says, “Those who regard the mundane as a hindrance to practice only understand that in the mundane, nothing is sacred. What they haven’t understood, is that in sacredness, nothing—nothing—is mundane.”