Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin

Roshi Rafe Martin

Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva.

Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, then from 2002-2016 worked intensively with Danan Henry Roshi, founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver and a Kapleau Roshi Dharma Heir as well as a Diamond Sangha Dharma Master.

Rafe received full lay ordination in 2009, and in 2012 received inka—recognition of his successful completion of the Diamond Sangha/ Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, along with authorization to begin teaching. In 2016 he received full Dharma Transmission as an independent Zen teacher.

An award-winning author and storyteller whose work has been cited in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and USA Today, Rafe has a master’s degree in English literature and literary criticism and is a recipient of both national and state awards, including the Empire State Award for the body of his work. His writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Parabola, The Sun, and Inquiring Mind, among other journals of religion and myth. He has given talks at Zen and Dharma Centers around the US and Canada, as well as such venues as the American Museum of Natural History, Zuni Pueblo, and The Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story.

His most recent books are A Zen Life of Buddha (Sumeru 2022), The Brave Little Parrot (Wisdom Publications, 2023) and A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas (Sumeru, 2023).

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October 31 · 33 min
"Haunted" - Halloween Teisho 2026
Recorded October 31, 2026. Viewed in an eerie Halloween light, the 2nd koan of the Gateless Barrier, “Master Pai-Chang and the Fox,” becomes a lively, shape-shifting encounter. Trick or treat! Pai-chang meets an old man who, though he wears a human mask, is is a fox, or fox spirit. The koan then removes that mask to reveal that Pai-chang is not face-to-face with a fox, but with his own past self! And we’re not even in our own world cycle. In the koan we go back before Shakyamuni was the Buddha, to a distant world age when the Buddha was named Kashyapa. Back then, old Pai-chang, as the former head of the monastery was asked an essential question: “Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?” His answer that the enlightened person doesn’t fall under cause and effect turned him into a fox for 500 lives. Now he asks current Pai-chang to answer more correctly and free him from his fox body. So — what do you say? Does enlightenment free us from karma? What’s the point of Zen practice? Happy Halloween! Books - The Tempest - William Shakespeare Gateless Barrier - Robert Aitken Etching — Demon Sitting in Zazen by Richard Wehrman Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
October 24 · 53 min
Karma, World Cycles, Vows, and the Tigress
Recorded October 24, 2026. Long ago, world ages back, we humans got so clever we created a nifty trick. We figured out how to forget or suppress our Original Mind and Fundamental Vow to liberate all beings. With this trick we were able to gather all kinds of goodies for ourselves. Unfortunately, there were unforeseen side-effects: isolation, cosmic loneliness, and the whole catastrophe that Buddhism sums up as greed, anger, and ignorance — which we see playing out in our world today. Jataka tales present the Buddha’s personal past-life history as he worked to undo our self-created catastrophe and come home to Original Mind and Fundamental Vow. They are a skillful means gifted to us by the Buddha to help us do what he did. It won’t be quick or easy — as the jatakas show. It took even him countless lifetimes. And it all began with a Vow made countless world cycles ago. Is this mere imagination? Is imagination “mere”? Isn’t the Vow of the Bodhisattva to liberate all beings, down even to the bushes and last blade of grass, an immense, indeed, overwhelming act . . . of Imagination. Blake wrote, “The Imagination is not a State: it is the Human existence itself.” Buddhas on altars, sutras, teishos, koans, ceremonies, jatakas, thangkas maintain the Dharma treasure. By awakening not just our intellects but our imaginations, they move us from simple belief to ongoing practice-realization. Flattening out the “mythic” element flattens Zen itself. _____ Galaxy painting by Rafe Martin. Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
October 3 · 37 min
Bodhidharma and Peace of Mind
Recorded October 3, 2026. Case no. 41 Gateless Barrier: Bodhidharma sat facing the wall. Huike, the Second Ancestor, having cut off his arm, stood in the snow and said, “Your disciple’s mind has no peace as yet. I beg you, master, to please put it to rest.” Bodhidharma said, “Bring me your mind, and I will put it to rest.” The Second Ancestor said, “I have searched for my mind, but I cannot find it.” Bodhidharma said, “Then I have completely put it to rest for you.” The koan of Bodhidharma and his heir, Huike, plunges us into the heart of it: we are not at peace. How can we find peace? Huike’s request for help is to the point. The Buddha’s teaching, has not lost its relevance. At some point, we all come to recognize the difficulties and challenges of this life and are troubled. All we need do is, as Bodhidharma says to Huike, is bring forth our troubled mind so it can be pacified. That shouldn’t be too hard to do, should it? Ha! Books — “The Three Pillars of Zen” — Philip Kapleau Photo — Bodhidharma Altar, Oct 2026, Endless Path Zendo Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
September 26 · 47 min
Zen Failure and Creativity
Recorded 9/26/2026. In this lively, enjoyable teisho, Roshi Martin edits on the fly from the final two short chapters of his book, A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas — “Zen Failure” and “Painting of a Rice Cake: Creative Imagination and the Way of the Bodhisattva.” From “Zen Failure:” “Quantum theory suggests that each moment arises out of a field of endless possibility and has, in turn, endless lines of possibility extending from it. All such possible lines collapse into the one line we call “reality.” Ordinary reality then, is the perfect expression of Zen Master Wu-men’s (Mumon’s) statement —“The failure is wonderful indeed!” The red of the apple, the taste of this tea, the blue of the sky, the smile of a child — the failure IS wonderful indeed!” From “Painting of a Rice Cake:” “We create our real lives out of the imagination, something that athletes may know better than scholars. If you want to swim better, visualize yourself in the pool, the water flowing smoothly past, the chiming, churning sound of that flow, the kick of your legs, the perfect effortless stroke. Get in the pool afterward and — you swim better! What happens in the imagination makes us who we are. . .” Web article: https://sweetcakeenso.blogspot.com/2010/09/rafe-martin-on-gabyo-zen-master-dogens.html Teeny Tiny Tower: archival print by Ariya Martin (the artist Ariya Aladjem Wolf) Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
September 12 · 51 min
Are Trees Bodhisattvas?
Recorded September 12, 2026. In this latest teisho (Zen talk) Roshi Martin, reads, comments on, and edits on the fly Chapter 11 —“The Bodhisattva Saves the Realm as the Consciousness of a Tree” from his book, “A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas” (Sumeru, 2023). “You and the tree in your backyard come from a common ancestor. A billion and a half years ago, the two of you parted ways. But even now, after an immense journey in separate directions, that tree and you still share a quarter of your genes.” Richard Powers, quoting Canadian botanist Suzanne Simard in “The Overstory: A Novel” “In the assemblies of the enlightened ones there have been many cases of mastering the Way bringing forth the hearts of plants and trees; this is what awakening the mind for enlightenment is like.” Zen Master Dogen Through root systems, leaves, and fungal webs every tree is woven into a planetary web of life that enfolds the body of the Earth, as well as endlessly up into the light of sun, moon, and stars. So, where does a tree’s body and consciousness end? How might a tree use its expansive consciousness to fulfill the three general resolutions of bodhisattvas to — “do good, avoid evil, and save the many beings”? Listen to this unique teisho and find out! Referenced: "The Overstory: A Novel," Richard Powers Painting: "Trees at Night, West Branch St. Regis River" by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
August 8 · 54 min
Fugen, Tree Bodhisattvas, Creativity and Zen
Recorded on August 8, 2026. This teisho is a potpourri made up of 3 shorter sections from "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas" — namely a folktale of Fugen Bosatsu, a jataka tale of the Buddha in a past life when he was the consciousness of a tree, and a short piece on Zen, Creativity, and imagination all read aloud and commented on by their author, Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin. Tree painting by Rafe Martin Read Roshi Rafe Martin's latest book: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home To What Zen is Really All About. Available from Amazon , Sumeru Books, and Barnes & Noble Online. Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
August 1 · 54 min
The Buddha Makes a Mistake
Recorded 08/01/2026. What does it mean to be human? Does the form of having two feet, legs, eyes, and ears, a nose, brain, and heart sum it up? If so there are billions of us. But if by “human” we mean someone wise and compassionate, not driven by greed, anger, ignorance, or fear; someone who can be counted on when the going gets rough, then that number may be rather small. What does it take to be or become such a genuinely human, human being? The Buddha in a distant past life was on the path of becoming fully human — that is, he was on the Way of the Bodhisattva — when a wrong choice led to an unexpected life. What did he do? How did he resolve it? What did he learn and how does knowing any of this help us? Give a listen and you’ll see why the image of a whale accompanies this teisho. Books: A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas -- Rafe Martin Carnivore Minds -- G.A. Bradshaw The Three Pillars of Zen -- Philip Kapleau The Poetry and Prose of William Blake -- David Erdman, ed. Photo of John Perry sperm whale sculpture by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
July 25 · 53 min
A Dream Within A Dream
Recorded July 25, 2026. Case no. 25, Gateless Barrier: “Yang-shan’s Sermon From the Third Seat” is as follows: Yang-shan dreamed he went to Maitreya’s realm and was led to the third seat. A senior monk struck the stand with a gavel and announced, “Today the monk in the third seat will preach.” Yang-shan rose, struck the stand with the gavel, and said, “The Dharma of the Mahayana is beyond the Four Propositions and transcends the Hundred Negations. Listen, listen.” Why does Master Wu-men, creator of the Gateless Barrier, use a story of an old teacher’s dream as a koan? Koans present actual words and doings. But this is just a dream. What value could it have? Roshi Kapleau used to say that enlightenment is a dream. After all, enlightenment is simply the realization of our own Mind, the selfless Mind that’s been ours from the beginning. What are we going to get with enlightenment that we don't already have? The problem is that we don't know it. So, while lost in dreams, we should not discount the dream’s value. Bob Dylan says “I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours.” (“Talking World War III Blues.” Dreams within dreams. Within a dream. Roshi Kapleau used to relate how, not long after he’d arrived at Hosshinji Monastery a monk asked him, “Kapleau-san. Do you believe in dreams?” He told us that it took many years of Zen practice before he grasped what that monk was getting at. Do you believe in dreams? Who is it that believes in dreams? There is a dream dreaming dreams. Is it wrong that our life is a dream? With this dream scenario, Yang-shan and Wu-men have found a way to pull the wool not over, but off our eyes. This is a pretty good trick, wouldn’t you say? Book: Zen Life of Bodhisattvas by Rafe Martin Photo of Hotei at Endless Path Zendo by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
July 11 · 34 min
Bodhisattva of Great Compassion
Recorded on July 11, 2026. Asked to write something about the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, Hakuin penned: “Even if the rivers and seas all receded and became dry land,/ Her vow to save all sentient beings still would never cease.” In other words even if the world turns upside down and seas become mountains and mountains seas, (which has actually happened), even if what is beyond imagining occurs, even, then, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion will not fall into thinking only of her self but will remain dedicated to the welfare of All — so deep and fundamental is her Great Vow. Zen practice doesn’t care who we know or what our salary or social standing might be. It’s an iron mountain or, as Western fairy tales have it, a glass hill. We try, we fail, we try again. Through trying, failing, getting back up and trying again, Zen practice becomes genuine and we ourselves, authentic, authentically ourselves. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’s own great Vow matured through such heart-felt failure — which is rather hopeful indeed. Books — Complete Poison Blossoms from a Thicket of Thorn — Norman Waddell A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas — Rafe Martin Photo — detail: Avalokitesvara thangka at Endless Path Zendo by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
June 6 · 51 min
The Zen Buddhist Precepts and Living Our Zen
Recorded June 6, 2026. In preparation for the Jukai (receiving the precepts) on 6/20/2026, before leaving for the American Zen Teachers Association gathering, Roshi Martin read and commented on Aitken Roshi’s opening chapter of “The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics” — “The Nature of the Precepts.” Here’s that teisho, as presented at Endless Path Zendo on 6/06/2026. Books -- "The Mind of Clover" by Robert Aitken Photo of Aitken Roshi at Palolo Zen Center, Honolulu, HI. Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
May 30 · 42 min
Manjusri Fails!
Recorded 5/30/2026. Wu-men’s commentary to Case 42 of The Gateless Barrier, “Manjusri and the Young Woman in Samadhi” says “The comedy Old Shakya puts on the stage here is a great hodgepodge. Just tell me now; Manjusri is the teacher of the Seven Buddhas – why couldn’t he get the young woman out of her samadhi, when the Bodhisattva of Delusive Wisdom, a beginner, could? If you can firmly grasp this point, then for you this busy life of ignorance and discrimination will be the life of the Dragon Samadhi.” His verse to the case: One can awaken her, the other cannot; Both of them are free. A god mask, a devil mask The failure is wonderful indeed. Hmm. One can, one can’t. Isn’t that unfair? Shakespeare was an immediate success, but Melville never received a single positive review on his masterwork, Moby Dick. Picasso never failed to receive worshipful accolades, yet Van Gogh never sold a painting and William Blake died in poverty. One can awaken her, the other cannot. Astoundingly, Wu-men asserts that both are free. If so, how is Manjusri free, and how is the Bodhisattva of Delusive Wisdom also free? How is Einstein free and how Walt Disney? And what about us? How are we free, Dragon Samadhi or no? Let’s take a look! Photo of Manjusri on Lion at Endless Path by Rafe Martin Books referenced: A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
May 16 · 44 min
Meeting Manjusri Bodhisattva of Wisdom Face-to Face
Recorded May 16, 2026. Roshi Rafe Martin reads and comments on Chapter 3 of "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas." “Manjushri’s Threes by Threes” — Case # 35 of the Blue Cliff Record — Manjusri asked Wu Cho, “Where have you just come from?” Wu Cho replied, “The south.” Manjusri said, “ How is southern Buddhism faring?” Wu Cho answered, “The monks of the latter days of the Law have little regard for the precepts.” Manjusri said, “Are there many or few?” Wu Cho said, “Here about 300, there around 500.” Wu Cho then asked Manjusri, “How does Buddhism fare in this part of the world?” Manjusri said, “The worldly and the holy dwell together; dragons and snakes intermingle.” Wu Cho asked, “Are there few or many?” Manjusri said, “In front, three by three; in back, three by three.” What’s going on? Does Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, deliver — or obfuscate? What kind of wisdom is this? Wise folks may speak in riddles but can hide behind gibberish. Con-men have played that field. Have we been taken in? What is Manjusri’s profound wisdom and how will it help us live lives of actual meaning here and now? Let’s take a look! Books A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas — Rafe Martin Haiku, Vol. 1: Eastern Culture — R.H. Blyth Moby Dick — Herman Melville The Adolescent — Fyodor Dostoevsky Photo of Manjusri and Buddha at Endless Path Zendo by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
May 9 · 53 min
Manjusri -- Bodhisattva of Wisdom
Recorded May 9, 2026. Roshi Rafe Martin reads and comments on Chapter 2 of "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas." In Japan, the Buddha sits in the Buddha Hall, but Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, presides over the zendo where he’s often shown seated on a noble and courageous lion -- symbol of our own enlightened Original Nature. Holding a scroll of prajna wisdom or a lotus in one hand and a sword in the other, he may have the shaved head of a monk—showing himself free of all attachments and concerns—or may be a prince with long hair, flowing robes and jewelry, royally engaged with life. “Forgetting the self,” through attention to the practice is Manjusri’s realm. This is not a matter of avoiding our emotions or of side-stepping or suppressing our individuality. Rather, it is like seeing a golden sunrise or a star-filled night and, awed, momentarily forgetting ourselves. It is like coming home. Clinging to thoughts of me, myself, and I never seem to bring us the joy or security we long for. Aren’t our best moments those in which we’ve forgotten ourselves? A glorious sunset stretches across the twilight, a mountain peak emerges from the clouds, the taste of tea awakens our tongue and we are momentarily ... gone. Zen’s wisdom is to help us live such a self-forgotten, ordinary life. Manjusri’s sword cuts in One, not two. But who is Manjusri, really? Let’s take a look! Books: “Complete Poison Blossoms From a Thicket of Thorn: The Zen Records of Hakuin Zenji” - Norman Waddell "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas" — Rafe Martin Photo of Manjusri at Endless Path Zendo by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
May 7 · 1 hr 3 min
Actualizing Our Gestural Imagination: Telling Stories that Live!
Recorded May 7, 2026 Actualizing Our Gestural Imagination: Telling Stories that Live! A teaching session withaward-winning author and storyteller, Rafe Martin 5/7/2026 Boulder Valley Spell Binders of Boulder, CO. Photo of Rafe Martin, storytelling 1984 -- by Lawson Sachter. Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
May 2 · 50 min
Roshi Philip Kapleau Memorial
Recorded May 2, 2026. Twenty-two years ago on March 6th , (it has gone by in the blink of an eye) 2004 my old Zen teacher, Roshi Philip Kapleau ,passed from this life to the next. I had just flown back home to Rochester from where I'd been speaking at a literary conference in Reno, Nevada and was picked up at the airport by an old Dharma friend who told me that Roshi had just died. We drove to where he was still seated in his wheelchair beneath a tree in the backyard of the Zen Center, surrounded by old Zen friends, where we all said our goodbyes. We had so much to be grateful to him for. At Endless Path Zendo we hold a memorial half-day zazenkai each year in Roshi Kapleau's honor. This teisho includes remembrances of Roshi Kapleau by both Rose and myself, plus a reading of the memorial piece on his life that “Buddhadharma” asked me to write shortly after his passing. Additionally, I shared an unusual anecdote from one of the times that when Rose and I were his guests in Florida once he’d retired from active teaching. If you want to know his story give a listen. It’s an interesting tale — Roshi Philip Kapleau had been the chief court reporter for both the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes trials — which eventually led him directly to Zen and to a central -- and essential — role in the transmission of actual Zen practice to the West. - Roshi Rafe Martin Photo of Roshi Kapleau by Casey Frank Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
April 25 · 57 min
Are Bodhisattvas Real?
Recorded April 25, 2026. In this first series of teishos from his book, “A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas,” Roshi Martin explores the nature of Bodhisattvas — the “wisdom beings” so central to the wise and compassionate vision of Mahayana Buddhism, which includes Zen. He also makes it clear that, in Zen tradition, to know who or what bodhisattvas are, we need to know who or what we ourselves truly are. Then again, are bodhisattvas — beings like Manjsuri and Avalokitesvara, Maitreya and Samantbhadra with the transformative power to truly help all suffering beings — really real? Towards the end of this teisho he relates two mysterious true incidents from his own life that led him to believe that such beings really do exist. Books — “A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas” by Rafe Martin “Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism - Lama Govinda “Complete Poison Blossoms From a Thicket of Thorn: The Zen Records of Hakuin Zenji” - Norman Waddell “Eight Beliefs in Buddhism” — Hakuun Yasutani “Further Zen Conversations” - Rick McDaniel Photo of Hotei at Endless Path Zendo, by Rafe Martin Read Roshi Rafe Martin's latest book: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home To What Zen is Really All About. Available from Amazon , Sumeru Books, and Barnes & Noble Online. Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
April 18 · 58 min
Impossible Situations: A Buffalo Passes Through the Window
Recorded April 18, 2026. Today’s teisho is on "Gateless Barrier" Case 38 — “A Buffalo Passes Through the Window.” Wu-tsu said, “It is like a buffalo that passes through a window. Its head, horns, and four legs all pass through. Why can’t its tail pass through as well?” Hakuin comments: "Hard for even the most clear- sighted Zen monks to crack, A Buffalo Passing Through the Window trips them all up. " In this life we'll all face situations, places, events, times that seem . . . beyond us, even impossible. What shall we make of Wu-tsu’s impossible buffalo? The scenario is ridiculous! Impossible. And yet we’re called upon by the koan to personally reveal and present its deep, living meaning. Is logic the be-all and end-all? Can even the most technically precise and clear scientific description of, let’s say, vision, give us our vividly personal experience of red flowers, blue skies, green grass, the joy we find upon seeing a child’s smile? Can a description give us the actual taste of a cup of first flush Darjeeling tea? By what wisdom do I know it personally, intimately? Let’s see if we can find out. Give a listen to this lively — and rather humorous — teisho! Referenced: "The Gateless Barrier: Th Wu-men Kuan (Mumonkan)" Robert Aitken Painting by Zen Master Hakuin -- Buffalo looking at a window. Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
April 11 · 34 min
Finding Your Buddha Smile (Final Chapter) - Part 11: A Springtime Stroll
Recorded April 11, 2026 Hooray! Spring has come. Ice cracks and melts and rivers once again run free. Green grass and buds on trees magically appear. Blue Cliff Record case 36 presents it like this: One day Ch’ang-sha went for a walk in the hills. When he returned to the gate of the monastery the head monk said, “Master, where have you been?” Ch’ang-sha said, “I have come from strolling about in the hills.” The head monk said, “Where did you go?” “First I went pursuing the fragrant grasses, then I returned following the falling flowers.” The head monk said, “You are full of the spring, aren’t you?” Ch’ang-sha said, “It is even better than the autumn dew falling on the lotus flowers.” Hsueh-tou comments, “I’m grateful for that answer.” Aitken Roshi writes — “Let us all be grateful ... because Ch’ang-sha is our teacher of Zen in this age of grave danger to the earth and its music, art, animals, and everything else.” Now, with a smile on our lips we, too, will head out and see what there is for heads, hands, and hearts to do. Zen practice brings us into the fullness of life. It’s not about sitting forever facing a wall. Read Roshi Rafe Martin's latest book: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home To What Zen is Really All About. Available from Amazon , Sumeru Books, and Barnes & Noble Online. Photo of Smiling Buddha, Lung-men Caves, China, by Rafe Martin 2006 Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
April 4 · 54 min
The Birth of The Buddha -- What's it all about?
Recorded April 4, 2026. What does the birth of a Buddha really mean? What bearing does it have on our own lives? Is it just ancient history? Is it simply literal — or what? Plus, what are we to make of the rather astonishing legend that, at birth, the newborn baby Buddha raised one hand toward the heavens and pointed the other down to the earth and proclaimed “Above the Heavens, below the heavens, I Alone the Honored One”? What is this getting at? Is myth just a form of untruth? Or is it something more? How does this stunning statement relate to our own life, yours and mine, and to our own practice of Zen? Why not give a listen to this vivid teisho bringing alive The Birth of the Buddha and see how it might all connect! Books cited: "A Zen Life of Buddha" by Rafe Martin "Centuries, Poems, and Thanksgivings, Vol. 1: Introductions and Centuries." Thomas Traherne Read Roshi Rafe Martin's latest book: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home To What Zen is Really All About. Available from Amazon , Sumeru Books, and Barnes & Noble Online. Photo of Baby Buddha, Endless Path Zendo Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org
March 28 · 40 min
Finding Your Buddha Smile- Part 10: Beautiful Snowflakes!
Recorded 3/28/2026. The greatest journeys find completion in ordinary things. The teacup, the comfortable old slippers, the wool jacket on the hook by the door. To quote Dorothy, there’s no place like home, where we’re so at ease, a glance at a morning star, a late-night chat with a friend, or a walk in the snow can open ... the Timeless. So — Blue Cliff Record case 42, “Layman P’ang’s Beautiful Snowflakes,” in which Layman P’ang takes a walk in the snow and says, “Beautiful snowflakes. They fall nowhere.” Let’s see what then happens! But first — a note: “emptiness” that Buddhist bugaboo, simply means empty of our own unconscious, habitual, self-centeredness. Self-forgotten, the world of 10,000 uniquely distinct things, living and non-living, steps in and realizes itself as the Self. Less self-conscious, less self-driven practice follows. A Zen saying says, “The way up the mountain is not all that hard, but the way down is endless.” P’ang who is “nothing himself, beholds/ Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.” (Wallace Stevens, “The Snow Man”) And so, as to all those lovely snowflakes falling — how will you present them? Read Roshi Rafe Martin's latest book: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home To What Zen is Really All About. Available from Amazon , Sumeru Books, and Barnes & Noble Online. Photo of Smiling Buddha, Lung-men Caves, China, by Rafe Martin 2006 Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org

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