You Are Still Here: Zen Teachings of Kyogen Carlson

by Kyogen Carlson, Sallie Tisdale (Editor), Jan Chozen Bays (Foreword by)

Overview

“There’s so much to learn and so much to know. It’s good to keep moving forward. And yet whatever we have is, in a very profound way, absolutely complete and always enough.”—Kyogen Carlson
 
Kyogen Carlson (1948–2014) was a Soto Zen priest whose writings, teachings, and commitment to interfaith dialogue supported and inspired countless Buddhist, Christian, and other spiritual practitioners. Set to the rhythm of the seasons, You Are Still Here is the first published collection of Carlson’s dharma talks. It illuminates key elements of contemporary Zen practice, such as the experience of zazen meditation, the pitfalls and intimacies of the teacher-student relationship and of sangha life, the role of community in personal practice, and the importance of interfaith dialogue reaching across political lines. Carlson’s teachings also underscore his commitment to lay Buddhist practice and women’s lineages, both significant contributions to American Buddhism. The beautifully distilled talks have been carefully edited and introduced by Sallie Jiko Tisdale, a respected writer, teacher, and Dharma heir to Carlson. Her masterful presentation highlights the significance of these illuminating teachings, while preserving Carlson’s distinct style of authenticity, humor, and conviction on the Zen path.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611809329
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	08/17/2021
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,061,036
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.92(d)

About the Author

KYOGEN CARLSON was ordained as a Zen priest by Jiyu Kennett Roshi in 1974. In 1982, he moved to Portland, Oregon, to serve as a teacher at the Dharma Rain Zen Center. Kyogen held the role of Abbot (and later co-Abbot with his wife, Gyokuko) of the center for more than thirty years. He is the author of Zen in the American Grain: Discovering the Teachings at Home.

SALLIE JIKO TISDALE is the author of nine books, most recently Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them). Her other books include Talk Dirty to Me, Stepping Westward, and Women of the Way. Violation, a collection of essays, was published in 2015. Her work has appeared in Harper's, Antioch Review, Conjunctions, Threepenny Review, The New Yorker, and Tricycle, among other journals.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jan Chozen Bays ix

Still Here Sallie Jiko Tisdale xv

Part 1 Fall

1 Way-Seeking Mind 3

2 Vow 7

3 Teachers and Students 13

4 Ideals 22

5 Dissatisfaction 27

6 Samadhi Power and Karma Relationship 33

7 Hungry Ghosts 39

8 Death and Birth 45

Part 2 Meditation

9 Zazen Is Essential 57

10 Practice-Realization 60

11 Nonopposition 62

12 Instructions 69

13 Kensho 75

14 Sudden and Gradual 84

15 Effort and Noneffort 91

Part 3 Winter

16 Confronting Expectations 105

17 Precepts 113

18 Refuge 122

19 Contrition 127

20 Three Pure Precepts 130

21 Ten Grave Precepts 134

22 The Buddha's Death 137

Part 4 Faith

23 Faith 145

24 Doubt 151

25 Confidence 154

Part 5 Spring

26 Ancestors 163

27 The Lineage of Women 169

28 Simplicity 173

29 Flowers in the Sky 177

30 Spiritual Authority 179

Part 6 Relationship

31 Sangha 185

32 Daily Life 195

33 Sexuality 200

34 When a Bell Rings 204

35 Praise and Blame 207

36 Shelter 211

37 Taking a Stand 217

38 Dialogue 224

Part 7 Summer

39 Undefiled Practice 229

40 The Sacred and the Mundane 233

41 Tea and Rice 237

42 No Dwelling Place 240

43 Putting Down the Forms 245

44 Grasses 252

Epilogue: You Are Still Here 257

Acknowledgments 261

Appendix: Buddhist Radical Nondual Teaching and the Zen of Eihei Dogen 262

Postscript 286

Notes 287

About the Author and Editor 291

Editorial Reviews

Kyogen gives it to us straight: Zen demands intense discipline, unwavering commitment, and deep faith, not only in the practice itself and in revered idealized figures like Dogen and the Buddha, but in an all-too-human teacher encountered in the midst of everyday life. This is Zen for grown-ups.”—Barry Magid, author of Nothing Is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans

“This book is the Recorded Sayings of Kyogen Carlson, Daiosho. He and his wife, Gyokuko Carlson Roshi, disciples of Jiyu-Kennett, founded Dharma Rain Zen Center in Portland, Oregon, one of the largest Zen centers in the United States. Like the classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, this book is for the person who is a beginner on the path of Zen as well as the person who has been practicing for decades. Such a wonderful book. Please savor this rich feast of Kyogen Carlson’s deep and accessible Dharma.”—Shinshu Roberts, author of Being-Time: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō Uji

From the Publisher