Sumeru News — Teacher Stories

I had lunch today at The Green Door vegetarian restaurant (an Ottawa stand-out) with my old Dharma friend Glenn Mullin. He was here visiting his brother and sister, waiting for his passport to cast off on a 25-city US teaching tour before heading back to Korea, Nepal, India, Tibet and points east. That's Glenn in the grey jacket. We've known each other from back in the 1980s when I was coordinator for the Toronto Buddhist Federation and he was in town associated with Zasep Tulku's centre, Gaden Chöling. We'd see each other about once a month. Back when I was...

There is often some confusion about the relationship between Shakyamuni Buddha's first teachings, Sanskrit and Pali. Here's an article from Bhikkhu Mihita explaining the origins of Pali as the lingua franca of early Buddhism. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/96735/1/Buddha%20as%20Progenitor%20of%20Pali_TSpace.pdf

Here’s what I’ve been working on... A PATH THROUGH RED MAPLES: The Harmonious Way of Tendai Buddhism, by Dosho Ray Parchelo (Innen) This is a collection of Dharma talks, presentations, and other material exploring the history and practice of the Tendai lineage in Canada. Planning for publication in mid-Autumn. THE STORY OF ZEN by Rick McDaniel This is Rick’s sixth book on the history and practice of Zen (and the fourth being published by Sumeru). When westerners begin to practice Theravada or Vajrayana Buddhism, they have a pretty good idea of the Buddhist context. However often when people in the...

Richard Bryan McDaniel, chronicler of all things Zen in the West, forwarded this Bernie Glassman Roshi tribute, and asked if I would publish it here. I heartily agreed. Personal Impressions About Zen master and Social Activist Bernie Glassman Roshi  by Monika Jion Winklemann, Dharmaholder, Zen Peacemaker Circles. Founder, Not-Knowing-Sangha Bonn International The news reached me Sunday night through my ex. “Did you hear that Bernie died?” No, I hadn't. For once, I hadn't been on Facebook for a few hours because I had been attending, with my sister, a concert and a reading by the actress Iris Berben in memory of...

Cypress Trees in the Garden: The Second Generation of Zen Teaching in America, by Richard Bryan McDaniel, is now available as an e-book from your favourite online vendor, as well as in paperback. Catholicism and Zen, by Richard Bryan McDaniel, is also now available as an e-book from your favourite online vendor, as well as in paperback.