Crooked River Zen Dharma Talks

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk working with the opening lines of Shitou's Sandokai, the merging of difference and unity. Dean discusses his interpretation of Full Moon Ceremony Teachings as well as manifesting the "noble body", distinctions between inside (self) and outside (other) dissolves, manifesting the "dharma body" (with a lowercase 'd'), and that there is no fundamental distinction between self and things outside.

This continues the exploration of Shohaku Okumura's Living by Vow- Chapter 7.

Dean also will also be drawing from a companion book,Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai by Shunryu Suzuki. Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Dean opens today at the beginning, the dawn, of Sandokai, discussing Non-Duality and Sandokai Dean draws from Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind and Dogen Zenji's teachings, exploring the resolution of opposites—such as light and dark, or midnight and dawn. Suzuki emphasizes that opposites (e.g., nighttime and daytime) are essentially one co-present reality rather than being necessarily isolated states.

This is discussing the section "Zen & Excitement', beginning on pg 118 (depending on edition) of Shunryu Suzuki's classic Zen Text Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen meditation & Practice

Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk working with the opening lines of Shitou's Sandokai, the merging of difference and unity. Dean discusses the origins conveyed in the Sandokai, the text Treatise on the Awakening of Mahayana Faith (also known simply as The Awakening of Faith). Origins of The Awakening of Faith is predominantly Chinese in nature and considered a Chinese text. An important part of Dean's discussion today is Dogen's Critique of "Mind" and "Ordinary Mind", and Dogen's warning about misconceptions around Mind.

This continues the exploration of Shohaku Okumura's Living by Vow- Chapter 7.

Dean also will also be drawing from a companion book,Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai by Shunryu Suzuki. Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on the term "no mind", which in Zen teachings is used as a skillful means to convey the boundlessness and non-duality of all things rather than a separate metaphysical entity.

Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk introduces Shitou's Sandokai, the merging of difference and unity. This is the first lecture in a series of talks that will continue looking at Sandokai in depth, which is going to take the next several weeks to completely cover this subject.

This continues the exploration of Shohaku Okumura's Living by Vow- Chapter 7.

Dean also will also be drawing from a companion book,Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai by Shunryu Suzuki. Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams hosts the regular Open Q&A for the group. Sangha members raised questions for Dean on the parallels between the Buddhist concept of emptiness and pantheism. He notes that while Buddhism does not hold a monotheistic belief, both perspectives share a view of an indescribable, universal life force that permeates all things.

Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 10/3/26.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on the Heart Sutra explains that prajna (wisdom) is the direct, unmediated insight into the impermanence and interdependence of all things. This perspective includes the teaching itself, which is also impermanent and interdependent.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "Great bright Mantra". Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on the Heart Sutra lines "with nothing to attain, the mind has no hindrance." Dean talks about Emptiness and Interdependence explaining that because all things are empty of self-existence and defined by impermanence and interdependence, we can rely on "nothing." This means not clinging to fixed views or specific outcomes, which allows the mind to function without becoming a hindrance.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "No Hindrance". Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sangha member John Wilhelm shares a talk on meditation in Zen. Zazen (meditation) and solitude, what is considered the "prerequisite" to Zen meditation? Begin with recognizing the three poisons, seeing the absolute and the relative aspects in your thoughts and actions.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on 'Zen & Excitement'. Dean discusses being fully engaged with our usual environment through focused awareness and mindfulness. Drawing from Suzuki Roshi's Book, we see that whether just sitting, doing chores, drinking tea, etc., we can always be fully engaged with our environment through focused awareness and mindfulness..

This is discussing the section "Zen & Excitement', beginning on pg 57 or 42 (depending on edition) of Shunryu Suzuki's classic Zen Text Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen meditation & Practice

Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on the Heart Sutra lines "with no cognition, no attainment" and "with nothing to attain, the mind has no hindrance." Recognizing that "no attainment" dismantles the traditional notion of working toward fixed spiritual ranks or future rebirth milestones as seen in early Buddhist traditions.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "No Attainment". Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on how we we can get attached to Buddhism itself. While early Buddhist teachings viewed cause and effect as flowing in a single direction (from ignorance to old age and death), the Mahayana tradition and the philosopher Nagarjuna expanded this into a multi-directional concept of total interdependence or "interbeing".

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "Emptiness in Practice". Shared at a Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Section of the Heart Sutra:
"No ignorance and also no extinction of it, and so forth until no old age and death and also no extinction of them; No suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path."

Sangha member John Wilhelm shares a talk on emptiness. What the section about "having no form, no feelings, no perceptions, no impulses, no consciousness, no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind..." is pointing us toward.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "Emptiness in Practice". Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 9/3/26.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on 'Naturalness' in Buddhism. Dean discusses how True Naturalness, which is an activity based on nothingness and independence from conditioned responses.

This is discussing the section "Naturalness', beginning on pg 96 of Shunryu Suzuki's classic Zen Text Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen meditation & Practice

Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 8/29/26.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on how we practically work with the core concept of Emptiness in Buddhism. Dean discusses relying on mental formations and thought constructions which leads to meaningless arguments because it is so subjective and involves picking and choosing - which is a necessary activity in society but not reality.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "Emptiness in Practice". Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 8/27/26.

The Section of the Heart Sutra:
O, Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they do not appear nor
disappear, are not tainted nor pure, do not increase nor decrease.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on humility in Buddhism. Dean describes "humility" as an appropriate term to characterize the wisdom teaching of the emptiness of all things, and is an essential aspect of seeing one's true nature. Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 8/22/26.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on the core concept of Emptiness in Buddhism. Bowing in Buddhism is Emptiness bowing to Emptiness. Emptiness does not mean that nothing is real but rather it means that nothing possesses a substantial, independent existence. Everything exists because of its interconnectedness and interdependence with all other beings.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "Emptiness in Theory" & "Emptiness in Practice". Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 8/20/26.

The Section of the Heart Sutra:
O, Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they do not appear nor
disappear, are not tainted nor pure, do not increase nor decrease.

Sensei Dean Williams dharma talk on reconciling the Two Truths in Buddhism - the Relative & the Absolute. Dean explains that form represents the conventional realm, while emptiness represents the absolute. These two realms are interdependent and inseparable; you cannot have one without the other.

This continues the exploration of the central Zen text of the Heart Sutra. The source text the group is working with is Shohaku Okumura's Living by VowChapter 6 in the section "Emptiness in Theory". Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 8/13/26.

The Section of the Heart Sutra:
O, Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they do not appear nor
disappear, are not tainted nor pure, do not increase nor decrease.

Sensei Dean Williams hosts the regular Open Q&A for the group. Sangha members raised questions for Dean on the idea taking the boat to the other shore; the mechanics of letting go; prajna paramita (wisdom); the koan Mu; and more. Shared at the Crooked River Zen regular sitting in Cleveland, Ohio on 8/8/26.

Sangha member John Wilhelm shares a talk on Chapter 8 of The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva, focusing primarily on the juxtaposition of solitude and meditation, vs having community and relationships.