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Dharma Centre

Our online community to complement The Zen Gateway online resource and magazine.

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Low Impact Living

Exercises in Mindfulness
The idea that we should leave no traces of ourselves is implicit in Zen temples but, if we can consciously apply this to our daily lives, we will have a powerful tool for emptying out the heart.

Empty the Cup

How the inner narration prevents clear seeing.
Emptying your cup is a Chinese proverb used in Zen practice. Martin explores what this means for the training.

Verses from the Dhammapada 134

In Buddhism an empty heart is actually a full heart. Jenny Hall explores what emptiness really means and why it can seem to frightening to us.

Looking for Solid Ground

Blog
With his future plans thwarted and feeling dejected, Michael O'Neill falls back on his training in Zen to find a way forward.

From Inner Lack to Inner Stillness

Gateway Talks
‘From the High Seat, the master said: “One is on the way for aeons without leaving his house; one  leaves his house without being on the way. Which one is worthy to receive the offerings of men and gods?” And he came down from the seat.’

Latest Articles

Audio Talks

From Inner Lack to Inner Stillness

Reflections for Rohatsu

Sokei-an's Traffic Lights

Practice

Low Impact Living

Exercises in Mindfulness
The idea that we should leave no traces of ourselves is implicit in Zen temples but, if we can consciously apply this to our daily lives, we will have a powerful tool for emptying out the heart.

Verses from the Dhammapada 32

If we can remain open to all situations, no matter how humdrum they may seem, the magic of the Buddha's insight can begin to pervade all of our activities.

The Alchemy of Adversity

By putting the Buddha's teachings into practice we are developing the ability to transform adversity into wisdom.

The Sword that Slays 10,000 Thoughts

Exercises in Mindfulness
If not one thought arises, you will at once climb up the Bodhi tree
Series

The Five Hindrances | Martin Goodson

These are the factors that hinder progress in meditation and daily life practice.

Magazine

2025: A Year in View

Our annual look back at what has been happening on The Zen Gateway in 2025

The Selected Letters of Master Daie Soko with commentary by Ven Myokyo-ni

Book Review
Master Daie gives his lay students practical advise on how to apply Zen in ordinary life, in this invaluable collection of letters.

Easy by Nature by Lao Tsu | with commentary by Michael Haggiag

Poet's Corner
The virtues of being like water in spiritual training.

Yoka Daishi’s Realising the Way | Book Review by Lucy Spear

This book is a companion and a guide. The poem itself is not so much an instruction manual, rather it’s a distillation of what and how it is to be a pupil of the Way. 

Radical Scepticism: A Middle Way in a time of Ideological Labelling.

Culture has a significant impact on our beliefs. Rather than accepting or rejecting these beliefs, the middle way offers us an alternative.

Buddhism

Virya: Continuous Effort

The Six Parameters
Effort is needed for Zen practice to be effective but willpower can only take us so far. Dr. Alan Sidi explores how to apply effort from the perspective of Zen training.

Patient Endurance

Dr Alan Sidi explores how to transform the chaotic forces of the passions into the Buddha nature.

Skilful Restraint

The Wheel of life gives us a powerful tool for understanding the source of attachment and rebirth. By skilfully pairing this knowledge with the power of restraint we can begin to enter into Nirvana.

Giving: an antidote to half-heartedness

The Paramitas
Do we spend our lives in a never-ending, unsatisfactory cycle of picking and choosing? Or can we give ourselves wholeheartedly into the Dharma, which brings with it an end to suffering? Dr Alan Sidi investigates.

The Paramitas

The six Paramitas not only lead us out of suffering, they also bring us to enlightenment. 

This week in the Dharma Centre...

Our online community to complement The Zen Gateway online resource and magazine.

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