Hollow Bones Zen Blog
Updates and articles from our community
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Everything Changes
by Reishin Denise Leong The annual women-led retreat was held September 17-20, at Holy Wisdom Monastery near Madison, Wisconsin, continuing a tradition that began in…
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Whirlwinds of My Mind
by Reishin Denise Leong On July 27, a tornado hit the Wisconsin community where many of my local sangha members live, where our zendo is….
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Mandala Day
Our Ancestors Zen teachers Soen Nakagawa in Japan and Nyogen Senzaki in California developed a decades-long friendship in the 1930’s, which ultimately led to the…
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The Jewel of Sangha
The Jewel of Sanghaby Reishin Denise Leong At Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto there is a famous Zen garden with fifteen rocks. Wherever a person stands…
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Simply This
I hope to have gatheredTo repay your kindnessThe willow leavesScattered in the garden.-Basho Simply Thisby Reishin Denise Leong “Thank you so much.” “But I didn’t…
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Why I Grab My Cushion at 8:00 a.m.
Why I Grab My Cushion at 8 a.m. Lars Lutje Schipholt I’m sitting with my eyes closed, bringing my attention to my body. It goes…
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The Message
by Reishin Denise Leong A few months after Jun Po Roshi died in 2021, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and pulled it…
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The Walk for Peace
All beings are flowersblossomingIn a blossoming universe.—Soen Nakagawa The text below is from The Walk for Peace February 17, 2026 Today, in our tradition, we…
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Groundhog Day
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapesbut in having new eyes.– Marcel Proust by Monshin Kathy Mitchell Groundhog Day is a…
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Two Million Jizos
Two Millions Jizosby Reishin Denise Leong Some of you may recognize this painting which is hanging in the zendo foyer at Dai Bosatsu, our root…
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The Laughing Buddha
by Reishin Denise Leong My parents who immigrated from China had many Chinese statues around the house but never identified anything special about them. Since…
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This Magic Moment
by Reishin Denise LeongZen River SanghaAppleton, WI “And I truly believe, only when head and heart work in harmony can we attain our true human potential.”…
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The Dharma is a River
by Lask Grey Kindred I live at the top of a mountain where springs appear when it rains. Water gathers in the cracks of the…
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O-Bon
by Reishin Denise LeongZen River SanghaAppleton, Wisconsin Along this wayGoes no oneThis autumn evening -Basho On a mountain, in the woods overlooking a lake, a fire…
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Dig Deep
by Monshin Kathy Mitchell Wind and Water ZenWoodruff, Wisconsin I’ve sat with a variety of groups, some secular, others Buddhist. In each, the conversation almost…
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