HeyJaredThe Backyard Buddhist
“Darren (So Mushin) Simpson, a novice in the lineage of Matsuoka Roshi, returns to Zen after decades in Christian ministry. With roots at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center, he now trains under Elliston Roshi, embracing the Dharma name So Mushin.”
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 12
- Latest publication
- Sep 29, 2026
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- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Aug 12, 2026
Latest issues
ASZC Dharma Talk - Michael (Shinjin) Sensei on Upaya - Skillful Means (opens the original)
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Is the concept of upiah or skillful or expedient means and it’s kind of all over the map of what exactly this is supposed to mean and how it’s supposed to be applied but I came up with some some basic ideas and this is a concept that has been In Buddhism since the very beginning,since the very earliest writings, they discuss upaya. So what probably happened is this is a much older Hindu concept that was incorporated at the time. And if you look for like an actual definition of it, the definition
Michael Elliston Roshi: ASZC Dharma Talk - 09/27/2026 (opens the original)
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A Dharma talk given by Michael (Taiun) Elliston Roshi, the Abbot of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center on Sunday, September 27th, 2026.
The Existential Noise of Being Alive (opens the original)
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Hello everyone. I’d like to begin with an apology for the time between posts. You all know that our family became one member smaller recently. The advent of publishing a new book on Amazon has<
On the Turning Away (opens the original)
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by The Backyard BuddhistTwenty-five years.It seems almost impossible to say that.Twenty-five years ago, on an ordinary September morning, people went to work.They made coffee.They caught trains.They kissed husbands and wives goodbye.They complained about traffic.They hurried because they were late.They probably thought about meetings, bills, lunch, children, groceries, all the ordinary little things that seem so terribly important until suddenly… they are
Straight Through the Front Door (opens the original)
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Straight Through the Front DoorZen and the Direct Way to AwakeningBy The Backyard BuddhistThere is an old four-line description of Zen that gets tossed around quite a bit:A special transmission outside the scriptures.Not dependent upon words and letters.Directly pointing to the human mind.Seeing one’s nature and becoming Buddha.That is Zen making a rather bold claim.No brochures.No sixteen-volume correspondence course
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