Dharma Bytes - Silent Thunder Order

Dharma Bytes blog posts are essays written by the Silent Thunder Order’s guiding teacher; Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston, Roshi. These posts are updated regularly and include a wide range of topics related to Zen Buddhism, politics, and society. For blog posts written by other Silent Thunder Order disciples and priests check out Dharma Bits: Community Blog.

An Excerpt: The Razorblade of Zen

January 27, 2023

COMPARING RATIONALISM, THEISM, AND ZEN This book is a heartfelt expression of my personal confidence […]

Kongo Roshi Reflections

September 30, 2021

Kongo Roshi was born Richard Valentine Langlois in Chicago Illinois on January 25, 1935. His […]

“ZEN IS ALWAYS CONTEMPORARY — HINDSIGHT 2020 – INSIGHT 2021”

December 29, 2020

DharmaByteJAN2021 ZEN AS PROBLEM-SOLVING Zen as a problem-solving activity means, among other things, that zazen […]

Politics Quartet 1

November 29, 2020

Conspiracy It’s a conspiracy! That’s what the believers say — and they are correct. As […]

Zen Practice Quartet 4

October 1, 2020

Owing to the Silent Thunder Annual Retreat and Conference, Elliston Roshi is not posting a […]

Potus Ignoramus

September 1, 2020

POTUS IGNORAMUS If you were expecting to read yet another political screed against (or in […]

On The Meaning Of Community In Zen – Special Memorial

August 1, 2020

SPECIAL MEMORIAL We want to pay due respect to the passing of Rev. C. T. […]

Free at Last!

July 4, 2020

I have written about freedom before, as envisioned in the founding papers by the Founding Fathers, as witnessed from my position of white male privilege, and as conceived in the teachings of Zen. The three do not match up.

Dropping off Without Relying on Anything

June 1, 2020

In the face of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus…we have all discovered that there is very little we can truly rely upon, especially the due diligence and judgment of our political leaders.