Zen Community of Oregon Dharma Talks

In this talk Bansho discusses many different aspects of the famous poem Affirming Faith in Mind. This talk was given by Bansho as the 3rd talk of 2025 July Sesshin.  ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk, we explore how disappointment, though often unwelcome, can be a profound teacher. By meeting life's letdowns with openness, we discover the tender ground of vulnerability that reveals our interconnectedness. The stories and reflections point to a shift from resisting what is to receiving it as part of the path. In the space where expectations dissolve, something truer and more spacious can quietly emerge.This talk was given on the Wednesday night program at HoW Zen Temple on July 23rd 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we reflect on the Beginner's Mind retreat, exploring the courage it takes to meet each moment without clinging to certainty. Through a Rilke poem, a timeless Zen story, and the shared experiences of retreat participants, we discover the power of “not knowing” as a doorway to intimacy with life. The talk invites us to let go of our assumptions, soften our habits of mind, and return to the freshness of direct experience. Coming home, we find, is not a destination but the living presence of this moment.This talk was given on July 13th 2025 during the GVZM Sunday Program. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk invites us to rest in the still point where the breath begins, letting the mind settle into spacious awareness. Through stories of mountain walks, quiet gardens, and the tender bonds between beings, we explore how the world lives within us as much as we live within it. The reflections point toward a deep intimacy with life — one that does not separate self from earth, or heart from sky. In returning to this quiet knowing, we discover a home that has always been here.This talk was given on July 6th at the Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple Sunday Night Program. ★ Support this podcast ★

 Exploring interconnection, our desire to be right and mind-stopping moments through the story of Bhadda Kundalakesa. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Bansho discusses vow and aspiration on the spiritual path. What is it that brings us to practice? It's less about what we want to be, but instead how we are being called to be in the world. He also discusses his personal vows and the bodhisattva vows, in particular, the vows of Jizo Bodhisattva. This is the 5th talk of the 2025 July Sesshin at GVZM. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we explore the difference between concern and worry, and how spiritual practice can free us from the endless cycle of anxious thoughts. Through stories of daily life, karmic cause and effect, and the power of our mental states, we consider how inner clarity seeds future change. The talk reflects on spiritual activism, the “fragrance of love,” and how even small acts of awareness can ripple outward. Listeners are invited to discover their own quiet influence in a world full of noise and fear.This talk was given on July 16, 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk explores the koan “The Old Woman of Mount Wutai,” a story that opens up questions about pilgrimage, practice, and how wisdom often appears in ordinary forms. We reflect on what it means to be a pilgrim rather than a wanderer, and how sacredness and devotion can show up in everyday life. Along the way, we meet Jizo Bodhisattva—the guardian of travelers—and consider what it means to go “straight ahead” even when the road curves. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode explores the Zen teaching that “not knowing is most intimate.” Through story, reflection, and real-life retreat experience, we look at how beginner's mind helps us meet life directly—without relying on old assumptions. From the discomfort of not knowing to the clarity it can bring, this talk points to intimacy not as closeness with others, but as deep presence with what is. The path home, it turns out, is always right here. This talk was given during the Great Vow Sunday Morning Program on July 13 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode explores metta, the practice of lovingkindness, as a way of meeting life with warmth and care. Through stories, teachings, and reflection, we look at how metta softens the grip of resentment, reconnects us with our shared humanity, and creates space for healing. Like sunlight, metta radiates outward—touching ourselves, those we love, and even those we find difficult. It's not about forcing a feeling, but about remembering our capacity to wish well. This talk was given during Kisei's online monday night program. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk we explore the Buddhist heart practice of metta—a boundless, radiant wish for the well-being of all beings, including ourselves. Through meditation, reflection, and real-life stories, we examine how lovingkindness can soften resentment, humanize strangers, and even transform our relationship with those we struggle to forgive. Like the sun offering light without discrimination, metta invites us to live with generosity of spirit and openhearted presence. This episode is both a guided practice and a call to remember: what we shine our attention on, we help ripen and release. This talk was given during the Tuesday night program in Vancouver, WA on June 24th 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode explores how moments of beauty can interrupt our mental habits and reconnect us with presence. Whether it's light through leaves, a piece of music, or the sound of wind chimes, beauty can cut through the trance of constant thought. We reflect on how to become more available to those moments, to linger in them, and to let them open space in our busy minds. Beauty, in this sense, becomes a gateway to awareness and a form of real practice. This talk was given on July 2, 2025 at the Heart of Wisdom Temple Wednesday night program.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk explores the Buddhist teaching of signlessness, including the fact that who we are cannot be reduced to fixed categories or identities. Drawing on Thich Nhat Hanh's insights, we look at how everything—including ourselves—is in constant transformation. Through mindfulness and embodied awareness, we can step outside rigid definitions and experience life as fluid and creative. This shift opens the door to compassion, integrity, and a deeper sense of freedom. This talk was given at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland, OR on June 22, 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

This episode explores how we can live from a place of love, even when we don't feel like we've earned it. We talk about the pressure to be perfect, the feeling of not being enough, and how choosing love—toward ourselves and others—can shift everything. With reflections from Adrienne Maree Brown, Rumi, and other voices, this is an honest look at what it means to let love lead. This talk was given as the fifth talk of the 2025 Loving-Kindness Sesshin. ★ Support this podcast ★

 In this talk Jomon dicusses the practice of metta, Loving-Kindness. She uses the analogy of metta being like the sun. This talk was given as the 4th talk of the 2025 Loving-Kindness Sesshin at Great Vow Zen Monastery. She also tells her story of doing metta for a difficult person and encourages us to do the same in our lives. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Hogen continues his talks from Thich Naht Hanh's Art of Living book. In this talk, Hogen explores the Kalama Sutta and Thich Nhat Hanh's reflections on how to cultivate true faith through direct experience rather than blind belief. We look deeply at how the Buddha encouraged the use of our own critical mind to investigate teachings for ourselves. Through practices like loving-kindness, compassion, and equanimity, we learn to discern what reduces suffering and brings peace. This living, ongoing inquiry keeps our spiritual path alive, fresh, and deeply authentic. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Jogen explores the nature of karma as our participation in creating the world, moment by moment. Using vivid metaphors like sending postcards to our future selves, he illustrates how our past actions echo into the present. He invites us to contemplate how these echoes shape our experience, while reminding us that each moment holds the possibility for fresh, liberating choices. This talk balances deep insight with practical reflections on compassion, equanimity, and freedom from old patterns. This talk was given during the Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple Wednesday night program on June 18, 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is the third talk of the 2025 Metta Sesshin at GVZM.  In this talk, jogen explores the boundless nature of the heart and its deep entanglement with mind, body, and world. Through poetic reflections and vivid metaphors, listeners are invited to question what shapes the heart and how love can continually be chosen. The talk reminds us that tenderness is indiscriminate, that our roots hold both nourishment and toxin, and that awakening is possible when we turn toward wholeness. Ultimately, this episode calls us to stay wholeheartedly engaged in the ever-renewing experiment of love and freedom. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is the second talk of the 2025 Metta Sesshin at GVZM. In this talk Jomon discusses love and appreciation. What do these words really mean, and how to they relate to our lives, right here and now? ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given during the 2025 Loving-Kindness Sesshin at GVZM. This is the first talk of the sesshin. In this talk Jogen discusses Loving-Kindness in general and how we can view metta through a lens of universal friendless.  ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Jogen replies to a number of questions from practitioners during the Heart of Wisdom Wednesday night program on June 4 2025. Some questions include: Why is consciousness not the self? How to I balance striving, and relaxing and opening up? How do I balance enjoying pleasure and not attaching to it in my practice?  ★ Support this podcast ★

This is the fifth talk in a series on the Art of Living By Thich Naht Hanh. Hogen dicusses what he calls the physics of reality. He discusses impermanence and how it changes how we relate to our live and our sense of aliveness. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk is the fourth talk in a series on Thich Naht Hanh's book The Art of Living. In this talk Hogen continues to discuss chapter 1 of the book. He talks about our assumptions of who we think we are and how we can open to a more spacious view in our everyday lives.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Bansho during Ancestors Sesshin 2025 on the fourth day. This talk is about "Yunmen's Light" Koan, and many other topics about practicing when deeper in sesshin. He discusses the essence of the practice of zazen, and what we are really doing when we sit. ★ Support this podcast ★

How are we connected to the zen ancestors? To our biological ancestors? This practice is loving, and we are supported by all those who have come before us. This talk was given by Kisei on the last day of Ancestors Sesshin in May 2025 at GVZM. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Hogen on May 11 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. This is part three of a talk series on Thich Nhat Hahn's Art of Living Book. This talk is a discussion on the chapter titled Emptiness is the Door of Liberation.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was the fourth talk of the 2025 Ancestors Sesshi on May 15 2025.. In this talk Kisei discusses the Koan "Yun Men's Light". What is this light that all of us have? ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Bansho discusses the vows of our ancestors and their continuation in our daily lives. This talk was given by Bansho during the 2025 Light of Our Ancestors sesshin at Great Vow Zen Monastery in May 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk is about the koan "Zuigan Calls His Own Master". Jogen discusses this koan and its implications and nuances including the mind's tendency to stay in habitual pathways, excuses we use to avoid being wakeful and more. This talk was given by Jogen at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on May 28th 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given as the opening talk of 2025 Ancestors Sesshin. In this talk Kisei discusses our practice of sesshin, our relationships to the zen ancestors, and the use of the phrase light in various spiritual contexts. ★ Support this podcast ★

Looking into what is real and exploring the dream-like nature of reality. Are you dreaming? How does this simple question open the heart of compassion? This talk was given by Kisei in April 2025 during her Monday evening online program. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Hogen gives a recap/his version of the introduction of the book The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh. This talk was given by Hogen Roshi on May 4 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. ★ Support this podcast ★

We make a lot of assumptions about who we are and what is happening, the practice of regarding all dharmas as dreams awakens possibility, it invites us to question our assumptions and perhaps wake up from our self-centered dreams. This talk was given by Kisei in April of 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Hogen Roshi discusses the four divine abidings, or the four Brahma Viharas. These include loving-kindness, equanimity, sympathetic joy and compassion. This talk was given by Hogen Roshi on March 30 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Chozen Roshi discusses working with koans. She discusses the differences between koan study and formal koan training with a teacher. This talk was given on April 16th 2025 during Koan Sesshin. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Chozen Roshi on April 18th 2025 during Koan Sesshin at Great Vow Zen Monastery. In this talk Chozen talks about when barriers come up during practice and how they are a sign of progress. She also discusses koan practice in various ways, including the koan Joshu's Oak Tree in The Garden.  ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Jogen discusses his view on three inherent "rawnesses" that humans have. The three rawnesses are uncertainty, sensory discomfort and lack of control. This talk was given by Jogen at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on April 30, 2025.  ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Bansho discusses loving-kindness practice, and warm regard for our experience. This talk was given by Bansho during the 2025 Love and Spaciousness retreat at Great Vow Zen Monastery in May 2025. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this talk Hogen gives a recap/his version of the first chapter of the Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh. This talk was given by Hogen Roshi on April 27 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Jogen at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on April 9, 2025. In this talk Jogen gives us advice on five things we can do to make the spiritual path easier. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Hogen Roshi at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on Sunday April 20 2025. In this talk Hogen discusses what koans are, their value, and how to practice with them.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Zen Teacher Jomon at Great Vow Zen Monastery Sunday Program on April 27 2025. In this talk she discusses emotions, social action and how spiritual practice relates to these things.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Kisei, Sensei during her weekly online program in March of 2025. Spiritual practice involves sacrifice, we must give up all habits of separation to realize true intimacy with what is. In this talk we explore the many dimensions of sacrifice and letting go that occur on the spiritual path. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Jogen Sensei at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on March 26, 2025. This is the third talk of a three talk series about the precepts given by Jogen Sensei. In this talk Jogen discusses the precept of not withholding spiritual or material aid, but giving freely when needed. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Jogen Sensei at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on March 5 2025. This is the second talk of a 3 talk series about the precepts given by Jogen Sensei. In this talk Jogen discusses The Three Pure Precepts and their effect on our lives and others lives. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Jogen Sensei at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on March 5 2025. This is the first talk of a 4 talk series about the precepts given by Jogen Sensei. In this talk Jogen discusses the precepts in a broad manner, and discusses ethical and psychological aspects of the precepts. ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Amy Kisei Sensei in March 2025. "We live in a crazy time, yet the teachings say samsara has always been this way. Here are the 8 practices I turn towards in moments of crisis. " - Amy Kisei ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk was given by Hogen Roshi at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland, OR on April 6, 2025. In this talk Hogen talks about the inclusive nature of the mind, and becoming aware of awareness itself. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is a talk given by Jogen Sensei at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on April 2, 2025. This talk is about cognitive errors and buddhist spiritual practice.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This podcast was given by Amy Kisei Sensei in March of 2025. Exploring Zen's teachings for the end times, this dharma talk reminds us that courage is a practice with heart. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is a talk given by Jogen Sensei at Great Vow Zen Monastery During Sound Sesshin on March, 27th. In this talk Jogen discusses the gift of dharma practice in the midst of all of the things we are sold in our modern culture, and many more related topics to this. ★ Support this podcast ★