Podcasts about Roshi

In this opening session (Part 1) of the Varela Contemplative Science Retreat, Roshi Joan Halifax welcomes practitioners on-site and online, tracing the retreat's roots to her decades-long friendship with the late neuroscientist and Buddhist practitioner Francisco Varela and how their conversations from 1981 ultimately seeded what became the Mind and Life Institute. Roshi reminds the room that this… Source

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 8/22/26 – Many times our practice can be simple and straightforward. But when conditions become adverse, how do we stay on the path? The Dharma points us toward beneficial qualities within ourselves that we can cultivate and draw upon for strength—to support our focus, deepen our faith, and develop clarity. Sometimes called the Beautiful Qualities, or Beautiful Mental Factors, these qualities can sustain and strengthen our practice, especially as we encounter negative conditioning and our habitual patterns.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 8/19/26 – What are the qualities that help, or hinder, our ability to enter and sustain practice on a path of liberation? What to cultivate, what to mindfully let go of? The Buddha and later practitioners studied and taught these ways to support our practice, to best support us in this life, for the life of all beings. Shugen Roshi offers this guiding talk during the Hazy Moon sesshin.

This talk is a teaching on the ageless, ever-present awareness beneath our changing thoughts and circumstances. Drawing on the Mangala Sutta, this talk explores how recognizing (not manufacturing) this ground allows the mind to remain unshaken "beyond all sorrow." ★ Support this podcast ★

This Teisho from the Great Heartland Sangha, given at the Zen Buddhist Temple of Toledo was given by Do'on Roshi on February 6, 2026.  In this Teisho, Do'on Roshi discusses wisdom, concentration, and other paramitas and the fruition of joyfull effort that comes with being held by emptiness.  This Teisho lands on Case 57 from the Book of Equanimity - Gonyo's One Thing. To learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo, or to make a contribution in support of this podcast, please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 8/9/26 – With effort in practice, we bring forth our natural aliveness. To do this we make an effort to let go of self-clinging and other ways we deplete our energies. Even with expectations of the way we imagine “letting go” to be, when we encounter the reality of how tight we grasp on to our attachments, can we yield our fixed and self-centered ideas? Shugen Roshi explores this energy of aliveness with the Five Powers of the Buddha as well as a koan from Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo. (From The True Dharma Eye, Case 44: Guishan’s “I have already exhausted myself for you.”)

Note:  This is the second upload for this episode.  The first one just the ending portion of the interview.  This is the full version.  Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi began practicing daily meditation in 1976. Since then, he has studied Buddhism extensively—investigating and engaging in Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, and Western non-dual traditions. He was authorized to teach in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in 2007 and the Zen Buddhist schools of Soto and Rinzai in 2022. Mugen is a senior student of Roshi Mark Sando Mininberg and a transmitted teacher in the White Plum Asanga—the body of teachers in the Maezumi-roshi lineage.For more on Stephen and his teachings:  https://awakeningdharma.org/Online Zen podcasts and Zen training: https://simplicityzen.com/

The Buddha said he kept looking for real stability and kept reaching for things that couldn't provide it — and this talk uses a dying biohacker, the nature of vow, and the frank reality that we will all die before we finish everything we wanted to do, to point toward the only ground that doesn't shift: settled acceptance of this particular karmic bundle, right here, right now. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 8/2/26 – Koan study can turn our minds inward, showing us where we get stuck in our own habitual tangles and ways of thinking about reality. What is the true nature that 'mind training' can reveal? Shugen Roshi brings alive the subtle teachings of Zhao Zhou with this question. Through practice, we gain some ground in working with our own minds, therefore finding ways to untangle ourselves and live in true freedom. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 11 – Zhao Zhou Examines the Hermits.)

This Dharma Discourse was given by the Rev. Do'on Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on February 4, 2026.  In this talk Rev. Do'on discusses the true nature of home through the parable of the wealthy man and his poor son from the Lotus Sutra.   If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org.

This Teisho was given by the Rev. Do'on Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on January 21, 2026.  In this talk Rev. Do'on expounds upon the value of purposeful, deliberate movement in Zen training through a discussion of walking and kinhin – with a brief elucidation of Blue Cliff Record Case 98, Tempyo's Two Wrongs.   If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org.

In this talk onn self-sufficiency, impossible decisions, and turning failure into wisdom, Hogen Roshi argues that true liberation isn't a state we achieve and protect but a responsive openness that meets whatever comes with curiosity rather than fear. ★ Support this podcast ★

Drawing on the Mangala Sutta's teaching on gratefulness and a recent pilgrimage to 400-year-old Soto Zen monasteries in Japan, this talk by Hogen Roshi traces how the abiding belief that "the world should work according to me" cuts us off from the very life we're trying to improve.  ★ Support this podcast ★

Sparked by a Fourth of July celebration, this talk cuts through the cultural fantasy that freedom means getting what you want — and points instead toward the Buddhist understanding of freedom as release from greed, anger, and delusion, discoverable not by chasing carrots but by simply stopping, sitting, and breathing. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 7/5/26 – Celebrating July 4th by looking at the dharma teachings on interdependence, Shugen Roshi leads us through the fundamental question of how suffering is created, and our personal and collective ability to heal as we affect the reality—the whole picture—of the physical, moral and metaphysical aspects of our lives. (From the Koans of the Way of Reality.)

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/28/26 – This teaching from ancient master Yunmen calls us not to ignore the strife around us, but to see it all through the eye of wisdom and compassion which does not get entangled by it. Even when the outer circumstances are not favorable—which is typical for samsara—we still have agency to affect things beyond our understanding when we take the Dharma as our refuge. (From the Blue Cliff Record, Case 6 – Every Day is a Good Day)

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/25/26 – Resistance to change often underlies our suffering and shows up in feelings such as anxiety, irritation, impatience and so on. As an essential teaching of the Buddha, impermanence calls on us to reflect and study this as the condition of all life, allowing us to loosen the tension, to accept what is true, and find ways to move in accord with things. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 75 – Ruiyan’s “Constant Principle”)

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/21/26 – The sense of separation — from life, from happiness, from anything we feel apart from — lies at the root of what brings many of us to a spiritual path. The Buddha taught that suffering arises from the duality created by conceptual thinking. To truly end our troubles, and the troubles we create in the world, we must see into this directly. Shugen Sensei explores how we can deepen the practice of seeing the mind and experiencing our true nature. Through mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion, we can discover that we are not separate; we were never separate at all.

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In this session of The Measure of Our Humanity, Roshi Joan Halifax draws on her newly written essay “Mutual Belonging, Compassion, and Social Responsibility” to offer a radical reframing of compassion for a world in crisis. Too often reduced to kindness or pity, Roshi teaches compassion as something far more radical: “Compassion is not an emotion. Compassion is natural courage. Source

Contrasting a book of philosophy where every page offers a new way to think about reality with the Buddha Dharma's insistence on direct verification, Hogen argues that contentment and gratitude aren't ideas to adopt but discoveries that arise naturally when we stop managing our experience and simply look closely. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/7/26 – How Buddhism uses the term “attachments” is often misunderstood as being something bad, which should not happen, but our sense of self is made up of a series of attachments: to identity, position, and so on. When we see through these many ideas of who we are, we can eventually settle our minds and experience our true nature. Using an ancient koan and the words of Henry David Thoreau, Shugen Roshi explores the world of attachment and how to bring clarity by exploring the inner wilderness to find the true nature of the self. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 44 – Basho’s Stick.)

This Teisho was given by the Rev. Do'on Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on December 10th, 2025. In this talk Do'on Roshi continues her discussion on the 80th case from the Blue Cliff Record known as Joshu's Newborn Baby. If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org. Part of Rev. Do'on Roshi's Teisho on the Blue Cliff Record series.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 5/31/26 – Mundane truth, enlightened truth, from the beginning are all together one. But there are snags that grab us, some of them repeatedly. Hongzhi describes our original mind this way: “from the beginning it is fundamentally all together complete, undefiled, clear down to the bottom.” In this Dharma Encounter with the sangha, Shugen Roshi asks: how do each of us use our difficulty, troubles, heartache and anger to relieve our suffering? How do we heal? The sangha shares the many ways we turn, rather than heaping on destruction, and practice reality with a heart of wisdom and compassion.

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 5/30/26 – Zen is filled with koan stories asking this question: do they see it or not? Do you see “it”? Shugen Roshi says that we see only as far as our penetrating vision can reach at any time. And yet that is plenty. Our present experience invites us to look further and not solidify our moment to moment experience. The Path is not linear in the usual sense, although there is practice and realization, much more valuable is learning to ask, to get curious, and to practice every aspect of our lives. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 51 – Fayan’s “Boat or Land”.)

This dharma talk was given by Rev. Rensen Roshi,  Rev. Do'on Roshi, and Rev. Kensei at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on December 28, 2025.  In this talk, Rensen Roshi talks about the taking of monastic vows in a modern setting, Revs. Do'on Roshi and Kensei reflect on taking the vows followed by a short Q&A from the community.   If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this Podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/24/26 – Shugen Roshi asks: “When you're thinking of the thinking mind, what do you find there? And where will you go from there?” At the heart of bodhicitta — the wish to bring suffering to an end — are the questions: What are we contributing? What kind of environment are we creating through our thoughts, words, and actions? Cultivating bodhicitta is how we make our freedom real and, ultimately, what we are able to offer to others. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 32 – Yangshan’s “Mind and Environment”)

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/21/26 – Are the words you are about to speak true? Verify them first through your own experience. Are they of benefit? Are they agreeable or disagreeable? Know your intentions and consider carefully before speaking. Drawing from the early teachings, Shugen Roshi offers the Buddha's guidelines for practicing right speech in ways that bring an end to conflict and suffering and offer a path of liberation. (Dharma Discourse during the May 2026 Fusatsu Ceremony at ZMM)

This talk on the Mangala Sutta includes the importance of responding to life's circumstances with a calm, clear mind; the idea that each person has a unique set of skills and talents worth developing with intention and integrity; and the value of staying open to learning rather than assuming you already know. It closes with a distinction between speech that flatters people's existing beliefs (what algorithms do) versus speech that is genuinely inclusive and connects people to something larger than their own perspective. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/10/26 – Who fears the spring row's knee-deep mud? This line from Hongzhi's poem underscores the challenge which all practitioners of the dharma face: to bring something good into the world, despite the challenges that we inevitably face. Our world is constantly in flux, complex and unpredictable, and those on the Path are called to both quiet reverence and to making real effort. With words and activity, mindfulness and the moral precepts, Shugen Roshi encourages us to inhabit this universe in all directions. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 79 – Changsha Advancing a Step)

In this informal talk,. Hogen Roshi explores the the Mangala Sutta, tracing its origins in the Pali Canon and reflecting on how its wisdom remains deeply relevant today. Roshi invites listeners to consider the blessings already present in their lives — from love, community, and curiosity to inner peace and spiritual practice — and how gratitude can transform suffering and fear into clarity and compassion.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This talk explores the Four Immeasurables—loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—as practical trainings for transforming how we relate to ourselves and others. Through traditional Buddhist framing, Chozen Roshi highlights the near and far enemies of each quality and how subtle distortions like pity, indifference, or conditional love can quietly shape our experience. The teaching is connected to how perception itself is filtered, showing how habitual thoughts and beliefs narrow what we notice and reinforce suffering or ease. By consciously cultivating wholesome mental patterns, we can “reset the filter” of attention and begin to perceive a more open, interconnected reality. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/3/26 – The middle way between indulgence and denial is not obvious for any of us beginning on our practice path. How could we know where the “middle” might be? We need to stumble and make mistakes to learn how to embrace a wholesome and sustainable balance, through practice. Building a sanctuary, a monastery, or a livable life takes effort, reflection, atonement and renewal. Our own enlightened nature is ready at any time to support what can be of benefit to all beings. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 4: The World Honored One Points to the Ground)

This Teisho was given by the Rev. Do'on Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on November 19, 2025. In this talk Do'on Roshi continues her discussion on the 83rd case from the Blue Cliff Record known as Yun Men's Ancient Buddhas and the Pillar.   If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org.   Part of Rev. Do'on Roshi's Teisho on the Blue Cliff Record series.

In this talk, Hogen Roshi reflects on spring as a living expression of faith—an ever-present renewal that arises regardless of conditions. He points to the “root” of our being: the simple, undeniable aliveness that remains constant beneath changing circumstances. As we lose touch with this root, we grasp outwardly and create conflict; practice is a return to what is already here. A grounded and seasonal teaching on trust, renewal, and the foundation of faith. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/25/26 – The words of a koan always point to our original mind—our unobstructed, liberated mind—but the path of seeking clarity is not always so direct. Aspirations help us along, and bodhicitta is essential, but we still must contend with the moment that is arising, in this body and mind, and not some past or future mind. This talk during Apple Blossom sesshin points the listener into the wild, vast acreage of mountain grass on the Path. – From the Book of Serenity, Case 89 – Dongshan’s “No Grass”.

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In this talk, Chozen Roshi explores the role of prayer in Zen practice—something rarely discussed, yet deeply present. Rather than asking for control over life, prayer becomes an expression of gratitude, intention, and connection within the flow of cause and effect. From loving-kindness and mantra to silent listening, she reframes prayer as a way to open the heart and gently influence our inner and outer world. A practical and expansive look at prayer beyond belief. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/22/26 – From the Book of Serenity, Case 97 – Emperor Tongguang’s Hat – Paying attention to how things unfold, we always benefit from skillfully navigating our reactions, our tendencies to mistrust and avoid. Skillfully, we can trust that our true nature is always present, clear and undivided. How do we teach ourselves to trust, to “know without knowing,”  and relinquish the tendency of our powerful tendency to divide, separate, disconnect? “In clarity, wonder exists,” says Hongzhi, and Shugen Roshi encourages us to continuously turn toward that clarity.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/19/26 – Living a simple life in the Buddhist tradition is a skillful means which supports the development of clarity and flexibility, so we are not weighted down by things, by situations, or by our own thoughts. Free of unnecessary complications, we can “respond appropriately” to all changes we encounter. This pivot moment, as Master Hongzhi taught, allows us to respond to all the things that come our way.

In this 2026 Sound Sesshin talk, Hogen explores the profound immediacy of our lived experience, showing how attention to the present moment reveals the mind's intimate connection with the world. Drawing on Zen teachings and stories of historical practitioners, he emphasizes that awareness, gratitude, and surrender to what is allow us to see our true nature and respond to life with clarity and compassion. By resting in the dynamic “is-ness” of each moment, we cultivate stability, insight, and the capacity to act in service of others.  ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 4/12/26 – Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, three students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts, taking up these living teachings, living vows in the company of the sangha with family and friends: Jerry Kyosei Calvillo (Peaceful Mirror), Paul Yugen Burns (The Eye of Devotion/Courage), and Jacob Kyonen McGlaun (Mind Mirror).

This talk explores how grounding in present-moment awareness—especially through the body—becomes the foundation for transforming life's challenges into wisdom. By cultivating integrity, ethical living, and alignment with a deeper aspiration, we learn to respond skillfully rather than react habitually. Hogen emphasizes that even our past mistakes and suffering can become sources of insight when met with awareness and compassion. Ultimately, wisdom arises not from abstract ideas, but from how we meet each moment with presence, responsibility, and an open heart. ★ Support this podcast ★

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/5/26 – From the Book of Serenity, Case 37 – Guishan’s “Active Consciousness” – Who is this “self,” the one we've taken ourselves to be all our lives? On the path, this question must be clarified intimately, so we can truly take responsibility for how we live. This requires seeing every arising of mind—even those we would rather avoid, or have been told to ignore—because they may reveal what is asking to be met. In taking responsibility, we learn to work skillfully with negativity and conflict, opening the way to genuine liberation for ourselves and all beings.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 3/29/26 – Prajna Paramita is the wisdom of the other shore, encompassing all of the paramitas and expressing the non-duality of wisdom and compassion. As the theme of this Dharma Encounter, Shugen Roshi invites sangha members to present their understanding and their questions about Prajna Paramita, as well as “turning words” which express the heart of this theme, the non-duality of wisdom and compassion.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 3/28/26 – The subtle healing energy of zazen is likened to an acupuncture needle by Hongzhi, and Shugen Roshi explores how this teaching functions in our own practice life. Within zazen, are we truly engaging what is right in front of us? The simple and direct nature of zazen brings us back again and again, and so we return and settle into the ease of being within our own minds. Hongzhi invites us to “know without touching…and rest there.” Things become closer, softer, bright and clear.

This dharma discourse was given by the Rev. Do'on Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on November 5, 2025. In this talk Do'on Roshi continues discussion on Chapter 7 of the Vimalakirti Sutra, asking us "What does it take to throw your whole life into something impossible?" If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 3/22/26 – Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of the MRO Spring Ango 2026 training period, “The Turning Words of Hongzhi”.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 3/15/26 – As the first of the Paramitas, or perfections, generosity is a virtue that leads to releasing the suffering we all experience, which was the primary focus of the Buddha's teaching. Shugen Roshi reminds us that when we practice the dharma with the mind of generosity, we can hold everything that arises, and let diminish the disconnection between ourselves and all others.