Podcasts about Sesshin

Sensei Sangen Salon teisho kesäkuun kolmen päivän sesshinillä Sannejissa, Karjaalla 2025, Suomi (in Finnish).

Engo Kokugon war ein bedeutender Rinzai-Zenmeister (1063-1135). Er hat die Koan-Sammlung Hekiganroku kommentiert und mit zusätzlichen Versen versehen. In diesem Teisho geht Christoph Rei Ho Hatlapa auf das Erleuchtungsgedicht Engos ein, das im Koan 106 des Shūmon Kattōshū zu finden ist. Darin zeigt sich Engo als ein Mensch, der Beziehungen zu Menschen aus Fleisch und Blut eingeht und auf deren Bedeutung hinweist. Auch Buddha sprach von der Bedeutung spiritueller Freunde, den Kalyāṇamitta, die einander auf dem spirituellen Weg unterstützen. In diesem Sinne ist der ToGenJi-Tempel ein Knotenpunkt in Indras Netz, an dem Menschen zusammenkommen, gemeinsam praktizieren, Freundschaften schließen und auf der Grundlage ihrer Erkenntnisse den Dharma verbreiten. Um für junge Erwachsene den Aufenthalt im ToGenJi zu ermöglichen, bitten wir um eine Spende: Sie finden die Kontodaten/Paypal auf unserer Website https://choka-sangha.de/spenden/ Herzlichen Dank

Sensei Sangen Salon teisho kesäkuun kolmen päivän sesshinillä Sannejissa, Karjaalla 2025, Suomi (in Finnish).

Happy Summer Solstice!I feel deep gratitude to be on this path of friendship, communion and inquiry with you. The path of dharma is a path of truth, of getting closer to the actuality of our lives—to the heart of what is right here.In this journey of the heart there are so many encounters, so many opportunities for reflection, so many relationships, learnings, emotions, sensations. Fear is a natural part of the human experience. It is often connected to a sense of not feeling safe or a-getting-closer-to-what-is unfamiliar, unknown, uncertain.And fear can be quite ephemeral—leaving in its wake anger, anxious thoughts, panic, doom—as we attempt to distract ourselves, numb out or push it away.In the Buddhist tradition we have a lot of different practices for meeting fear and meeting our reactions to feeling fear. All of these practices are grounded in the four immeasureables: loving kindness, joy, compassion and equanimity.In the audio dharma talk I share some of the practices I have learned for practicing with fear, including metta, insight, working with Jizo Bodhisattva and tonglen. At the end of the recording I lead a guided tonglen practice for meeting fear/anxiety in ourselves and the world, opening to spaciousness and offering love. May we meet our fears with understanding and compassion, as we cultivate the courage to welcome everything that comes our way! …Summer Read—The Hidden Lamp: Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened Women (First Session Monday 6/23)This Summer I will be offering teachings and open discussion on 15 selected koans and stories from The Hidden Lamp. I am inviting you to join in this Summer read.The Hidden Lamp offers stories from the Women Ancestors in the Buddhist tradition. These stories are raw, humble, playful and speak of this very human path of awakening. Each story is accompanied with commentary from a contemporary Buddhist teacher.The koans are stories that tell of the awakened life. They invite us with their metaphors and images to recognize our own awakened life.I will host a meditation, dharma talk and discussion weekly on each koan and provide brief commentary and inquiry questions here. You are invited to attend the meditation/discussion, share your comments here, read along or engage in whatever way feels good for you.the light of the dharma is shining through every experience of our lives. sometimes it appears hidden. this offering is an invitation to recognize the light of awakening in the midst of our living this summer.We will start this coming Monday June 23rd with the first Koan story: The Old Woman of Mount Wu Tai.I'm Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and somatic mindfulness. I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha.Weekly Online Meditation EventMonday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. We are currently exploring supportive practice forms for engaging the dharma in life outside of retreat.Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINKZen Practice opportunities through ZCOGrasses, Trees and the Great Earth Sesshin—August 11 - 17, in-person at Great Vow Zen Monastery (this retreat is held outdoors, camping is encouraged but indoor dorm spaces are available)In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus SanghaInterdependence Sesshin: A Five Day Residential Retreat Wednesday July 2 - Sunday July 6 in Montrose, WV at Saranam Retreat Center (Mud Lotus is hosting its first Sesshin!) Currently full, contact me to be added to the waitlist.Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

Norman gives his third and last talk to the Samish Island 2025 Sesshin on the chant "En Mei Jukku Kannongyo. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you!   https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/En-Mei-Jukku-Kannongyo-Samish-Island-Sesshin-Talk-3-6-17-25.mp3

Norman gives a talk on "Opening the Hand of Thought" to the Samish Island 2025 Sesshin. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-06-16-ZoketsuNorman-Openingthehandofthought-SamishIslandSesshin-Zoom.mp4  

Norman gives a talk on the Koan "What do You Call the World" to the Samish Island 2025 Sesshin. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you!   https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-06-15-ZoketsuNormanFischer-Whatdoyoucalltheworld-SamishIslandSesshin-Zoom.mp4

I have been reflecting on the nature of practice-awakening. In the Buddhist tradition this refers to the process (both sudden and gradual) of realizing our fundamental wellbeing. This is a transformational practice. This is a healing practice. And it is mysterious. It doesn't happen in the way that we expect.Insights happen, and then are forgotten. Love is awakened and then seemingly covered over. Only to be rediscovered again. We can read the same teaching years later and feel like it opens a new level of depth, or is actually just what we needed to hear in that moment.The ancients spoke of stabilizing our insights, of familiarizing ourselves with the love, peace and understanding that we are.I am reading a book by Carol Gilligan called The Birth of Pleasure. In it Gilligan is using the myth of Psyche and Eros, to talk about the development of the psyche in women. She is also writing about relationship and the maturing of love. As I was reading I encountered a short paragraph where she introduced research between mothers and infants that revealed the relational attunement present at this early stage of our development. She spoke of how the research challenged assumptions of separation.Their research was challenging an orthodoxy of separation (we are born alone, we die alone) by revealing a reality of relationship. Finding and losing and finding again. This is the rhythm of relationship, played over and over again in the games that delight babies and young children. It is the rhythm of love.—Carol Gilligan, Birth of PleasureWhen I read this, I heard dharma practice instructions. That is the thing about immersing in the dharma, we hear it, we see it—everywhere.How many of us have this orthodoxy of separation ingrained in us? Who think thoughts or hold beliefs that—we are alone? We are separate from the rest of the world? That no one understands us? That we are unloveable or exiled in some way?The dharma challenges this orthodoxy, by revealing a reality of relationship. We can wake-up to the reality of interconnection, of non-separation. Practice is that finding and losing and finding again. Its the rhythm of love that delighted us as children. Its something we know deeply.We are never apart from it, but we get lost, as humans do. And then get found.A coin that is lost in the river, is found in the river.—Zen KoanWe are that coin. Our true nature is that coin. And actually we are the river too, where nothing is ever lost. Its always right here.In the Tibetan tradition you do practices a one-hundred-thousand times as part of the preliminary practices, called ngondro, this includes prayers, refuge practices, bows, atonement and offerings practices. I have a little taste of this from the studies I did at Tara Mandala. You keep a practice log, and you actually count.Part of the theory being that once you do it thousands of times, its in you. Faith, determination and trust are born through the practice of return. We actualize the rhythm of love that we delighted in as children.Isn't it delightful to rediscover the refuge of our breath, to reconnect with the stability and openness of our original heart?In the Zen tradition we have our own expression of this. Throughout the course of a retreat or a residential period, you will do 100s or 1000s of bows and hours of meditation. You will chant the same chants, participate in the same ceremonies, over and over again. Hogen used to say if you train at Great Vow Zen Monastery for at least 7 years—the dharma is in your bones. Ten or more years of dedicated lay practice that includes sesshin has a similar kind of embodied resonance.Part of the point here is the repetition. If we lose and find ourselves one-hundred-thousand times, we will start to trust the practice—we start to trust those periods of feeling lost, afraid or anxious as part of the rhythm of love—part of the rhythm of being. We will start to have a kind of experiential faith that love is us. That we are never apart from openness. That the peace we seek is really right here.one-hundred-thousand returns to loving kindness and kindness becomes more the ground from which we liveThe recognition, the experience of love, of ease, of understanding, takes an instant. But the true developing of the refuge takes time— perhaps one-hundred-thousand times or more.And we still get angry, we still get anxious—but our response is closer to the actual experience. We can feel the anxiety with kindness and openness, with curiosity and humility—and that changes everything.Sometimes we think, it must not be working if i still have to practice, if there is still this much anger. But this is the human realm, we live in a world with anger, with hatred, with loss and pain. Practice is an orientation of the heart, it's learning more and more to dwell with life as it actually is.Over the past year we have been reciting Ken McLeod's version of the Four Immeasureables prayer at Mud Lotus Sangha. I share it here, may you chant it 100k times until every cell in your body knows the truth behind these words.Four ImmeasurablesEquanimityMay I be free from preference and prejudice.May I know things just as they are.May I experience the world knowing me just as I am.May I see into whatever arises.Loving kindnessMay I be happy, well, and at peace.May I open to things just as they are.May I experience the world opening to me just as I am.May I welcome whatever arises.CompassionMay I be free of suffering, harm, and disturbance.May I accept things just as they are.May I experience the world accepting me just as I am.May I serve whatever arises.JoyMay I enjoy the activities of life itself.May I enjoy things just as they are.May I experience the world taking joy in all that I do.May I know what to do, whatever arises.…I'm Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and somatic mindfulness. I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha.Summer Read— The Hidden Lamp: Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened WomenJoin me starting on the Summer Solstice, Friday June 20th for a summer read of the Hidden Lamp. I hand selected 15 stories from the book that we will explore over the course of the summer.Weekly Online Meditation EventMonday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. We are currently exploring supportive practice forms for engaging the dharma in life outside of retreat.Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINKZen Practice opportunities through ZCOGrasses, Trees and the Great Earth Sesshin—August 11 - 17, in-person at Great Vow Zen Monastery (this retreat is held outdoors, camping is encouraged but indoor dorm spaces are available)In-Person in Columbus, Ohio through Mud Lotus SanghaInterdependence Sesshin: A Five Day Residential Retreat Wednesday July 2 - Sunday July 6 in Montrose, WV at Saranam Retreat Center (Mud Lotus is hosting its first Sesshin!) Currently full, contact me to be added to the waitlist.Weekly Meditations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

06/14/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the final section of the Eihei Koso Hotsuganmon by Dogen Zenji.

Ausgehend von Koan 99 des Hekiganroku beschäftigt sich Christoph Rei Ho Hatlapa mit unserer Sehnsucht nach etwas Höherem, die uns dazu verleitet, die Welt in Heilig und Unheilig aufzuteilen. In diesem Gefüge steht etwas Göttliches weit über uns und wir bemühen uns, Gutes zu tun. Doch solange wir aus einer Welt der Getrenntheit heraus tätig werden, fehlt es unserem Handeln an Kraft. Meist rufen unsere helfenden Bemühungen die Hungergeister auf den Plan und wir fühlen uns ausgelaugt und missverstanden. Wirklich selbstlos zu handeln, ist eine große Kunst, die den Zugang zum universellen Feld des Mitgefühls erfordert. Avalokiteśvara, der Bodhisattva des universellen Mitgefühls, erkannte, dass es hinter den Erscheinungen eine Welt der Leerheit gibt, die alle Wesen verbindet. Wahres Mitgefühl entspringt dieser Welt des Abwesenden. Um den Zugang dazu zu finden, müssen wir aufhören, uns Heiligenbilder gegenüberzustellen und uns vielmehr selbst auf den Weg machen, unseren Geist zu befreien. Dazu wenden wir uns zunächst liebevoll uns selbst zu und stellen uns den inneren Hungergeistern. Denn wer mit der Übung beginnt, gleicht einem Regenfass mit zahllosen Löchern. Nur wer diese Löcher gestopft hat, kann Wasser speichern, um andere Wesen damit zu nähren. Nur ein solcher Mensch vermag es, allen Wesen absolut bescheiden zu dienen. Um für junge Erwachsene den Aufenthalt im ToGenJi zu ermöglichen, bitten wir um eine Spende: Sie finden die Kontodaten/Paypal auf unserer Website https://choka-sangha.de/spenden/ Herzlichen Dank

06/13/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the second section of the Eihei Koso Hotsuganmon by Dogen Zenji.

June 2025 Sesshin, Day 6 Commentary on “Everyday Zen: Love & Work” by Charlotte Joko Beck, Part 2 Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Everyday Zen #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

06/12/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the opening paragraphs of the Eihei Koso Hotsugonmon by Dogen Zenji.

June 2025 Sesshin, Day 5 Commentary on “Everyday Zen: Love & Work” by Charlotte Joko Beck, Part 1 Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Everyday Zen #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2025 Sesshin, Day 4 Commentary on “Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings” by Ajahn Chah, Part 4 Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Being Dharma #4 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2025 Sesshin, Day 3 Commentary on “Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings” by Ajahn Chah, Part 3 Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Being Dharma #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2025 Sesshin, Day 2 Commentary on “Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings” by Ajahn Chah, Part 2 Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Being Dharma #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2025 Sesshin, Day 1 Commentary on “Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings” by Ajahn Chah, Part 1 Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Being Dharma #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Sesshin Day 1 - Working with Emotions in Practice by Ordinary Mind Zen School

Sesshin Day 2 - Working with the Precepts in Practice by Ordinary Mind Zen School

Spring Sesshin Opening Talk by Eran Junryu Vardi Roshi of Eiryu-ji Zen Center in Wyckoff, NJ, USA on 5/15/2025.

In this talk during the Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Ryotan explores the first of Dogen's Four Methods of Guidance: Dana (generosity). Dogen himself lived in a tumultuous era of social upheaval, war, […]

In this opening talk for the Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Senseis Monshin, Ryotan, and Shinzan offer their remarks and suggestions to make the most of the deep quiet and practice of sesshin. Sensei Shinzan explains […]

In this second full day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Shinzan explores the Four Bodhisattva Vows as expressions of what Suzuki Roshi described as an “inflexible determination to carry out one's will […]

In this third full day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Monshin explores the concepts of beneficial action and identity action from Dogen's Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance. She identifies beneficial action as “skillfully […]

In this talk during the fifth full day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Cynthia Ryotan explores the fourth of the bodhisattva's methods of guidance: kind speech. She fames the importance of […]

In this closing talk from the last day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, the faculty of the practice period weave together final reflections on the vows and actions of true bodhisattvas. Sensei […]

Sesshin Day 1 - Stuckness and Flow by Ordinary Mind Zen School

Sesshin Day 2 - No Fixed Self by Ordinary Mind Zen School

Sesshin Day 3 - Transform Bad Circumstances into the Path by Ordinary Mind Zen School

Sesshin Day 4 - Love in Zen by Ordinary Mind Zen School

Sesshin Day 5 - The Wonderful Emptiness of Everyday Life. by Ordinary Mind Zen School

April 2025 Sesshin, Day 2 A commentary on Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away (Ajahn Chah). High ideals and daily frustrations- a story; Comments on Ajahn Chah's meditation instructions; and Keep at it. Dharma Talk by Ven. Trueman Taylor.  Automated Transcript The post Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

April 2025 Sesshin, Day 1 Commentary on Throw Yourself into the House of Buddha (Tangen Harada Roshi) and Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away (Ajahn Chah). Tips on zazen posture & practice; Working with pain in sesshin; Biography of Ajahn Chah; Comments on impermanence and practice. Dharma Talk by Ven. Trueman Taylor.  Automated Transcript The post Throw Yourself into the House of Buddha appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

04/06/2025, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Kokyo Henkel concludes sesshin and a 6-week study of Zen Ancestor Dongshan's "Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi.”

Shuso Laura Trippi gives the sixth talk of the Villa Maria Del Mar 2025 Sesshin on "Already Forgiven." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sesshin-Villa-Maria-del-Mar-2025-Talk-6-Already-Forgiven-Shuso-Laura-Trippi.mp3

Norman gives the seventh and last talk of the Villa Maria del Mar 2025 Sesshin on "Dogen's Ocean Mudra Samadhi Part 2." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sesshin-Villa-Maria-Del-Mar-2025-Talk-7-Dogens-Ocean-Mudra-Samadhi-Part-2.mp3

03/29/2025, Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores how the spirit of Dogen's “Tenzo Kyokun” extends beyond sesshin, inviting us to discover how zazen mind manifests in our homes and workplaces.

This Dharma talk was given by Hogen, Roshi at Great Vow Zen Monastery during Sound Sesshin on March 15th, 2025. In this talk Hogen Roshi discusses the foundation of Sesshin, The Platform Sutra and Bodhidharma. ★ Support this podcast ★

03/28/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Dan Gudgel explores the idea of a ‘caretaker' as it relates to the Parental Mind that Dogen encourages in his Tenzo Kyokun text.

March 2025 Sesshin, Day 6 Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Shoyoroku (Book of Serenity) #4, “The Buddha Points to the Ground” appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Norman gives the fourth talk of the Villa Maria del Mar 2025 Sesshin  "On the Meal Chant Part 2." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sesshin-Villa-Maria-Del-Mar-2025-Talk-4-On-the-Meal-Chant-Part-2-Living-by-Vow-2025-Tallk-10.mp3

Shuso Laura Trippi gives the third talk of the Villa Maria Del Mar 2025 Sesshin on her "Way Seeking Mind" journey to entering the practice. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sesshin-Villa-Maria-Del-Mar-2025-Talk-3-Shuso-Way-Seeking-Mind-Laura-Trippi.mp3

March 2025 Sesshin, Day 5 Commentary on “An Experience of Enlightenment” by Flora Courtois. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post “An Experience of Enlightenment” #5 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Norman gives the second talk of the Villa Maria del Mar 2025 Sesshin  "On the Meal Chant." Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sesshin-Villa-Maria-Del-Mar-2025-Talk-2-On-The-Meal-Chant.mp3

March 2025 Sesshin, Day 4 Commentary on “An Experience of Enlightenment” by Flora Courtois. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post “An Experience of Enlightenment” #4 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Norman gives the first talk of the Villa Maria del Mar 2025 Sesshin on "Dogen's Ocean Mudra Samadhi. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sesshin-Villa-Maria-Del-Mar-2025-Talk-1-Ocean-Mudra-Samadi.mp3  

March 2025 Sesshin, Day 3 Commentary on “An Experience of Enlightenment” by Flora Courtois. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post “An Experience of Enlightenment” #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

March 2025 Sesshin, Day 2 Commentary on “An Experience of Enlightenment” by Flora Courtois. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post “An Experience of Enlightenment” #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

March 2055 Sesshin, Day 1 Commentary on “An Experience of Enlightenment” by Flora Courtois. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1986. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post “An Experience of Enlightenment” #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.