Podcasts about suzuki roshi

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 […]

Norman gives a talk to the Dharma Seminar on "Becoming Yourself."  This is based on excerpts of a new upcoming book on Suzuki Roshi by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler that is to be published within the next year. https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Susuki-Roshi-Becoming-Yourself.mp3

Hello Friends,Happy April 1st! Here we are, its Aries Season, it's Spring, Mercury and Venus have both been retrograde for a while now (which can give a certain feeling of friction or underworld journey to our days), there is much happening in our geo-political world that I (we) wish wasn't happening. And still the magnolias are blooming, the songbirds are back, tulips are pushing through the mulch in our front yard, the sun is rising earlier and setting later.Aries season reminds us that our life force is resilient, there is a certain courage within the bud that allows it to open. There is a certain courage within each of us to continue to live our lives, to walk this path of awakening, to let ourselves be opened by the world—even when things feel fragile or scary or uncertain. In this spirit I would like to share this koan from the Hidden Lamp Collection called Ryonen Scars Her Face.As a young woman, Ryonen Genso was an attendant to the empress, and was known for her beauty and intelligence. When the empress died, she felt the impermanence of life, and she decided to become a nun. Ryonen traveled to the city of Edo in search of a Zen teacher.The first teacher refused her because of her beauty. Then she asked Master Hakuo Dotai, who also refused her. He could see her sincere intention, but he too said that her womanly appearance would cause problems for the monks in his monastery.Afterward, she saw some women pressing fabric, and she took up a hot iron and held it against her face, scarring herself. Then she wrote this poem on the back of a small mirror:To serve my Empress I burned incense to perfume my exquisite clothes.Now as a homeless mendicant I burn my face to enter a Zen temple.The four seasons flow naturally like this,Who is this now in the midst of these changes?She returned to Hakuo and gave him the poem. Hakuo immediately accepted her as a disciple. She became abbess of his temple when he died, and later founded her own temple. Before her death she wrote the following poem:This is the sixty-sixth autumn I have seen.The moon still lights my face.Don't ask me about the meaning of Zen teachings—Just listen to what the pines and cedars say on a windless night.This koan is about a lot of things, which is one of the beautiful things about koans. They often meet us in the stuff of our lives. They give us a nod, or a wink, or reach up and hold our hand and say me too. I see you.In this story we can find themes of courage, vow, determination, sacrifice, injustice, impermanence and a deep reflection on what is truly reliable. And still, in this koan with so many words, much still isn't said—or can't be said.Just listen to what the pines and cedars say on a windless nightAs I reflect on Ryonen with that hot iron in hand, I know that she probably wasn't thinking too much about what she was about to do and the impact that might have on her life into the future. She picked up the iron and touched it to her face. Done.There are times in our spiritual lives or simply on this path of life, where we take that brave next step willing to face whatever consequences come from such action. This is very Aries. Just Do. Act first, think later.Can you relate?In my own life, I can feel Ryonen's iron in my choice to become a monastic. At the time I was thinking about my finances or professional development, I wasn't thinking about what futures I might be giving up—I just had this vow in my heart and ordination felt like the only way I could live that vow. And, I felt willing to face whatever consequences came from orienting my life in this way.Some steps on the spiritual path have this bold, no turning back feel.A single act marks a transformation.For Ryonen, it marked an orientation, a vow, a direction. The inner process of transformation usually doesn't happen in one single gesture.Much of our letting go on the spiritual path happens gradually or even invisibly. Many times it is a series of small commitments. We give over a night every week to practicing in sangha. Or we rearrange our morning or evening routine to accommodate our meditation practice. Or we start using our vacation time for retreats. Or we find ourselves changing certain behaviors. Perhaps we stop using substances or clean-up toxic relational patterns. Perhaps we start investigating the nature of judgment or learn to accompany the feelings of boredom. Maybe we start to courageously feel our feelings or speak our needs in our relationships.It's like walking through fog, Suzuki Roshi says, after sometime we realize we are completely saturated. Transformed through our persistence, awakened through the simple, yet courageous act of continuing.The spiritual path can also bring us into relationship with the dark night. Times when the habitual ways that we have found pleasure and joy in the past no longer hit the spot. Times when we are called deeper into ourselves to discover a satisfaction that is not dependent on other people or things. I mentioned that Venus is currently retrograde. Venus retrogrades last about 40 days and 40 nights and can have a really similar feeling as the dark night of the soul. Or even lent in the Christian tradition. A time of discovering a even deeper and more enduring love.During this Venus retrograde, I have been studying the myth of Inanna. Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of love, beauty, harmony and relationship similar to the Roman goddess Venus. In one of Inanna's myths that astrologers relate to the Venus retrograde cycle, Inanna receives a call from the underworld.Now Inanna's sister Ereshkigal is the goddess of the underworld. So Inanna hears the call, and chooses to respond, chooses to meet her sister in the underworld. This is something we do in our own lives. At times there is a call, maybe from within from Psyche or from Spirit asking us to move towards a particular part of the path, to open or include more of who we are, to truly love ourselves. It could also be a call to action in the socio-political realm or in our relationship. In whatever shape it takes something compels us to move towards something unknown, something we othered or disowned or simply ignored.How do you heed this call?Inanna being a goddess and queen, gets all suited up in her royal and protective attire and sets off for the underworld. When she gets to the gate, the gatekeeper informs her that she is going to have to pass through the seven gates of the underworld. At each gate she must remove another layer of her protective and royal attire. By the time she reaches the underworld, her final destination, she is naked and unadorned.This is another shape that sacrifice takes on the spiritual path, through progressive surrender. We shed or see through the protective beliefs and adorning thoughts that have kept us separate or on the surface of things.In its heart, the myth of Inanna is a story of wholeness, the two sisters come to see that they are each other. Inanna's descent is actually an opening to inclusivity. True love and beauty include all facets and shapes of this one life.The descent is never easy, coming to wholeness or spiritual awakening involve periods of sacrifice, or darkness. These times help us discover our deeper resources, hidden or forgotten sources of support and a faith that isn't dependent on an object.As Ryonen says before her death:This is the sixty-sixth autumn I have seen.The moon still lights my face.Don't ask me about the meaning of Zen teachings—Just listen to what the pines and cedars say on a windless night.…For a more in-depth contemplation of this koan and the myth of Inanna listen to the audio.I'm Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, budding 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.Below you can find a list of weekly and monthly online and in-person practice opportunities.Weekly Online Meditation EventMonday Night Dharma — 6P PT / 9P ET Join weekly for drop-in meditation and dharma talk. We are currently exploring Zen and Dreams.Feel free to join anytime. Event lasts about 1.5 hours. ZOOM LINKMonthly Online Practice EventSky+Rose: An emergent online community braiding spirit and soul, first Sundays (back in May)10:30A - 12:30P PT / 1:30P - 3:30P ETnext Meeting Sunday May 4thEmail me: amy.kisei@gmail.com to RSVPZen Practice opportunities through ZCOLight of the Ancestors Sesshin—May 12 - 18, in-person at Great Vow Zen Monastery16 Bodhisattva Precepts Class—May 4 - June 8, online class series exploring the ethical teachings of Zen BuddhismIn-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!)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

In light of revelations about the theft of countless authors' work by one A.I. company (guess which one), Ethan finally talks about a topic he's been requested to cover for a while: Buddhist views on artificial intelligence. He begins by positioning the conversation within the frame of View and Intention, asking the question of what "technology" is and why and how we even want it to progress, along with proposing the sacredness of human labor, wisdom and creativity as a basic Buddhist principle, as well as a principle of right livelihood. He also includes a Buddhist understanding of the meaning of consciousness, and why AI might never meet the standard. Please support the podcast via Substack and subscribe for free or with small monthly contributions. Paid subscribers will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon. Free video courses, such as The Three Marks of Existence, are also available for download. Notes: To see some of the energy usage date on artificial intelligence, see this link To see which author's works have been pirated, see The Atlantic's list here. To read about The "Suzuki Roshi" Chatbot, read here. An alternate translation of Suzuki Roshi's famed quote to his students is:  “Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.”  

Beginner's mind is a Zen Buddhist principle of seeing everything as new, as it is, without preconception or expectation. It can be considered the simplest state but also the most advanced. Mind identifies, creates the illusion of separation, and focuses on survival of the individual body and psychological structure. But we can open to “big mind,” our true nature which has limited itself, as occurs in deep sleep and sometimes in meditation. We all experience freedom from the prison of ordinary mind at times in life—as the sun peeks through the clouds—because it is our nature. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a book by Suzuki Roshi, who referred to beginner's mind as the “goal” of practice. Quotes from the book and from the American teacher Lee Lozowick are discussed. A matrix of practice is needed to hold beginner's mind, which is not something we can bring about. We can see that everything is transient, but we often don't see that we're always changing as well and that there is no solid self. Calmness arises as we give images in our mind a large spacious meadow, allowing them to come and go, which requires special effort. If we do not indulge our tendencies, ego will show us itself at deeper levels. Practice without gaining idea does not mean to have no purpose. Just to do something can be our purpose. If we have spiritual pride in our understanding, we will lose the characteristic of beginner's mind, which cuts though pride in the knowledge that everything comes from big mind. Vajra pride is unshakable self-esteem rooted in recognition of our true nature, which everyone has. True creativity comes from nothing. The greatest moments of creativity come when we forget what we know. Life continues to put us in new situations where we are beginners again. VJ Fedorschak is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and the author of The Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.

03/01/2025, Edward Brown, dharma talk at City Center. Edward Espe Brown shares teachings from Eihei Dogen's “Tenzo Kyokun”, and stories from practicing as tenzo (head cook) at Tassajara under the guidance of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.

02/22/2025, Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores the dharma teachings of the past year-plus of renovation work, community cooperation and trying new forms.

02/19/2025, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith asks “How can we study and engage with memory and mind processes in such a way that it allows for skillful, discerning activity?”

______________ Steven Tierney (Kai Po Koshin) is a Dharma transmitted teacher in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi.  Steven has a new Sangha: Oceans Compassion Sangha and also practices with Gay Buddhist Fellowship, Meditation in Recovery at SFZC, Great Spirit Sangha, SFLGBTQA Sangha, and the Hartford Street Zen Center.  Steven believes that we can find wisdom, compassion and awakening wherever good people come together for practice, healing, service and joy.  Dr. Tierney is a psychotherapist in private practice and Professor Emeritus in Counseling Psychology at CIIS.He is a Certified Addiction Specialist and has been named a Diplomate in Clinical Mental Health by the American Mental Health Counselors Association.  He is also a certified suicide prevention and intervention trainer, providing workshops, classes, and consultations.  Steven can be reached at 415-235-1061 or steventierneysf@gmail.com ______________ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

02/08/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Dan Gudgel offers suggestions and principles for providing and engaging in online practice, and celebrates the connection between ‘sacred' and ‘everyday' activities in Soto Zen.

02/01/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord uses the lens of "The Harmony of Difference and Equality" by Shitou Xiqian, to unpack the relevance of remembrances such as Black History Month and how such events are not in conflict with our ultimate truth, that we are all one interconnected humanity.

01/15/2025, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith examines two koans (Zen teaching stories) from the Blue Cliff Record that have to do with duality, and rice.

DEBORAH EDEN TULL, founder of Mindful Living Revolution, teaches the integration of compassionate awareness into every aspect of our lives, bridging personal and collective awakening in an age of global change. She is an engaged Buddhist teacher, spiritual activist, author, eco-dharma educator, and facilitator of The Work That Reconnects, a field created by Buddhist scholar and eco-philosopher Joanna Macy for transforming our love and pain for our world into compassionate action. Eden teaches dharma intertwined with post-patriarchal thought and practices, resting upon a lived knowledge of our unity with the more than human world. She has practiced meditation for 30 years and  trained for seven and a half years as a Buddhist monk at the Zen Monastery Peace Center, a silent Zen monastery in the Sierra foothills. She has been teaching for over 20 years. Eden's teaching emphasizes relational presence, acknowledging the personal, interpersonal, intrapersonal, transpersonal, societal, ecological, mystical, and global impacts of embodied dharma. She has worked with a wide range of audiences, from dharma students and spiritual teachers to those practicing or teaching secular mindfulness, to concerned citizens, activists, leaders, and change agents, to parents, schools, inner city youth, nonprofits, corporations, and people who are incarcerated. Eden taught for many years with UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center, and has been collaborating with Nina Simons, co-founder of Bioneers since 2012, on the topics of Regenerative Leadership, Women's Leadership, and Sacred Activism. She is also a member of the national Eco-Dharma Advisory Committee of Buddhist teachers and leaders in the eco-dharma movement. Eden has a special gift for facilitating mindful inquiry and fierce compassion, and bridging personal, ancestral, and collective healing. Weaving dharma with her embodiment of animism, deep ecology, shadow work, somatic awareness, ancestral healing, and conscious movement/dance, she helps people release limiting beliefs and collective biases that have been passed down over generations. She draws upon her own experience of navigating loss, illness, and trauma, guiding people to embrace the mystery and celebrate the value and alchemy of light and darkness as teachers of love. Having lived in or taught about sustainable communities and organic gardening/permaculture for decades, Eden weaves the essential wisdom of nature into everything she teaches. She currently resides in the mountains of western North Carolina, originally Cherokee land, with her husband Mark. She offers retreats, workshops, and consultations nationally and internationally, integrating presence and partnership with nature. Eden feels that the most important aspect of being a teacher is continually being a student. She continually immerses herself in trainings and retreats, recognizing direct experience as our truest guide. She works closely with mentor Pam Weiss, author of A Bigger Sky: Awakening a Fierce Feminine Buddhism, to deepen her embodiment of Soto Zen Buddhism in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi.

DEBORAH EDEN TULL, founder of Mindful Living Revolution, teaches the integration of compassionate awareness into every aspect of our lives, bridging personal and collective awakening in an age of global change. She is an engaged Buddhist teacher, spiritual activist, author, eco-dharma educator, and facilitator of The Work That Reconnects, a field created by Buddhist scholar and eco-philosopher Joanna Macy for transforming our love and pain for our world into compassionate action. Eden teaches dharma intertwined with post-patriarchal thought and practices, resting upon a lived knowledge of our unity with the more than human world. She has practiced meditation for 30 years and  trained for seven and a half years as a Buddhist monk at the Zen Monastery Peace Center, a silent Zen monastery in the Sierra foothills. She has been teaching for over 20 years. Eden's teaching emphasizes relational presence, acknowledging the personal, interpersonal, intrapersonal, transpersonal, societal, ecological, mystical, and global impacts of embodied dharma. She has worked with a wide range of audiences, from dharma students and spiritual teachers to those practicing or teaching secular mindfulness, to concerned citizens, activists, leaders, and change agents, to parents, schools, inner city youth, nonprofits, corporations, and people who are incarcerated. Eden taught for many years with UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center, and has been collaborating with Nina Simons, co-founder of Bioneers since 2012, on the topics of Regenerative Leadership, Women's Leadership, and Sacred Activism. She is also a member of the national Eco-Dharma Advisory Committee of Buddhist teachers and leaders in the eco-dharma movement. Eden has a special gift for facilitating mindful inquiry and fierce compassion, and bridging personal, ancestral, and collective healing. Weaving dharma with her embodiment of animism, deep ecology, shadow work, somatic awareness, ancestral healing, and conscious movement/dance, she helps people release limiting beliefs and collective biases that have been passed down over generations. She draws upon her own experience of navigating loss, illness, and trauma, guiding people to embrace the mystery and celebrate the value and alchemy of light and darkness as teachers of love. Having lived in or taught about sustainable communities and organic gardening/permaculture for decades, Eden weaves the essential wisdom of nature into everything she teaches. She currently resides in the mountains of western North Carolina, originally Cherokee land, with her husband Mark. She offers retreats, workshops, and consultations nationally and internationally, integrating presence and partnership with nature. Eden feels that the most important aspect of being a teacher is continually being a student. She continually immerses herself in trainings and retreats, recognizing direct experience as our truest guide. She works closely with mentor Pam Weiss, author of A Bigger Sky: Awakening a Fierce Feminine Buddhism, to deepen her embodiment of Soto Zen Buddhism in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi.

12/21/2024, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. On the occasion of the Winter Solstice, Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman delves into the themes of stillness, rest, liminality, and balance.

12/10/2024, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at Tassajara.

12/07/2024, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. Jisan Tova Green weaves together several themes in this final talk of the City Center Fall 2024 Practice Period: welcoming beginner's mind and the ten ox-herding pictures, Buddha's enlightenment, and seeing our path of practice as a journey, not unlike Buddha's journey.

11/23/2024, Rinso Ed Sattizahn, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk by former central abbot Rinso Ed Sattizahn examines Suzuki Roshi's open, inviting practice, and unpacks Wang Wei's poem “In my middle years…”

11/16/2024, Paula Arai, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk by visiting teacher Paula Arai at Beginner's Mind Temple explores Buddhism from a woman's perspective, focusing on the liberating power of storytelling in sutras. Combining rigorous research and an embodied approach, Arai humanizes Buddhist women's experiences. She shared two stories—Queen Shrimala and "Bowing With the Dharma"—from her upcoming book, "Of Lotuses and Mud: Women Liberating Dharma".

Helping us reflect on our daily habits and feelings, Jack shares how Right Attitude, Wise Aspiration, and Mindful Thought allow us to uncover the sweet joy of living in The Way.This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/heartwisdom and get on your way to being your best self.“With Wise Attitude we begin to discover the power of kindness, the joy in not grasping, the delight in generosity, the ease in letting go, and the immediacy of freedom and liberation that is here in every moment.” – Jack KornfieldExploring the second step of the Eightfold Path, Jack mindfully shares on:Right Attitude, Wise Thought, the second step on the Eightfold PathSeeing directly the true power of mind and heartOvercoming habitual patterns of thought, action, and attitudeThe Buddha on nobility, integrity, and the heartOvercoming greed, hatred, and delusionKnowing the sweet joy of living in The WayWise Aspiration and the path of the BodhisattvaReflecting on our attitude around deathRumi, Stephen Levine, Martin Luther King Jr, Suzuki Roshi, and Alan WattsTaking what life gives us as “grist for the mill” of awakeningExamining spiritual teachings in our own life (what works, what doesn't?)Trading ‘protection and defensiveness' for ‘openness and curiosity'Accepting each moment as an unrepeatable miracleBeginner's Mind and Don't Know MindOpenness, respect, and compassion“It is knowing what is true that brings ourselves freedom. We don't get free by making ourselves free.” – Jack Kornfield“It is only through mercy, through the kindness of compassion, that reconciliation happens, that what's locked in suffering begins to grow and breathe new life.” – Jack KornfieldThis Dharma Talk recorded in 1992 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

11/17/2024, Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, closing a five day sesshin, Jiryu talks about the unborn, undying aspect of reality, opened to through the practice of stopping, dropping off everything, and just being our ordinary self.

11/13/2024, Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson, co-leader of the fall 2024 Practice Period at City Center. Inspired by the teachings from Suzuki Roshi and the symbolism of the bell in Zen practice, this talk explores the Bodhisattva's unwavering path of sincerity, presence, and purpose. Through Ox-Herding Pictures 5 and 6, we follow the journey from striving and control to a state of acceptance and flow. Moving from “Taming the Ox” to “Riding the Ox Home,” we learn to meet ourselves with patience and embrace life as it is.

11/03/2024, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this practice period talk, Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun asks: how do we practice when we are anxious and fearful —especially when there are great challenges in our life. Back to the basics!

This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by visiting teacher Gaylon Ferguson. During the Fall 2024 Practice Period at Beginner's Mind Temple, the community is studying Dr. Ferguson's book “Welcoming Beginner's Mind: Zen and Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature.” Dr. Ferguson begins by talking about the historical and continuing connection between San Francisco Zen Center and the Shambhala International Buddhist community where he was trained. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche were close friends in life, and our communities continue that connection and shared practices. In the second portion of the talk, Dr. Ferguson looks at five phrases and their interpretations from Zen and Tibetan Buddhist perspectives. The five phrase-topics covered are: beginner's mind; practice-realization; no gaining idea; buddha-buddha-buddha; and, “grief is a Buddha.” Recorded on Saturday, November 2, 2024.

This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by Fall 2024 Practice Period co-leader So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson. This talk centers on the Zen practice of welcoming, rooted in Suzuki Roshi's teachings. We explore how welcoming everything—joy, discomfort, and impermanence—brings us into deeper alignment with the present moment. Through the metaphor "The body is the temple, and awareness is the host," we uncover how zazen allows us to meet life with openness, breaking down the boundaries between self and the world. By fully welcoming our experience, we connect with our true nature and the interconnectedness of all things.

10/13/2024, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This dharma talk was given at Green Gulch Farm by San Francisco Zen Center president Sozan Michael McCord. While we honor and treasure the memories, lessons and times with people who we knew in the past, it is that very memory of how temporary this life is — that everything is changing — which helps us treasure those we have in our lives today. This also serves as scaffolding to do the work of being here now, in this moment. It helps us take into our bones the beating heart of now, and turn our complete attention to the seemingly special or mundane that the moment in front of us is offering.

10/12/2024, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman. In Case 36 of the ‘Gateless Gate' (Mumonkan), Zen teacher Wuzu poses a question to his students: “Meeting a person of the Way, not using words or silence, how will you greet them?” Abbot David explores this koan, weaving throughout an account of his recent travels to meet various ‘persons of the Way' as well as reflections on intimacy in Zen and the value of honoring our past, present, and future ancestors. He concludes by sharing a wisdom prophecy from a Hopi Elder.

10/09/2024, So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson. Words are powerful, but they can also lead us astray—especially when teachings cross cultures and languages. In this talk, we'll explore how mistranslations and misunderstandings of Buddhist concepts shape our practice and how we can move beyond intellectualization to a deeper, more direct experience of the Dharma.

This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by Hondo Dave Rutschman. One of the most important questions each of us has to work out in our life is deciding what it is we will take care of. In this talk, Dave considers what it might mean to take care of our practice through time—to appreciate all those who have maintained it for us in the past, and to uphold it for future generations. Then he considers what it might mean to practice in a way that completely lets go of past and future.

09/22/2024, Thiemo Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This dharma talk was given at Green Gulch Farm by Tanto Thiemo Blank. ​The talk gives an introduction into the precepts of the Zen lineage ​as well as T​hiemo's ​p​ersonal path in finding meaning in the precepts beyond a seemingly rule-driven moral guideline.

09/15/2024, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk given at Green Gulch Farm, Abiding Abbott Jiryu Rutschman-Byler continues to explore four core elements of zazen practice: low belly, upright spine, clear mind, and wide-open welcoming. He focuses in particular on the practice of "clearing the mind," using teachings of the Buddha and from the Platform Sutra to discuss the dynamic between, on the one hand, welcoming everything including thought, and on the other hand, the fact that without a clear, empty mind the practice of welcoming often feels inaccessible to us.

09/01/2024, Gil Fronsdal, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This extemporaneous talk was given at Green Gulch Farm by Gil Fronsdal. In the talk, Gil brings forward the teachings that arose in that moment.

This talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) by Heather Shoren Iarusso. Heather highlights one of the most striking stories about Buddhist women, from the "The Hidden Lamp" collection - Miaozong's dharma interview. She talks about how the story's frankness helps reclaim women's power. Recorded on August 30, 2024.

08/28/2024, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Shundo reflects on a recent visit to Tassajara, which included the monthly Full Moon Ceremony and the Obon Ceremony. He encourages us to remember our place in the ongoing lineage of Buddhas and Ancestors.

08/28/2024, Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at Tassajara.

08/18/2024, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The Sixth Chinese Zen Ancestor, defining "zazen" (sitting meditation), said " 'za' (sitting) means not to be obstructed by anything and not to activate thoughts about objects, and 'zen' means to see our original nature without being confused." In this talk, Kokyo explores what it means to reify thoughts and to see true nature by not seeing anything.

08/17/2024, Sokaku Kathie Fischer, dharma talk at City Center. In this dharma talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Kathie references Eihei Dogen's work, "Receiving the Marrow by Bowing," to tell the stories of important Zen women ancestors in the light of changing demographics over the millennia, and discuss Zen master Dogen's courageous and uncompromising defense of women's practice. "Receiving the Marrow by Bowing” (“Raihai Tokuzui” in Japanese) is a fascicle from Eihei Dogen's (12th-century founder of Soto Zen in Japan) long work, “Shobo Genzo” (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).

This talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) by Shindo Gita Gayatri. Shindo discusses the unique quality of zazen, and references Dogen's Fukanzazengi, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Ayurvedic medicine in her talk. Recorded on August 16, 2024

08/14/2024, Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. This talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple, by Roger Hillyard. The path is sometimes dark and difficult, sometimes smooth and joyous. It is always circuitous and doesn't proceed in a linear direction, so we cannot resist its call. When we seek the extraordinary we miss what is before us, beneath our feet. There is a direction we can go in, but not a place where we arrive. The only place we take steps is HERE, on the ordinary ground with an ordinary mind.

In this talk, given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji), Shindo Gita Gayatri reflects on times of change at Zen Center and in the wider world, using Dogen's fascicle Uji (Being Time) and the non-dual Advaita Vedanta teachings from her native India to illustrate her thoughts. Recorded on August 14, 2024.

This talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) by Joan Amaral. In this talk, Joan invites everyone to cherish and enjoy the shared body practice of being in the mountains. Recorded on August 10, 2024.

This talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) by Kodo Conlin. Recorded on August 3, 2024.

08/04/2024, Rinso Ed Sattizahn, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. An exploration of the the koan: Zhaozhou's Cypress Tree in the Courtyard.

This talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) by Inryũ Poncé-Barger. IInryũ invokes stories about the beloved Zen poet Ryokan, and discusses other koans and commentaries. Recorded on July 12, 2024.

In this talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji), Andrea Thach reflects on on stories from the life of her teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman, and talks about careful attention and devotion in our activities. Recorded on July 6, 2024.

07/06/2024, Peter Coyote, dharma talk at City Center. This talk was given by Zen teacher, actor, poet and artist Peter Coyote. The talk, which Peter describes as “disguised as a dharma-way talk” recounts how the deepening grip of the precepts, as his practice deepened, made a wiser and more effective person, trying to model the life of a Buddha in his own life. Recorded on Saturday, July 6, 2024 at Unity Church, Page St., San Francisco.

07/03/2024, Gendo Lucy Xiao, dharma talk at Tassajara.

06/29/2024, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. This talk was given by Shosan Victoria Austin at one of Beginner's Mind Temple's pop-up events at Unity Church on Page St in San Francisco. Sōtō Zen teaches that compassion underlies wisdom, and wisdom underlies compassion. When we take up the question of how to become compassionate humans, it helps to have role models such as The Bodhisattva "Hearer of the Cries of the World" (Kannon Bosatsu), our grandmothers and grandfathers. Some contemporary methods of skill in compassion include Paula Arai's Way of Healing, David Treleaven's Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, and Roshi Joan Halifax's G.R.A.C.E. Practicing compassion does not erase the pain and suffering of the world, but it helps us respond accurately, in nourishing ways. With the steadfastness of pine and the resilience of bamboo, we can help give life to ourselves and those around us in whatever states arise.

06/23/2024, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Case 35 in the Gateless Barrier koan collection tells the story of Qian's spirit being divided between following her heart and being responsible by following obligations. Is one path more true than the other or not?

06/22/2024, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, the last given at Beginner's Mind Temple before the zendo closed for renovation, Shundo David Haye reflects on ideas of home, and taking refuge in the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.