Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Jason Dodge - What Am I Doing Here? Mar 17, 2020

Show notes

Jason Dodge tells us the story of what he’s doing and why he’s here, while just maybe we learn something about those things for ourselves. In an especially warm and fuzzy installment, the sangha doubles down and shares their own stories too!

Dave Cuomo - Blinding Darkness Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

Dave gives us an in depth look into the Buddhist creation myth. it's the question Buddha famously refused to answer (except of course for when he changed his mind). It's a beginning in an ending and a story with no beginning and no ending. It's a story of nothing that confused itself for something, and was cursed to wander for endless kalpas trying to forget that one pesky thought. What the hell are we talking about?? We're talking about the story of everything! No one said it was going to be simple, but it's a good yarn and the sangha goes all in and laughs along with the ridiculousness of life, the universe, and everything, because in the end, what else can you do?

Love & Emptiness w/ Emily Eslami Mar 03, 2020

Show notes

Let’s talk about love! We all know Zen can be reluctant to talk about mushy things like love and kindness, but Emily bravely tackles loving kindness head on in the latest installment of her series on the Bramaviharas. From Buddha, to Dogen, to us, it’s a 2500 year long epic love story where the happy ending is always right here and now. How do we love the people we hate? (Boundlessly!) How do we let go of the ones we love? (By letting them go!) And what do we do about those pesky tree demons bothering us when we sit?? (Love them too!)

Dave Cuomo - Good Friends (History of Zen - The Platform Sutra) Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

In our latest installment of History of Zen, Dave gets very excited about sharing one of his favorite books with us that also happens to be the original defining text of Zen as we know it. In this 1300 year old sutra, Dave reads to us the warm words of our self professed good friend Huineng, who offers up a surprisingly modern take on secular spirituality. With humble wit and good humor, Huineng lays out a religion that asks us to only believe in what we already know - that we are perfect just the way we are. And in case we ever forget, there will always be a good friend here to help remind us.

Michele Roldan-Shaw - Street Buddhism (Jataka Tales) Feb 13, 2020

Show notes

Michele Roldan-Shaw spins classic Jataka Tales (folk tales of the Buddha's past lives) for us with all their ambiguities, tough love, and hard choices. We get to meet sea spirits, unruly crows, guilt ridden partridges, and yes a renunciant hermit disappointing his parents, all running around out there trying to figure out how to be decent beings in a world that rarely wants to make that easy for us. You can check our more of Michele's work at - https://www.micheleroldanshaw.com. And our own Brad Warner also posted a video about the stories and this talk up here! - https://youtu.be/SHOHnzQl9xg