The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Karmic Actions and Conditions Nov 17, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 11/17/24 - We often ask ourselves in response to outside conditions: what do we do now? Our typical reactive, worrying state is often laying on extra trouble as we search for ways to act, to respond. While we have intrinsic, perfect buddha nature and can rely on this, we also live in the midst of strong forces of karma: karmic actions and conditions. There are things in this world of samsara that are deeply challenging, but how we experience them is key to how we free ourselves, and others, moment to moment.

Practicing in Accord with the Dharma Nov 17, 2024

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 11/17/24 - Continuing with Bodhidharma’s teachings on the "Two Entrances", dharma holder Gokan explores how “all inclusive practice” includes even our struggles, our discomfort. He asks, when does “practicing the dharma” actually happen? And when are habits, views and the tendency to control taking over? We can use this teaching to investigate what it means to engage, fully, this opportunity to practice.

A Lifetime of Alchemy—Fusatsu Talk Nov 16, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - 11/15/24 - Our ordinary life experiences are what we work with in practice; “a lifetime of alchemy” as Shoan Osho notes in this Fusatsu talk. This ancient practice gives us the tools with which to transform karma, in how we can recognize, acknowledge, and atone for our actions. In this way we can heal and live fully in accord with reality: our true Buddha nature.

Jukai Ceremony at ZMM, November 2024 Nov 10, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 11/10/24 - Shugen Roshi officiates the November 2024 Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, four students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts, taking up these living teachings, living vows in the company of the sangha with family and friends: Jill Kisho Hamer (Radiant Star), Jonathan Dokan Caronia (Way of Simplicity), Graeme Eikan Daykin (Realizing the Unconditioned), Maureen Eishun Kemeza (Eternal Spring)

Karaniya Metta Sutta: Chant of Loving Kindness Nov 09, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei 11/9/24 - Hojin Sensei introduces this chant, an essential means to connect body and mind, to draw out our inherent love and kindness, always needed, especially now. If you don't already have it, you can download the Sutta here: https://zmm.org/teachings-and-training/liturgy/karaniya-metta-sutta/

Buddha’s Great Love Nov 07, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 11/3/24 - Hojin Sensei encourages us to stay focused, remain alert and aware and to not run away from what comes up. To turn towards practice. To remember that we each have good medicine as practitioners to meet our life, to protect and guard the mind of goodness. Then in turn to offer the Bodhi mind of love, wisdom and transformation.

Advice of the Caterpillar Nov 06, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/03/24 - Koans often come from literary sources, and MRO founder Daido Roshi brought us this dialogue from Alice’s adventures in "Through the Looking Glass" to offer a path of well-being as dharma practice. Even in the midst of conflict, extreme differences of opinion or sudden changes, Shugen Roshi says, we can practice staying within our experience with complete trust. For this election week, we can take up this offering us a way to walk the path and find ways to be of benefit to all beings.

Dharma Encounter with Hogen Sensei Oct 27, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/27/24 - Bodhicitta is simply the aspiration to save all others from suffering. Along the way, how do we go forward on an ever shifting and bumpy path? This lively dharma encounter with Hogen Sensei and the sangha is tender and encouraging of all our aspirations to be of benefit in an ever changing world.

Zhaozhou’s Oak Tree Oct 26, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/26/24 - Gateless Gate, Case 37 - Selflessness is what makes a paramita a “perfection.” To explore the wisdom paramita, Shugen Roshi takes up Shantideva’s description of the two truths of the relative and absolute. The two truths describe a reality in the mind of one who does not grasp on to appearances as real, and therefore is not in conflict with anything. In this perfect wisdom, when there is nothing to actually hold on to, what remains? Everything! These two truths are a foundational aspect of the Mahayana Buddhist path.

Fusatsu: Protecting Bodhicitta Oct 25, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 10/25/24 - Who are these guardian beings we encounter on altars and at doorways throughout the temple and monastery? And what is true protection of oneself and others? Hojin Sensei explores how in taking refuge in the dharma we also enter the protective spirit realm, the protective realm of practicing together.

Reverence for Others Oct 24, 2024

Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student - ZMM - 10/24/24 - Within a poem by the monastic Ryōkan, senior lay student Yunen finds encouragement to practice for the benefit of others, with heartfelt reverence. He explores dharma teachings on how we construct our sense of a separate self, and the simple and wholly human tendency to benefit others before oneself, which is also the raising of bodhicitta.

Living As Oneself Oct 23, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/23/24 - Gateless Gate, Case 8 - Xiangyan Makes Carts - The concentration of a master craftsperson can be a samadhi-like experience. But this type of concentration does not always carry forward to our activities of living, or help in facing the challenges there. In this sesshin talk Shugen Roshi describes how the dharma helps us understand this sense of self we all rely on as not fixed or eternal, but constantly reinventing itself and therefore workable. This understanding is a doorway to true insight.

Heartbreak and Wholeness Oct 23, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 10/20/24 - Exploring vow, presence, and contact with the sacred mystery of our precious human lives, Shoan Osho encourages us to see the medicine in how we encounter the world and what can feel like relentless suffering. Rather than shutting down or feeling hopeless when your heart breaks, she encourages, you can let it break wide open to meet all beings with presence and wholeness.

The Thirteenth Daughter Steps Forward Oct 21, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/13/24 - Stepping forward is essential to be truly alive. It’s also the only way to learn, both where we are being genuine and true, and where we are stuck. It takes courage to give everything and risk failure, but the only way to get past relying on success or failure is in taking the next step, freeing ourselves from self-clinging. This talk by Shugen Roshi brings forth a koan from Daido Roshi’s collection Koans of the Way of Reality, on the 15th anniversary since his passing.

Don’t Overlook Anything Oct 16, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/6/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 39 - Zhaozhou's "Wash Your Bowl"- One of the hallmarks of Zen teaching is that the deepest truth is indivisible from the most ordinary moment. When we release our habitual, grasping mind, then the whole universe can come alive, and we can awaken to our boundless nature in the midst of the most mundane activity. In the end, the purpose of all the koans, and all the sutras, and all the sitting that we do is just simply to meet the reality that is always here, always present. Meeting this moment free and unhindered, we find the joy at the heart of aliveness.

Protecting This Wonderful World Oct 11, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - 10/6/24 - Hojin Sensei explores the question of: What is true protection in our practice and for the world? Buddha once said to King Pasenadi, “your good karma, your good thought, words and good deeds; these are your protections, protection against yourself and your own unskillful habits, and protection against the unskillful habits of others.”

Dharma Encounter: Guarding Aspiration Oct 05, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/29/24 - With faith, we can use any conditions or circumstances to arouse our aspiration for enlightenment. In this dharma encounter, Shugen Roshi invites participants in the fall ango to share their questions and experiences with bodhicitta, the aspiration for realization, and how we can work with this bodhicitta to bring an end to suffering.

Fusatsu: At-One-With Oct 04, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/22/24 - Fusatsu is a renewal of vows ceremony, translated as continuous good practice or to stop unwholesome action (karma). It is a ceremony that aligns us with the path of Buddha. It is a rededication to live in accord with our own undefiled, unperturbed original nature. In practice we need to be able to recognize where we are twisting and not in harmony. We begin by acknowledging all of our twisted actions reciting the Gatha of Atonement. Join Hojin in exploring how we are each the one who is creating our life moment to moment simply and realistically. That we have a response-ability to come into this place in which we receive our whole lives, our whole selves - and become one with it and enjoy our life with others.

Fire Lotus Zazenkai: Aspiration for Life Oct 04, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/21/24 - This bodhisattva, or “great being,” vows to liberate all beings before entering nirvana themselves. This was the Buddha Shakyamuni’s aspiration. How then is aspiration practiced and brought to life? Hojin Sensei investigates the role of a bodhisattva in the context of developing faith, the paramitas (Our virtuous qualities) and practicing joyful effort in the midst of not-knowing.

Noble Path Talk — September 2024 Sep 29, 2024

Sandy Joshin Del Valle, Lay Student - ZCNYC - 9/29/24 - Joshin offers words of encouragement to take with us on our path, as she recounts her own experience in her Zen practice.

Fusatsu: The Inner Workings of Causation Sep 28, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/27/24 - What we need to understand about karma is basically that the web of causation is vast and far beyond our conscious comprehension. By taking responsibility for our thoughts, words and actions, we are setting the course for wholesome actions. This is the heart of moral and ethical teachings, and the nature of the enlightened mind itself.

Having Power on the Road Sep 26, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 09/26/2024 - What is it to be empowered on the path? What is your potential? Realizing our true nature, personally, requires trust, an intuitive trust that must be developed over time. In this exploration of dharma practice, Hogen Sensei brings forward the virtues of selflessness and compassion that can empower us on the path.

Faith, Mindfulness and Aspiration Sep 25, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/25/24 - Early teachings of Shantideva speak of mindfulness and related teachings of Asaṅga emphasize faith as a basis or foundation of practice. Shugen Roshi explains how this faith and mindfulness can lead to conviction and confidence in our capacity, and the energy of mindfulness can deepen our aspiration and joy in the path.

Opening to Darkness Sep 22, 2024

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Osho - 9/22/24 - Zenju Osho visited the Monastery for two weeks of teaching and concluded her second retreat, "Opening to Darkness," with this offering of the Sunday Dharma talk. To learn more about Zenju Osho's writings, poetry and teachings, visit www.zenju.org

An Extraordinary Affair Sep 20, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 9/15/24 - There is a difference between the isolated feeling of loneliness and the calm presence of solitude, and it’s important to nourish in ourselves the stability of letting things be as they are, full and alive. At the same time we have to understand how to genuinely be present with others, with things just as they are. Then we can come home to the moment, letting the mind be “like trees and stones,” just as it is, without qualms and without adding extra. - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 26 - Pai Chang's Sitting Alone on Ta Hsiung Mountain

Seeing For Yourself Sep 19, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/8/24 - Live words in Zen practice are at the center of koan practice, emerging from deep inquiry but not bound by the conceptual, thinking mind. No matter what your practice—breath, “just sitting” or koans—using meticulous effort in your practice develops the concentration necessary for deep realization. Let go of everything, open the door and put on your straw sandals, and then travel some more. - From the Book of Serenity, Case 89 - Dongshan's "No Grass"

The Bodhisattva’s Practice Sep 14, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 8/31/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 99 - Yunmen's "Bowl and Bucket" - Striving to realize our true nature, without tying ourselves into knots of grasping, are skills we have to practice. Being able to investigate where we stick to our habits and confusion is to help us develop concentration. As Shugen Roshi says, with the essential skills of mindfulness and concentration we can discover who “this unbounded one” really is, and then we can really be of benefit in the world.

“The Bodhisattva Path and The Paramitas” – Fall 2024 Ango Opening Talk at ZMM Sep 01, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 9/1/24 - Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of the Ango: "Going Straight on an Ever-Twisting Path: The Bodhisattva Path and The Paramitas."

“Going Straight on an Ever-Twisting Path” – Fall 2024 Ango Opening Talk at ZCNYC Sep 01, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - 9/1/24 - Hojin Sensei introduces the theme of the Ango: "Going Straight on an Ever-Twisting Path: The Bodhisattva Path and The Paramitas."

Wrong, Wrong Aug 25, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/25/24 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 98 - T'ien P'ing's Travels on Foot - Cause and effect are fundamental teachings of the Dharma: the dependent arising of all phenomena, and the karma of cause and effect. So how can the practice of seeing our minds as they function—creating realities by grasping at what we want or don’t want—become something we stop stumbling over? When we let go and see things as they are, we begin to practice the true freedom of mind: to act in accord with compassion and wisdom.

The Butterfly Effect Aug 25, 2024

Degna Chikei Levister, MRO Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 8/25/24 - Chikei talks about the subtle shift in perspective brought about through her Zen practice and the big difference that has made in her life.

Lonely—Alone—No Reference Point Aug 18, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/18/24 - A Hidden Lamp Story: "The Old Woman's Relatives" - Hojin Sensei looks into loneliness... How do we understand it, respond to it? What's at the root of it? Can we experience the richness of it?

Pivoting On Suffering Aug 18, 2024

Prabu Gikon Vasan, Senior Lay Practitioner - 8/18/24 - The Buddha’s early teachings often focus on the nature of suffering to help us become aware of the ways that this state is created by our thoughts, words and actions. With a deeper understanding of how this process repeats itself, as senior lay student Gikon says, we can pivot, making real change by turning our thoughts, words and actions in the direction of freedom from suffering and it’s causes.

Guarding Introspection Aug 11, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/11/24 - Habits of mind, which in the beginning of practice seem untameable, can be grounded through awareness, and that’s just the start of learning to be at ease with the mind. We come to appreciate our own ability to settle and to realize our capacity to experience the inherent steadiness of mind. With help from Shantideva and the contemporary Buddhist monk-scholar Anālayo, Shugen Roshi outlines ways to practice, and seeing into the nature of all reality.

Your Mind is At Rest Aug 08, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/4/24 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 41 - Your Mind is At Rest - Shugen Roshi brings the teachings of Bodhidharma to life in this talk on zazen practice as a kind of inquiry that is free of concepts, ideas and analysis, and is rather a direct experience of one’s awakened mind—your mind at rest—which is just your natural mind illuminated and at ease.

Feeding Not Fighting: Meeting Machig Labdrön Aug 03, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/3/24 - Hojin Sensei offers the wisdom of Machig Labdrön, a Tibetan teacher who lived between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. From an adept at a very young age, to motherhood, to teacher, to establishing the practice of Chöd, her life and teachings have been a great source of inspiration, as Hojin enthusiastically shares with the sangha.

Tokudo: Monastic Ordination for Sekku Harrison Jul 28, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - 7/28/24 - In this morning ceremony, Hojin Sensei offers teachings on the Monastic Vows and the Moral & Ethical Precepts of Zen Buddhism, on the occasion of the full Monastic ordination of Simon Daiō Sekku Harrison, one of Hojin Sensei’s long-time students.

The Natural State of Mind Jul 27, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 7/27/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 5 - Qingyuan and the Price of Rice - As we seek to understand the Buddha’s teachings on release from suffering, the explanations and descriptions of the Path are what we tend to seek. But when we actually sit down in zazen and experience our minds, without relying on explanations, the limits of conceptual thought begins to be seen. Bit by bit we learn to trust this direct experience, and trust it as the natural state, of our minds and of the minds of all beings.

Yes! Jul 27, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 7/21/24 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), Case 12 - Ruiyan Calls "Master" - Hojin Sensei takes up this koan... What is it that runs our lives, that leads us to make decisions about right and wrong? Our intentions are what drive us along and affect what happens in our lives, so how clear are we about these deeply habitual ways of being? Who is calling, and who is responding?

Nothing Outside Jul 26, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - 7/26/24 - Delving into a 13th century Indian mystic’s poem on the experience of the divine, and the Lankavatara Sutra, a foundational sutra of the early Zen path, Shoan Osho explores our direct experience within the practice of mind, and the realization of no separation from all beings on the path of peace.

Seeking Nothing Jul 25, 2024

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 7/25/24 - Gokan explores the third of the All Inclusive Practices of Bodhidharma’s Two Entrances: seeking nothing. - Our longings and yearnings are are what motivates us ordinarily, and we come to practice because of dissatisfaction with samsara. Our human habit is to seek pleasure, comfort and security, to get rid of discomfort. But having found that seeking pleasure is temporary at best, what is it to enter the Way, without reservations, seeking nothing?

Allowing Death to Teach Us How To Live Jul 21, 2024

Rev. Trudi Jinpu Hirsch-Abramson - ZMM - 7/21/24 - Rev. Jinpu offers her engaging stories about the practice of grief, aging, dying and living in the now. An ordained Buddhist priest and chaplain, Jinpu has over twenty-five years of experience in practicing and teaching others to care for and celebrate all of life.

Watch Your Mind Jul 14, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 7/14/24 - Noticing when we’ve put ourselves in a box, made up of our ideas or habits, is the genuine key to transformation and freedom. Drawing on early teachings of Zen Buddhism, Shoan Osho brings us home to our true power, to create and release our hindrances, through non-grasping.

Adapting to Conditions Jul 13, 2024

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 7/13/24 - Gokan explores the second of the All Inclusive Practices of Bodhidharma’s Two Entrances; adapting to conditions. When we open up to the many ways we are dissatisfied or contribute to suffering, we also simultaneously open up the power of ceasing to grasp and liberating ourselves. How do we allow ourselves to come inside of our experiences fully, into “the mind that neither waxes or wanes,” and see the infinite potential when we come closer?

We The People Jul 07, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 7/7/24 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 45 - Wu-tsu's "Who Is That Other?" - Shugen Roshi explores the dynamic between self and others by looking at the solitary nature of practice. As we begin to understand the habits which create our thoughts and ideas—all the things that obstruct our naturally clear minds—we can experience within the stillness that we are actually brought closer to others, and to the whole phenomenal universe.

Great Question! Jul 07, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 7/7/24 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 9 - "Daitsu Chisho Buddha" - This koan brings us into a question that some of us do ask about in practice whether we have been engaged a long time - or a short time: What is realization? Am I getting it? Are they getting it? What is happening? Why after a period of zazen does reality not appear? After all what is attainment and non attainment?

Wise Discernment Jun 30, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/30/24 - Shugen Roshi explores the discernment capacity of our inherent wisdom using two different teachings sources, a koan involving the monk Upagupta, and from a discourse on the nun Vajirā from the Buddha’s early teachings. This wise discernment guides each person on their path of spiritual practice; it’s very personal, and it takes time. Whether the home leaving of a monastic, or home dwelling of a lay practitioner, this very human wisdom mind is always fueled by our inherent true nature. - Two stories, one from The Record of the Transmission of the Light: Case 5 – Upagupta, the Fourth Zen Ancestor; and another from the Pali Canon - Samyutta Nikaya: "The Bhikkhuni Vajira" - Note: this talk was preceded by the postulant monastic ceremony for Clyde Fusei Forth and Alex Rogetsu Rothstein.

Noble Path Talk – Tenfu Loisel – June 2024 Jun 30, 2024

Zabeth Tenfu Loisel, Lay Student - ZCNYC - 6/30/24 - How precious! The sangha treasure.

Put it Down, Carry it Out Jun 29, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/29/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 57 - Yanyang's "Thing" - Learning to see the complexity of how our minds hold on to concepts—“things”— is an aspect of zazen practice, not just at the beginning but all the way through Zen training. In this sesshin talk, Roshi explores a lively koan that delves right in to this teaching.

Cultivating Bodhicitta Jun 28, 2024

Suzanne Taikyo Gilman, Senior Monastic - ZMM - 6/28/24 - The heart of enlightened mind, or bodhicitta, is an aspect of dharma practice that brings our aspirations to life. In this sesshin talk, Taikyo explores some teachings of bodhicitta, how it is cultivated, and how bodhicitta relates to the practice of zazen.

A Path That Can’t Be Named Jun 27, 2024

Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student - ZMM - 6/27/24 - Yunen explores the fundamental instructions on zazen from Dogen and the spiritual path of a Buddhist practitioner. To help us develop our understanding of its depth and breadth he brings forth analogies in language and nature, and especially to the evolution of the mountain ranges of the northeast.

Not Grasping At Self Jun 26, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/26/24 - The Buddha’s Teachings on the Four Noble Truths - Causes and conditions, the inner workings of how things happen, is a key aspect of studying the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha. Shugen Roshi describes some ways in which these profound teachings function in the arising of karma within daily life and dharma practice.

Letting Go of the Story Jun 23, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/23/24 - From The Record of the Transmission of the Light, Case 10 – Buddhamitra (or Fudamitta, the Ninth Zen Ancestor) - Our identity is built up with stories we learn to tell about ourselves, and many of these keep us in a state of suffering of which we’re barely aware. When a story we carry in our minds meets reality, often there is resistance. To relinquish this habit takes strength and mindful awareness. To just let ourselves live in harmony with changing circumstances, in accord with our true nature, is a benefit of zazen practice.

What is Good? What is a Day? Jun 23, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 6/23/24 - From the Blue Cliff Record, Case 6 - Yunmen’s "Every Day is a Good Day” - “I’m filled with grief, good day? The world is on fire, good day? What is not dependent upon the circumstances and conditions of those days? How are these concepts of practice and enlightenment for real and functioning in our daily lives? We have a practice and a path, now it’s up to us to take to take a big chance, we can do it, we can respond with courage and loving discernment.

Nothing is Forsaken Jun 16, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 6/16/24 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 52 - Chao Chou’s Stone Bridge That Lets All Cross - Part of Zen training and practice is knowing there is no “end product”. Waking up continues endlessly. How do we see this essential stone bridge? How do we take the impasses that boils up in our lives with nothing kept away? What a keen gate this is to feel the jolt of something gone awry and not divide. Hojin Sensei explores what Chao Chou might be offering us to see here now.

Encountering Suffering Jun 16, 2024

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 6/16/24 - Looking at Bodhidharma’s teachings on two ways to enter practice—by principle and by practice—these teachings acknowledge that we’re all different and will enter practice in different ways, addressing what is most alive for us. In this talk Gokan explores the first of four practices identified by Bodhidharma—encountering suffering—and how the suffering which seems daunting or overwhelming can also provide all that we need to fully enter the Way.

What me Worry? The Fourth Hindrance – Restlessness and Worry Jun 09, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 6/9/24 - The five hindrances are the obstacles that prevent us from settling into the precision and stillness of our bodymind. In this talk, Hojin explores the fourth hindrance—restlessness and worry—and examines the various ways that we can work with it primarily by paying close attention to what’s going on in our minds.

Living Dharma In Ease And Joy Jun 09, 2024

Chimyo Simone Atkinson, Sensei - ZMM - 6/9/24 - Chimyo Sensei explores the essential practice of zazen, and our genuine capacity to realize Buddha Nature. This practice can challenge us to face our own barriers, tapping into our innate ability to yield, like a dragon taking to the water, and the courage to move freely, like a tiger entering the mountains. Chimyo Sensei offers guidance to live the dharma with whatever is arising, with grace, ease and joy.

Knowing and Understanding Jun 02, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/2/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 19 - Yunmen's "Sumaru" - Koan practice guides us to something different than conceptual knowledge, a liberation of mind which is, as the Buddha said, subtle and difficult to understand. And yet, conceptual knowledge is an integral part of how we can realize the non-conceptual mind. Using Yunmen’s teachings, Shugen Roshi explores how calming the mind, and gaining insight, are important steps toward understanding how to truly free ourselves from conceptual thought and grasping at self-centered views.

Noble Path Talk – Chikyuu – June 2024 Jun 02, 2024

Chikyuu Donohue, Lay Student Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 06/02/2024

A Conversation with Butoh Teacher Vangeline Jun 01, 2024

In this podcast interview, Monastic Hokyu Aronson speaks with guest instructor Vangeline about embodied movement...

Dharma Encounter: Identity Action May 26, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/26/24 - At the conclusion of spring ango 2024, Shugen Roshi offered a teaching on the ango theme of Right Relationship, focusing on Identity Action, or non-difference, from Dogen’s The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance. Ango participants were invited to present questions or their understanding with Roshi, and this lively exchange explores the themes of harmony, embracing differences along with sameness, and the inseparability of all phenomena.

Noble Path Talk — Sandy Joshin Del Valle, May 2024 May 26, 2024

Sandy Joshin Del Valle, Lay Student - ZCNYC - 5/26/24 - Joshin offers words of encouragement to take with us on our path, as she recounts her own stories of coming into Zen practice, and how developing constancy in this practice has transformed her life.

Making the Connection, Part 2 May 25, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/25/24 - From Master Hongzhi's verse: Guidepost of Silent Illumination - Both effortful and effortless... meditation flowing through all activity, on the cushion, off the cushion... Shugen Roshi continues his talk on the practice of Shikantaza and Master Hongzhi's poem.

The View Beyond Your Views May 24, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 5/24/24 - We tell ourselves stories about who we are, what we can and cannot do. We often don’t recognize how limiting these views are, the suffering they perpetuate, and that only we can change them. In this exploration of Right View, Shoan Osho takes up verses of the elder nuns in the Therigata collection to elucidate how views are created, questioned, explored, and seen through on the path of liberation.

Your Relationship With Mt Tremper May 23, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 5/23/24 - From The True Dharma Eye, Case 75 - Yantou's "Sit Still" - How do we respond to life’s complications? Sitting in stillness is the simple practice, but in itself can become a hiding place. The Three Worlds—form, formlessness and desire—all arrive together at once, so how do we practice stillness in the midst of it all? Using a koan from Master Yantou, Hogen Sensei reminds us that true freedom, to let go and be totally alive to the suchness of this moment, is within our capacity to let go of fixed views about anything.

Making the Connection May 22, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/22/24 - From Master Hongzhi's verse: Guidepost of Silent Illumination - Both effortful and effortless... How is it that meditation flows through all activity, on the cushion, off the cushion? Shugen Roshi comments on the practice of Shikantaza and Master Hongzhi's poem.

Four Methods of Guidance: Call and Creative Responses of Fire Lotus Sangha May 20, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 5/12/24 - As part the MRO Ango Training period in studying right relationship, and in celebration of Mother's Day, Hojin Sensei takes up 'The Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance’ from 12th Century Zen teacher Dogen. She brings this teaching to life in call and creative response with the Fire Lotus Sangha.

Right In It and At Ease May 19, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/19/24 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 78 - Sixteen Bodhisattvas Go In to Bathe - We can aspire to the bodhisattva ideal, but how do we turn it into a practical, down to earth response in each moment?

Many Forms of Practice May 19, 2024

Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 5/19/24 - Yunen explores the many forms found in Zen practice, especially as taught by Zen Master Dogen in the Soto Zen lineage. Why is any of it important, and how do we take it up?

Fusatsu: Actualizing Harmony May 18, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 05/17/2024 - In the practical sense, our activity within and amongst the constant, continuing small moments are what are forming our habits and creating our karma and the collective karma. So pay attention to all of it, be patient with yourself and practice with your vows in mind.

Stop. Apply the Metta Sutta. May 12, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/12/24 - Shugen Roshi recounts the origins of the present form of Mother's Day, which was all about a mother's call for peace! During his lifetime, the Buddha made this same appeal in many sutras with instructions on living peacefully. What better way to honour our mothers than to recommit to this? Shugen Roshi guides us through the practical application of the Karaniya Metta Sutra: "This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness, and who knows the path of peace..." (https://zmm.org/teachings-and-training/liturgy/karaniya-metta-sutta/)

Our Original Perfection May 05, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/5/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 93 - Luzu's Not Understanding - What do we have to do to realize our own perfection? And what does it actually mean in the sense in which it is spoken of in the Buddhist sutras? And our appreciation of relationship; with ourselves and with others... Do we know how it comes to us? Are we open to it?

Realize the Unborn: Shapeshifting May 05, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 5/5/24 - Hojin Sensei explores the archetype of the shapeshifter through the arts, stories of the Buddha, and Zen Master Bankai's teachings of the Unborn—that “all of these comings and goings are just pulses in the pattern.”

Dharma Encounter: On the Courage to Listen Apr 28, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/28/24 - A foundational aspect of relationship: listening in all it's myriad forms... How do we practice it? How do we understand it in terms of the Precepts, or the Four Noble Truths, with Vow? What's missing when we're not listening? Hogen Sensei engages the Sangha with this theme, presenting a koan from the Book of Equanimity, "The Wisdom of the Flower Garland Sutra," along with the poem "Listening" by David Ignatow.

Dance of Wind and Grasses Apr 28, 2024

Linda Shinji Hoffman, Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 4/28/24 - How can we practice meeting physical pain and discomfort of all kinds? In this talk, senior student Shinji Hoffman invites us to consider dancing with these challenges. Through poetry, reflection on her experience, and Buddhist teachings, she weaves together many offerings to support us in working through the inevitable discomforts of life.

Doing Wrong on the Road to Blessedness Apr 27, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/27/24 - From the Book of Equanimity, Case 67 - The Wisdom of the Flower Garland Sutra - The base of our practice is to realize our own true nature. Hogen Sensei exhorts us to not defile it by clinging to our deluded opinions; we are all fundamentally endowed with the virtues of the Buddha.

Fusatsu: Sangha Harmony Apr 26, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 04/26/24 - Dharma Talk during the Apple Blossom Sesshin 2024 Fusatsu Ceremony - Hojin Sensei encourages us to strive to be in harmony with each and every aspect of our life.

Fazhen’s Awakening Apr 25, 2024

Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Senior Lay Student - ZMM - 4/25/24 - Yosha introduces us to lay woman Fazhen (12th Century) with the story of her awakening.

Leaving The Way to The Way Apr 24, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 4/24/24 - Can we genuinely be ourselves if we are not free of the idea of "ourself"? Shoan Osho talks about our evanescent nature and grounding ourselves in that.

Leading the People Apr 21, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/21/24 - Inspired by Master Dogen’s poem “Snow”, Hogen Sensei asks us what makes us whole? What can we rely on to face what is before us with clear intention?

Jukai at Fire Lotus Temple – April 2024 Apr 21, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/21/24 - With Hojin Sensei officiating, 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. - Lou Baisei ("Cultivating the Morning Star") Procaccino, Holly Bukei ("Dancing Lightly") Mensching, and Ajay Shinyu ("Trusting the Mystical") Chandra.

The Old Woman’s Miraculous Powers Apr 14, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei ZMM - 4/14/24 - A tea shop proprietor serves traveling monks a koan to accompany their tea. “Let those of you with miraculous powers drink tea.” Then she says to the stunned monks, “Watch this old, decrepit woman show her miraculous powers.” Then, she simply walks out. Hojin Sensei reflects on this story from "The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women".

The Two Entrances Apr 14, 2024

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZCNYC - 4/14/24 - Sharing a teaching from Bodhidharma, Gokan speaks about the importance in the Zen tradition of directly realized experience, over our conceptual understanding. How is it when you truly let go? Trust yourself!

Be Patient Apr 07, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 4/7/2024 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 5 - "Hsiang-yen: Person Up a Tree" - How do we discriminate in a way that liberates and doesn't entangle us in the quandaries of duality? Shugen Roshi uses a koan from the Gateless Gate to highlight this question; how can non-duality be the nature of all things in this world of such profound variation?

Satsujo Weeps: Total Eclipse of the Heart Apr 07, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/7/24 - From The Hidden Lamp: Collection of Stories of Twenty Five Centuries of Awakened Women - What is grief? Can we respect it? Not fear it? Really let it work us in and through our embodiment allowing its raw ingredients to scour our beautiful hearts into release into the impermanence that is the Buddha Way. Hojin reflects on her own relationship to ‘Good Grief’ and her love for Satsujo’s appropriate response, maybe not quite what we would expect from a Dharma story and our ideas of how to let go of attachment.

Right Essentials: Great Trust, Great Inquiry, Great Commitment Apr 06, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/6/24 - Awakening From Illusion... Is that what we call the practice of the way? For awakening is not a one-time thing, a one-time event. But a continual awareness that needs to be continually maintained. Such maintenance as we well know may be difficult. It’s what we call practice. What supports do we have in our practice?

Dharma Encounter: The Five Remembrances Mar 31, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/31/24 - Shugen Roshi presents the Buddha's teaching on the Five Remembrances (impermanence, aging, illness, death, and karma) and invites his students to offer their own experience, thoughts, questions.... How do we act on and connect to these, both inside ourselves and in our relationships?

Gardening in the Dharma World Mar 30, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/30/24 - From the Koans of the Way of Reality - Xinyang's Sweet Melons - Being on the eve of the funeral of the monastery's beloved gardener, Senior monastic Choke Yukon, Abbot Shugen Roshi presents us, fittingly, with this koan from a collection compiled by the late John Daido Loori the founder of Zen Mountain Monastery.

Fusatsu: Getting to Know the Kleshas Mar 30, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/29/24 - Teisho during the March Fusatsu at ZMM during Spring Ango 2024 - In the context of our practice of the precepts, the 5th grave precept "Proceed Clearly", Shugen Roshi talks about the kleshas - mental states that cloud the mind- and how we can work with them. (We apologize; the first several minutes of this talk were not recorded.)

Lingzhao’s Helping Mar 28, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 3/28/24 - From "The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women" - Hojin Sensei presents a koan of Lingzhao and her father, falling together. How do we fall with someone? How do we accept somebody’s support? And do we ever know that we are helping?

The Lion’s Roar: Your Roar Mar 27, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 3/27/24 - From The Record of the Transmission of the Light, Case 1 - Shakyamuni Buddha - Hogen Sensei reminds us that we are all inherently buddhas and have the ability to realize ourselves in our lifetime.

Mondo: Coming Into Contact Mar 24, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZCNYC - 3/24/24 - Shugen Roshi offers a teaching on how we come into contact with and into relationship with the world. How do we meet each other? And what can make this so difficult?

In Praise of Every Single Thing Mar 24, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 3/24/24 - Shoan Osho unfurls wide the themes of the Spring Ango -- Right Relationship, Gratitude, Interdependence -- by offering a cornucopia of teachings; from the verses of Mahapajapati, Buddha's aunt who raised him, to the 9th century Chinese master Xuefeng, bringing in her own teachers' words, along with Ross Gay's "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude."

Communicating Reality Mar 17, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 3/17/24 - From The True Dharma Eye, Case 148 - Dongshan's 'Teachings of the Insentient" - What does it mean to realize the true nature of mind? If we say that we must "realize it ourselves" then what is it that we can share and communicate with each other? And what's the difference between us and the insentient when it comes to communicating this?

Distraction Attraction Mar 17, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 3/17/24 - Hojin Sensei examines a prevalent feature of our lives: distraction. We call it “monkey mind;” in Sanskrit it’s vikshepa, which means “mental wandering”, being drawn to objects that cause us to lose our ability to remain one-pointedly focused on virtue. She encourages us to be patient with ourselves and use these distractions to deepen our self-understanding, for the benefit of all.

A Simple Question Mar 10, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/10/24 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 15 - "Tung-shan's Sixty Blows" - What is there to learn directly from our questions, settling into and being with them, without complicating them, without hastily hunting for, or picking and choosing and clinging to, answers?

“Right Relationship” – Spring Ango Opening Talk Mar 03, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/3/24 - Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of the MRO 90-day Spring Ango training period, "Right Relationship with the World; Expressing Gratitude."

Ango Opening at Fire Lotus Temple Mar 03, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 3/3/24 - Hojin Sensei opens this Ango, or Peaceful Dwelling, with a talk about right relationship with the world; expressing gratitude. She shares the Fourth Noble Truth and the Eightfold Path, a path that we’ve been offered. And through this path, how we can find a peace that is deeper than our conditioning.

A Place To Enter Mar 02, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/2/2024 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 3 - Master Ma is Unwell - For each of us, how do we create and hold ourselves in that place which opens to the middle way, the bodhisattva way? Where does our intention come from and what does it take to stay with our practice?

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