The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Within the Grass Roof Hermitage Feb 16, 2025

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 2/16/25 - Taking up this teaching from Shitou, Gokan delves into how an ancient Zen song-poem can help us find our way in our present world of turmoil and stress. “Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely,” the teaching tells us. Don’t separate from this person who you are, this body and mind here and now. In this way we come into accord with our thoughts, words and actions, for the benefit of all beings.

Right Here At Home In One Breath Feb 09, 2025

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 2/9/25 - Bringing together Rumi's poem "Only Breath" and The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Sutra on Mindful Breathing), Hojin Sensei takes us through a thorough reckoning of this physical and profound practice, and how it is fundamental to being awake.

The Bodhisattva’s World Feb 09, 2025

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 2/9/25 - A timely reminder from Shoan Osho that a bodhisattva is one who interrupts the cycle of samsara, to stop creating and perpetuating greed, anger and ignorance, for the benefit of all beings. This “inner revolution” that practice offers is how we can calm the spinning mind and bring the light of wisdom and compassionate action to meet the challenges of the “outer world.”

Dreaming Yourself Awake Feb 02, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 2/2/25 - What do you see in front of you? Our perceptions are windows to the world, and provide material for how we create “the self” as a separate and seemingly solid entity. But all beings are fundamentally not fixed or solid, and to study this we can put an end to clinging and suffering. How do we live freely and compassionately? These instructions from Shugen Roshi point to our own wakefulness and freedom. (From the Blue Cliff Record, Case 40 - Nan Ch'uan's It's Like a Dream)

Path of Enlightenment: Stage 2 – Finding the Traces of the Ox Feb 02, 2025

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 2/2/25 - The spiritual journey is a path of discovering our true nature. The Ten Ox Herding pictures are a pictorial depiction of the training we each have to put together in our own body mind from the methods and teaching offered in this wisdom tradition. Hojin begins this talk with a live painting of the second ox herding picture: Finding the Traces of the Ox. As the preface to this stage says: "With the aid of the sutras, we gain understanding; through the study of the teaching, we find the traces. The many vessels are clearly all of one gold; and we ourselves, are the embodiment of the ten thousand things. But unable to recognize correct from incorrect, how are we to distinguish true from false? Since we have yet to pass through the gate, only tentatively have we seen the traces." We follow the tracks until we catch it! -- Watch Hojin Sensei paint the second ox-herding picture: https://vimeo.com/1054251015

Zhaozhou’s “Mu” and Skillful Compassion Jan 26, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/26/25 - The sole purpose of a koan is to help the student experience their true nature. As a skillful means, a koan helps us see where we are clinging, and the karma we carry in this life. Yet even an enlightened being has this karmic body to grapple with. The challenge is to be in complete intimacy with our true nature, as it is, as we are. Part 3 of 3

Meeting Every Moment With Lovingkindness Jan 26, 2025

Suzanne Taikyo Gilman, Senior Monastic - ZCNYC - 1/26/25 - We all feel vulnerable and frightened when external circumstances change too fast and nothing feels certain. The Buddha guided his early community through disruption with the Metta Sutta, and this teaching gives us some helpful pointers for making our responses and actions skillful when based in lovingkindness.

Who Let the Dog Out? Jan 25, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/25/25 - Like a gourd in water—push it down and it turns over and pops back up—we all begin practice easily unsettled. Shugen Roshi looks at this koan of Zhaozhou’s Dog from the Book of Serenity and asks: how do we work with our impulsive nature? With our underlying tendencies? *Part 2 of 3.

Fish Enjoy Water, Humans Enjoy the Dao Jan 24, 2025

Linda Shinji Hoffman, Senior Lay Student - ZMM - 1/24/25 - What is enjoyment of being within our element, such as fish enjoying water? All suffering comes from the activity of the mind, whereas the mind itself is free. Drawing on words of Xuansha and Dogen, lay senior Shinji calls forth the enjoyment and freedom that our practice brings us to address.

Gentle and Strong Jan 23, 2025

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Dharma Holder - 1/23/25 - The dharma song of Shitou describes the simplicity possible in the mind of practice. With this settled awareness we can see how habits are formed and re-formed again and again. Gokan brings alive the ease and gentleness that can become the mind of zazen as we practice letting go of habitual thoughts and tendencies.

It’s Not About The Dog Jan 22, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/22/25 - From Master Wu-Men's Gateless Gate - Zhaozhou's "Mu" - Within the realm of words much can be known, but how do we study the realm which is inexpressible in words? The Buddha’s profound realization of true reality is accessible to everyone, but how do we walk that path? How does working with a koan take us beyond the words themselves?

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Bodhisattva’s Living Legacy Jan 19, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 1/19/25 - Invoking the life and words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Shugen Roshi celebrates his "living legacy": the power of love and its manifestation in the Beloved Community to heal a troubled world. He draws from King's speech on the "new phase of the civil rights struggle", given the year before his assassination, and his calls for an equality based on love to address disparity, poverty and injustice. Speaking from a Christian perspective, King's views resonate with the universal religious truths of interrelatedness, and the true freedom and equity that is an expression of wisdom and compassion. Such is the Bodhisattva's vow to put an end to the suffering of all beings. - This dharma talk was preceded by this year's MLK tribute presentation: https://vimeo.com/1048203464 - Also, see the presentation from a few years ago by the People of African Descent (PAD) Affinity Group: "From Refuge to Sanctuary: an MRO Tribute to Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.": https://vimeo.com/666366222

At the Heart Of Your Path Jan 12, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/12/25 - Gateless Gate, Case 16: The Bell's Sound and the Priest's Robe - We have these forms in Zen for meditation, for liturgy, for taking a meal and for practicing the dharma together. But what use is a form? How can we use forms without getting caught up in the form itself? To benefit from Zen practice as a vehicle to liberate ourselves from grasping at forms—or at anything—is to learn to shift as conditions change within every aspect of our lives.

Noble Path Talk – Ikyo Love Jan 12, 2025

Ikyo Love, MRO Student - 1/12/25 - "Making it my own."

The Practice of True Reality Jan 11, 2025

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Dharma Holder - 1/11/25 - Freeing ourselves of the suffering born of strong emotions, how do we keep the heart open and able to feel without overwhelm or shutting down? And how do we establish concentration and find the vast capacity of our minds? Gokan brings forth the grounded, supported way of being awake to all that is unfolding in “the immense reality” that is our lives.

Joshu’s Stone Bridge Jan 05, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 1/5/25 - From the Blue Cliff Record, Case 52 - Entering the new year, we can reflect on how we are holding our practice, how it supports our connection with others, and whether we are clear on our aspiration to practice well. To take up the practice of selflessness means we let go of high and low, better than and less than, to learn from every scrap of the dharma on how to free ourselves and others. Shugen Roshi takes up this teaching of the old Buddha Joshu to illuminate our path.

Path of Enlightenment: Stage 1 – Searching for the Ox Jan 05, 2025

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 1/5/2025 - What are we seeking? The spiritual journey is a path of discovering our true nature. The Ten Ox Herding pictures are a pictorial depiction of the Zen training path of enlightenment. Hojin begins this talk with a live painting of the first oxherding picture: Searching for the Ox, followed by a talk on this beginning stage of training: feeling an "offness" in our life, the raising of the Bodhi Mind, and the sense that some kind of search is on! Watch Hojin Sensei draw the first ox-herding picture: https://vimeo.com/1044299063

Fusatsu: New Years’ Good News Jan 01, 2025

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/31/24 - All conditioned things are dukkha, but we are not bound by them nor are we limited by them. The Noble Path, which has come to us through others, works in any and every situation. We have Buddha Mind; we have pure undefiled nature. This is the way to offer the world some goodness through our aspirations and practice, and live a life without regret.

Fusatsu: Wholehearted Bodhisattva Vows Jan 01, 2025

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - 12/30/24 - This Fusatsu talk was given on the evening before New Years Eve to the sangha at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn on how practice is not linear and moves in a circle or spiral pattern. The Bodhisattva Vows behold the direction.

Langye’s Mountains and Rivers Dec 30, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 12/30/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 100 - How does the purity of Buddha Nature still give rise to all the havoc, confusion, and suffering in our human lives? In this talk given during the Rohatsu sesshin, Shugen Roshi takes up this fundamental question: if all is emptiness and impermanence, what is it that needs to be done to experience the ‘peaceful dwelling’ within samsara, and to liberate all beings within the phenomenal world?

Space Beyond Knowing Dec 29, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 12/29/24 - On a liberative path, we know we want to feel better but the enormity of the task, and the continuous “undoing” that it promises, can give pause. Shoan Osho explores the conditions of the Buddha’s enlightenment experience, and brings to the center Sujata’s role as the nourisher of life, as well as the cosmic female image of Prajna Paramita, the Mother of all Buddhas. Such images are in fact an emanation of each of us, our many forms of no-form, and are as limitless as space.

Noble Path Talk – Kien Martin Dec 29, 2024

Kien Martin, MRO Monastic - ZCNYC - 12/29/24 - A Path of Faith, Doubt and Determination.

How Are We Doing Right Now? Dec 28, 2024

Prabu Gikon Vasan, Senior Lay Practitioner - ZMM - 12/28/24 - In the Buddha’s early sutras there are teachings which encourage an honest assessment of our state of being, no matter what the circumstances, as the very stuff of our liberation. Senior lay student Gikon explores how dharma practice supports this sometimes difficult but deeply freeing inquiry into our state of being, be it health or any mind state, and the liberating practice at our fingertips within samsara.

Deeper Than Words Dec 22, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/22/24 - How do we practice ideals such as “morality” and “equality” and bring them to life? Invoking Wendell Berry’s text The Need to Be Whole: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice, Shugen Roshi explores how words are too often used without clarity about their function in real life events, and how this is a fundamental aspect of the Buddha’s teaching, that words and reality are in alignment.

Patched bucket, Bottomless bucket? Dec 22, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/22/24 - Hojin Sensei introduces us to Ancestor Mugai Nyodai, the first woman Rinzai Abbot in the Zen tradition from 13th century, Japan. Referring to a story from The Hidden Lamp: Chiyono’s “No Water, No Moon”, Hojin brings up this ability to exercise our freedom to keep things together or let things come apart all according to circumstances.

Walking in the Light of Lotus Moon Dec 15, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/15/24 - We are continuously receiving from our ancestors, “bringing us the Dharma here and now.” To see ourselves as part of the continuous body of interconnecting, interdepending, and interpenetrating members—past, present, and future—is one of the functions of Buddhist training and meditation practice. When we know this, sense this, the natural response is to bring our ancestors forth and look at them in veneration. We formally bow and meet them, which is none other than meeting ourselves. This talk brings forth Ancestor Otagaki Rengetsu, Lotus Moon, the brilliant poet, potter, Buddhist nun from 19th century Japan and how her life interweaves with Hojin’s Buddhist path, art practice and teaching.

Everything is in the Heart Dec 15, 2024

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 12/15/24 - A poem by Zen monastic hermit Ryokan brings inspiration for this talk from Shoan Osho. Ryokan communicated Zen and Buddhist teachings through everyday encounters, directly expressing awakened nature, or Buddha nature. Shoan explores how this awakened nature, inseparable from the natural world, comes to life in taking care of what is around us and from taking care of ourselves and each other.

The Practice of Zen is Zazen Dec 14, 2024

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 12/14/24 - This talk explores how the minimal instructions for Zen practice that have been handed down to us from Dogen Zenji encourage us to be with what is, as it arises, without fixing or adding extra. “Realizing the fundamental point, it is practice realization,” Dogen wrote. We are encouraged to “let go of all involvements,” take care of the body and mind and all that arises, and let the practice of zazen support our true self.

Celebrating the Buddha’s Enlightenment Dec 08, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi ZMM - 12/08/24 - Having exhausted all the methods that were available at the time, Shakyamuni Buddha turned toward a new path, a simple seclusion and inward turning of mind. He received nourishment from Sujata and courageously defeated Mara on the path of liberation. This inspiring tale is retold by Shugen Roshi on the occasion of the annual Buddha’s Enlightenment Vigil.

Storytelling Around Siddhartha Dec 08, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/08/24 - Today is Bodhi Day, the commemoration of the enlightenment of Siddhartha; a day in which the possibility of not just spinning in confusion, reactivity and fathomless separation is celebrated. Hear about Siddhartha's resolve to discover the root of why we suffer and the nature of existence. Hear about the key figures who supported him at crucial moments on a path without which he most likely would not have made it to Buddhahood. Who has been significant in our journey? We are able to receive training and practice the Dharma today from what he realized. We all walk alone in one sense and together in every way.

Seeing Our True Identity Dec 01, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/01/24 - From Master Wu-Men's Gateless Gate, Case 12 Jui-yen Calls "Master" - How does our sense of self come about? Does it happen automatically and, if so, is it illusory? The aim of zen practice is to cut through the illusion, see the self and other as an interdependent whole and therein recognize our true identity.

Feeling Our Way to Awakening Dec 01, 2024

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/01/24 - In Master Hongzhi's practice instruction, The Misunderstanding of Many Lifetimes, he points us in the direction of seeing the fusion-identification with our emotions, which is illusory. How do we understand our emotions, accept our situation and open to the spiritual energy which can transport us to realize our true identity, our buddha nature?

The Supreme Method Nov 23, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/23/24 - Letting go of our grasping mind is wisdom itself. Yet it’s difficult to understand “wisdom” as a quality we embody, in part because wisdom is devoid of self-nature and cannot be grasped. But if there is no self, for whom do we extend compassion? Who receives the benefits? Conventional existence and the ultimate nature are both true, and holding both is the expression of wisdom and compassion.

What Is Peaceful Abiding? Nov 22, 2024

Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Senior Lay Student - ZMM - 11/22/24 - Exploring the focus of the 90-day training period as “peaceful dwelling,” senior lay student Yosha looks at how we can bring our presence and practice to all situations, even worldly activity which is fraught with disagreements and controversy.

Do I Die, Or Do I Live? Nov 21, 2024

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 11/21/24 - From The Book of Equanimity, Case 30 - Daizui's Fire at the End of the Kalpa - Practice offers a way for cutting through dualities within which we tend to get lost, as all of our lives are based on these dualities. Hogen Sensei challenges us to see from a larger perspective, a way which inherently challenges dualistic ways of being in the world. Within this practice, how do we understand the permanence of Buddha Nature which is not a “thing”?

Your True Home Nov 20, 2024

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/20/24 - Drawing from the wisdom chapter of Shantideva’s teachings and other sources, Shugen Roshi brings out the subtle distinctions between craving-as-a-hindrance and aspiration. By seeing into the true nature of all reality, we can free ourselves from the endless cycles of clinging and attachment without needless confusion about what we call “the self,” and live within our true home.

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.

Imagine It Real Oct 27, 2024

Suzanne Taikyo Gilman, Senior Monastic - ZCNYC - 10/27/24 - How can we use our imaginations to manifest good for the benefit of others, rather than getting caught in a swirl of fantasy, fear or anger? Senior monastic Taikyo explores how the teachings of bodhicitta can help us recognize our reality as distinct from the fruits of delusion, and to use our intentions to imagine real benefit and goodness for ourselves and others.

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.

Face to Face Oct 13, 2024

Chris Yudo Abraham, Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 10/13/24 - Before the internet invaded our personal spaces, relationships had a different flavor. Now, we can have most of our relationships with people we never see in person. How does Zen practice and training help us break through the intimacy barrier, and recognize the richness of face to face contact? Senior lay student Yudo, himself a “digital nomad,” explores.

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 — Sandy Joshin Del Valle – 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.

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