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The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast — Buddhism
The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ancient tradition of Buddhist monasticism. Since 1980, the Monastery has offered spiritual practitioners traditional and innovative ways to engage the dharma through a wide range of retreats and residential programs that unfold within the context of authentic, full-time Zen monastic training. The Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple is the city branch of Zen Mountain Monastery. Supporting home practitioners in the metropolitan area, ZCNYC offers varied practice opportunities within the Eight Gates training matrix.

Latest Episodes:

Standing in the World Aug 29, 2026

Show notes

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/29/26 - The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is where Buddha gives the four postures: walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. The instruction is essentially to know the body as it is disposed: “when standing, one knows, ‘I am standing.’” walking they know: ‘I am walking.’ When sitting they know: ‘I am sitting.’ And when lying down they know: ‘I am lying down. When our body is aligned and upright the bodies energies begin to settle and circulate in a way that is balanced and the mind too settles into a calmer place. In this talk Hojin explores “when standing, one knows, ‘I am standing.’ It seems simple to just stand, but is it? (Zazenkai Talk)

Inspiration, Aspiration Aug 23, 2026

Show notes

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/23/26 - Breath is the quality that brings and sustains life--an inspiration of what enters us and provides nourishment. To have aspiration, in a sense, is the desire and motivation inspired by the Dharma which brings us into practice, inspired by our own internal call. When we cultivate even a small aspiration toward awakening, we encounter the possibility of freeing ourselves and liberating others. Shugen Roshi reminds us that we each have influence within our own sphere of living. So, what is our aspiration? What will we do with this very precious life?

Can you Relate? Aug 23, 2026

Show notes

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/23/26 - Someone asked the teacher: “Are you lonely”? Hojin takes up these senses of loneliness, solitariness and aloneness. The Buddha taught, “All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.” Can you relate? (From The Hidden Lamp #48: The Old Woman's Relatives)

Good Qualities Aug 22, 2026

Show notes

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/22/26 - Many times our practice can be simple and straightforward. But when conditions become adverse, how do we stay on the path? The Dharma points us toward beneficial qualities within ourselves that we can cultivate and draw upon for strength—to support our focus, deepen our faith, and develop clarity. Sometimes called the Beautiful Qualities, or Beautiful Mental Factors, these qualities can sustain and strengthen our practice, especially as we encounter negative conditioning and our habitual patterns.

Look! Look! Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei - ZMM - 8/21/26 - What do we aspire to in our practice? What are we looking for? This deeply personal question can help us find our way among the many Dharma offerings we encounter, which can sometimes feel difficult to take up. In this vast, wide world, why practice? Why? This fundamental question opens many fruitful avenues of practice. Looking within—deepening our zazen—we discover this vastness, this world, and, within it, our freedom. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 16 - The Sound of the Bell and the Seven-Panel Robe.)

This Life Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 8/19/26 - What are the qualities that help, or hinder, our ability to enter and sustain practice on a path of liberation? What to cultivate, what to mindfully let go of? The Buddha and later practitioners studied and taught these ways to support our practice, to best support us in this life, for the life of all beings. Shugen Roshi offers this guiding talk during the Hazy Moon sesshin.

Just Walking Aug 16, 2026

Show notes

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 08/16/2026 - Drawing on Dogen’s Mountains & Rivers Sutra and various texts on walking meditation, Hojin Sensei brings alive a study of how we move through space and time. Drawing on the “virtue of walking” as a constantly alive practice , she asks: how does stillness move? How does practice on the cushion stand up and move through all aspects of our lives?

Effort And Aliveness Aug 09, 2026

Show notes

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 8/9/26 - With effort in practice, we bring forth our natural aliveness. To do this we make an effort to let go of self-clinging and other ways we deplete our energies. Even with expectations of the way we imagine “letting go” to be, when we encounter the reality of how tight we grasp on to our attachments, can we yield our fixed and self-centered ideas? Shugen Roshi explores this energy of aliveness with the Five Powers of the Buddha as well as a koan from Dogen’s 300 Koan Shobogenzo. (From The True Dharma Eye, Case 44: Guishan's "I have already exhausted myself for you.")

The Five Remembrances – Wise Reaching Outs Aug 09, 2026

Show notes

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/9/26 - The Buddha said that all conditioned things—all things that begin to exist at a particular time—are impermanent, and will eventually decay and disappear. Aging is normal. Illness is normal. Death is normal. Yes, I will be separated from what I hold near and dear. My only real possessions are my actions. This is normal for everyone, no matter where we are. Is Buddhism, then, pessimistic—negative for bringing these facts to our attention? No. Hojin Sensei elucidates the difference between destructive pessimism and the wise acceptance of impermanence, quoting Rebecca Solnit, who offers this insight: “Pessimism is like a sinking ship. Even when we are faced with the possibility of hope and action, we dismiss hope as, ‘These people are naive. I know what’s going to happen. I know the real deal. This is gonna sink.’” She says, “It’s kind of like not even being able to see lifeboats that are bobbing all around us.” To see impermanence clearly is not to give up hope. It is to open ourselves to creation.

Taking Up Mind Training Aug 02, 2026

Show notes

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 8/2/26 - Koan study can turn our minds inward, showing us where we get stuck in our own habitual tangles and ways of thinking about reality. What is the true nature that ’mind training’ can reveal? Shugen Roshi brings alive the subtle teachings of Zhao Zhou with this question. Through practice, we gain some ground in working with our own minds, therefore finding ways to untangle ourselves and live in true freedom. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 11 - Zhao Zhou Examines the Hermits.)

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