Recording Category: Dharma Talks

There are many kinds of currency in today’s world: money, information, affection, prestige. We chase after them thinking they will satisfy a lack, a need. Often, we find they are not nearly as fulfilling as we had hoped and crave more. How will we find contentment and satisfaction? This Sunday Jyoshin talks about discerning what… Read more »

Our lives of late have occasional moments of deep fear, and many hours of mild irritation. What does it mean to be annoyed? How do we practice with the minor inconveniences of life? In fact, these small obstacles are one of the most effective ways to deep wisdom.

There are many urgent, complex problems in the world, and at times we all get caught by them, and information and analysis doesn’t actually free us. But there is something to notice that does help. The benefit is apparent on both a personal and a much larger level.  

This Sunday we celebrate the Buddha’s birth; an event that has many stories associated with it. This Sunday Jyoshin will circle around stories and storytelling in our tradition. Bring your tea and a comfortable seat up to your device to zoom in to listen to the talk.

This Sunday Kakumyo will talk about getting caught and unstuck and what a meditation practice can bring to bear on our current situation.

When circumstances take a sudden shift from what we have come to think of as normal, it can shake our sense of who we are. Almost all of us have had to deal with massive changes recently that may seem catastrophic. In addition, we can be confused by the curious juxtaposition of the sense of… Read more »

2,500 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha himself predicted that all of us would realize Buddhahood. Buddhist scripture is replete with this assurance. But if our Buddhahood is assured, why do we struggle so with self-doubt? How do we balance the Buddha’s unbridled optimism with the frustration that inevitably arises in our practice?

In exploring Buddhist teachings and trying to incorporate them into our life, questions like “What is real?” move from being vague or frivolous ideas to concrete practices that shape our day. In this talk Kakumyo will see how this question shapes how we relate to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

We don’t have a lot of exposure to the Bodhisattva Vows at Dharma Rain. In this talk we’ll investigate these challenging and powerful vows. We’ll explore some of the rather different formulations of them and the koan nature of these vows. We’ll also investigate the power of wise aspiration in our practice.

We live our lives having to make so many decisions. How do we see what is right for us to do? What is the role of the mind and how do we develop our own wisdom to guide us.

It might be easy and comfortable to think about practice in terms of how it affects our mind state. This cause and effect is fairly simple and relatively observable. If the effect of practice spreads farther, what does that challenge? How would that impact our practice?

What is Joy? Is it the same as happiness? How does it relate to Suffering? Is it okay for a Buddhist to feel happy? In fact, Joy is one of the Four Immeasurables, as well as being one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. Genko explores Buddhism’s relationship to Joy, and gives some tips for… Read more »

Trying to avoid judgmental or reactive patterns, we might forego our authentic recognition of what fits. If we aim for clarity we might end up feeling disconnected. There’s a sweet spot in navigating life that allows for both wise discernment and nonattachment.

We celebrate the Festival of Nehan this week, and the historical Buddha’s passge out of this world. But perhaps there never was a Buddha. What if the Buddha never really existed? What happens to our practice then?

Whoa! What was that!? Sometimes we aim for equanimity and find ourselves surprised by reactive strong emotions. This Sunday Jyoshin will talk about selves–from–the–past appearing in the Present and ways zen practice can be used to examine habit patterns around strong emotions and reactivity.

This Sunday Genko weighs in on the ongoing study of the Bodhisattva Precepts we are doing on Wednesday nights, led by Jyoshin and Carrie. How do we hold, keep, and commit to the Precepts? More than a set of rules, they point us to a path in a particular direction. We work with them as… Read more »

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