Recording Category: Dharma Talks

What does it mean to be dignified? We use the word freely and in many contexts, but may find that a definition is not easy. The Buddhist view of dignity… Read more »

Once a year we hold an all-night vigil in honor of our founders Keido Chisan and Jiyu Kennet, both of whom died during the first week of November. This year,… Read more »

Resonant of our recent Segaki retreat, this koan invites a changed relationship to one’s “ghosts” often understood as unresolved karma arising in the present. The dharma talk is about how… Read more »

Birth and death are moments in time – and yet the fact of our birth and death is called the Great Matter. How do we contemplate our own extinction from… Read more »

In zen practice we often try ‘to come back to center,’ or ‘to calm down,’ or ‘to open up,’ because if we’re in such a state then our thought, speech… Read more »

Keeping the Precepts can be challenging when decisions need to be made and disagreements arise, whether in the world of work or here in the temple. As the temple has… Read more »

We approach Big Mind with our small minds; we find our greater selves through the vehicle of the small self. But much of the time, we live and experience the… Read more »

“Decisions are the junctures where our lives meet the world. They define the trail we leave behind.” While the source of this quote is unclear, it is worth investigation at… Read more »

In this student talk, Yoan focused on concrete practice steps for releasing clinging and aversion with a fabricated sense of self and cultivating that which gives rise to equanimity and… Read more »

A Theravadin teaching talks of four stages in the path to Nirvana: stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat. Even though we don’t usually talk about the path this way in Zen,… Read more »

Buddha saw that attachment led to suffering, and taught equanimity as an antidote. He was deeply committed to this effort. It’s easy to lose the deep commitment when we’re trying… Read more »

The Eihei Shingi, rules for the monastery at Eiheiji formulated by Dogen centuries ago, outlines six temple officers. We follow Dogen’s example, with some modifications. Gyokuko emphasizes the interconnected web… Read more »

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