Recording Category: Dharma Talks

Flying Fish talks about Gatha practice.

Anicca, or Impermanence, looms large among our basic Buddhist teachings. It’s one of the three Marks of Existence and is intimately related to the Four Noble Truths. Impermanence seems pretty straightforward: everything changes. It’s pretty easy to intellectually accept that, but not so easy to wholeheartedly live it. Why do we struggle so hard to… Read more »

Twelve Dharma Rain members leave today (July 9) on Pilgrimage to visit several temples south of us. We are going to the Bay Area and back home, stopping along the way, and will be gone for a week. This Dharma Talk explores the topic of Pilgrimage: what is it, how does it relate to our… Read more »

It is said that a senior is a person wholly comfortable with being a junior. What does that mean? How does this simple designation of rank work in practice? What are the lessons each can give us?

Kakumyo shares some stories about the Pilgrimage that 12 people went on, and draws some lessons from it.

What does it mean to study our past? How do we both practice attention and presence in our life today, and understand wounds and conditions of the past?

Flying Fish explores the theme of Hope by looking at Maitreya “of future birth.”

In her student talk, Zonnyo explores the teaching of suchness in relation to nature, and some history of earth-based practices in Zen and Chan Buddhism. As we experience the climate crisis, what role do joy and grief play in our experience of “just this?”

The students of the Dharma School program present skits to illustrate some of what they’ve learned in the last year. Ir was not recorded.

Dana, often translated as giving or generosity, is one of the six perfections of Bodhisattva cultivation and embodiment. It is often described as a merit producing practice of giving that which is life sustaining, but can also be offering dharma or spiritual teaching, or providing freedom from fear. Ultimately, all beings are naturally giving through… Read more »

This Sunday Kakumyo will explore an exchange about meaning that happened during last week’s Dharma Talk. Questions about what matters, what we’re practicing for, and how the dharma is expressed all weave their way in.

Asking this question can bring up a lot of different answers. Sometimes we think we know what “practice” is or what “our practice” is. At other times, it might seem murky. This week, Jyoshin looks at practice and the ways we can examine what might be fruitful to bring to our efforts or non-efforts.

Buddhism has a teaching called the Five Niyama, or Laws, that are said to explain how the universe works. Do they? We will discuss.

An important part of our Zen practice is meeting each other with acceptance and compassion, but when we don’t measure up to our own expectations, we can be very critical of ourselves. Shin’yu explores what practicing loving kindness towards our own experience might look like.

Kakumyo speaks about the aspect of meditation that is most frequently neglected. If you value meditation, but often wish to experience it differently, this may be useful.

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