Recording Category: Dharma Talks
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.
How do we know where we’re going? To what extent are we learning more, understanding more, getting better? What does it mean to go forward? What happens if we feel like we’re going backward or taking a wrong turn?
In this talk from January 2002, Kyogen talks about faith and confidence and how they function in our practice. He touches on the Denkoroku, and how practice connects us with our lineage.
It matters that we give our attention to some things and not others, but most people have some confusion over how. This Sunday Kakumyo will talk about how our perceiving the world and our experience is an ethical act. How does this change over time and with access to different states of mind?