Date Title & Details Speaker Listen Download
03/07/2021
How Not to Zen

One of the barriers many people experience in meditation practice, and especially in the Zen tradition, are concerns about whether we are going to do it wrong. This shows up in many distinct flavors, sharing a common theme of anxiety. This Sunday Kakumyo will talk about how we meet this barrier and how it relates to sangha treasure and the ongoing, lifelong practice of awareness.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
03/03/2021
The Seven Factors of Enlightenment Class 2

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sokuchu Mader, Zonnyo Riger
02/28/2021
New Beginnings

A sense of spring is vibrating toward manifesting. Frogs are singing a symphony each night at Siskiyou Square. We spotted crocuses coming up in the garden, and there’s a hint of color in the plum grove. In spite of the recent ice and snow, and the fact that we could still get more cold weather, even snow, during the next couple of months, there’s a definite feeling of spring in the air. With new beginnings, it’s sometimes tempting to forget about the past and just forge ahead as if it never happened. Certainly I’ve seen a lot of people want to expunge 2020 from memory. It’s been almost a year since we closed the temple for a time during the first Covid lockdown. What have we learned during the past year to carry forward positively into these new beginnings?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Genko Rainwater
02/24/2021
The Seven Factors of Enlightenment Class 1

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sokuchu Mader, Zonnyo Riger
02/14/2021
A Zen Valentine

Valentine’s Day, a day to profess romantic love to your special someone. Chocolate, cards, flowers, coziness, making that extra effort to show you care. What might this look like in a Zen context? Rather than making an extra effort for that special someone, what if you expressed your love for everyone? What if you cultivated compassion not only on one calendar day, but all days? What would that take?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jyoshin Clay
02/10/2021
Precepts Class 6

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
02/07/2021
Living Practice

This Sunday we commemorate the Buddha’s death. In the sutra that details his final teachings, there’s a discussion of the mind that seeks the way. We will look at the discovery, expression, and honing of this mind, and see why it is so pivotal in Zen practice.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
02/03/2021
Precepts Class 5

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
01/31/2021
Sustainable Bodhisattva Practice in a World on Fire (missing audio)

What is sustainable bodhisattva practice when the world is (often literally) on fire? How do we enact our bodhisattva vows in the face of all of this suffering – caused by racism, the global pandemic, the breakdown of earth’s natural life support systems, and global heating, among so many other things? Our vow is to “save all beings” but – at least in terms of an individual’s goal – that’s impossible. Domyo will offer a three-ingredient approach to honoring our bodhisattva vow in a tangible, rewarding, and sustainble way, as opposed to it being a largely irrelevant ideal.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Domyo Burk
01/27/2021
Precept Class 4

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
01/24/2021
Light

The long nights of winter are slowly giving way to our long days of spring and summer. Light has many meanings, and many functions. How do we experience the shift from shadow to light? What happens when there is so much light that we can see all the detail in the world?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
01/20/2021
Precepts Class 3

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
01/17/2021
Asking the Question

It can be said that Zen Buddhism, rather than being a system of belief, is a practice of exploration and self-discovery. Built on the teachings of the Buddha, Zen asks us to look deeply into our lives, habits, and relationships and learn to transform unwholesome action to wholesome action. Experiences of questions and answers have flavored Buddhism since its inception and have been carried onward throughout the millennia. Yet, sometimes we can get caught in a sense of uncertainty when it comes to asking spiritual questions. What do I say? Is this appropriate? Am I being nosy? I bet everyone knows this but me…

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jyoshin Clay
01/13/2021
Precepts Class 2

Class 2

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
01/10/2021
Practicing with Personal Transitions

We all face many transitions, both big and small, during our lives. Some we choose and some seem to fall on us with an unwelcome thud. In either case it’s ours to meet these transitions in such a way that we can grow with them. In this dharma talk, Gyoshi will address various aspects of practicing with transition: how and why we often try to block change, how we know what is ours to do, embracing impermanence, forgiveness of self and others, and how we relate to our roles and responsibilities.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Mike Gyoshi Kaplan
01/06/2021
Precepts Class 1

Class 1

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
01/03/2021
A Bright Shiny New Year

Now we have this new year full of hope and promise. With the turn of the calendar and the magic of new numbers we can imagine that we are living in a different, better world. And of course things continue to change. Many people’s thoughts turn to aligning their lives more closely with their true aspirations, and make resolutions to shape up in various ways. How can we do this skillfully, so that real change is likely, and likely to tend in the direction we intend? Genko addresses this and more in her talk this Sunday.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Genko Rainwater
12/20/2020
Darkness

As we meet the longest night of the year, how do we enter into darkness? The dark is a rich image in Zen. Let us talk about those meanings, and the real dark and the real night of this winter.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
12/06/2020
Dharma Talk

Join us this Sunday as Kakumyo gives us a head start on Rohatsu. This retreat is where put all of the energy we have cultivated over the past year.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
11/29/2020
The Dharma as PPE

Last week, Annen spoke of dukka, the First Noble Truth, and the effects of the pandemic on dharma practice. In this week’s talk, Jyoshin will look at Dharma as PPE (personal protective equipment). This talk topic was suggested by a Buddhist chaplain and the talk is dedicated to healthcare workers and staff, as well as to all dharma practitioners everywhere.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jyoshin Clay
11/22/2020
The more things change…

“Life is suffering.” This is a common translation of the first noble truth of Buddhism and during this pandemic, suffering and sorrow seem even more visible and tangible than usual. This week, Annen considers suffering (Pali: dukka) in its pre-pandemic and pandemic forms, and the silver lining that lies hidden in plain sight

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jeanna Annen Moyer
11/18/2020
Foundational Teachings Class 8

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
11/15/2020
Clarity, Equanimity, and Balance in Difficult Times

We have been talking about karma and recognizing the harm we have caused and how we can heal. This Sunday, let us step back a bit and talk about the experience of being hurt in the first place. How do we hold our traumas, alone and as a community?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
11/11/2020
Foundational Teachings Class 7

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
10/25/2020
Clarity, Equanimity, and Balance

This week’s dharma talk is Clarity, Equanimity, and Balance in Difficult Times, a recording of a talk given by Kyogen Carlson, one of our founders, on October 12, 2008. Kyogen talks about the circumstances surrounding his and Gyokuko’s break from Shasta Abbey, the highly charged 2008 presidential election, and the transformation that can occur when all that supports us seems to be crumbling.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kyogen Carlson
10/14/2020
Foundational Teachings Class 5

Class 5

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
10/11/2020
A Watched Pot Never Boils

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jyoshin Clay
10/07/2020
Foundational Teachings Class 4

Class 4

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
10/04/2020
Proving Dharma

One impediment to making good use of our meditation practice and the teachings of Buddhism is a lack of confidence that they apply to an actual situation or that they will be effective. On Sunday, Kakumyo will explore some of these concerns and discuss the Buddha’s answer to this question.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
09/30/2020
Foundational Teachings Class 3

Class 3

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
09/27/2020
Emptiness Upon Emptiness

In honor of the Two Ancestors, Dogen and Keizan, celebrated this week, we will consider the story of the Buddha holding up a flower, and ask ourselves, when is a flower just a flower?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
09/23/2020
Foundational Teachings Class 2

Class 2

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
Date Title & Details Speaker Listen Download

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