Date Title & Details Speaker Listen Download
08/20/2023
Loving-Kindness and Trust

Trust is important in an ongoing Buddhist practice. However, fear and apprehension can sometimes interfere with its expression. Metta (lovingkindness) practice can disarm us and provide the sense of openness and safety needed for the arising of trust. Daigai reflects on the benefits of metta practice, particularly the connection between lovingkindness and the manifesting of trust.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Daigai Filbert
08/13/2023
Going Forward Is an Everyday Affair

This line in the Fukanzazengi, which we recite for our evening program, snagged my attention this week. What is going forward? What is an everyday affair? How do we live our everyday lives in such a way that we keep going forward?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Genko Rainwater
08/06/2023
Gathas

Flying Fish talks about Gatha practice.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Flying Fish Murphy
07/30/2023
Impermanence

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 avoid impermanence? What are our often unconscious strategies for avoiding it? How can we engage with it? Who are we when we stop resisting impermanence?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Mike Gyoshi Kaplan
07/23/2023
Juniors and Seniors

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?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
07/16/2023
Post-Pilgrimage

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

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
07/09/2023
Pilgrimage

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 lives, and how does it differ from other forms of travel?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Genko Rainwater
07/02/2023
A Rock in My Shoe

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jyoshin Clay
06/18/2023
The Poison Arrow

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?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
06/11/2023
Maitreya and Hope

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

Categories: Dharma Talks

Flying Fish Murphy
06/04/2023
Coming Alive in Nature

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?”

Categories: Dharma Talks

Zonnyo Riger
05/31/2023
Sutra Study 7 – Lankavatara Sutra

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
05/24/2023
Sutra Study 6 – Diamond Sutra

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Jyoshin Clay
05/21/2023
Generosity, Vulnerability, and Belonging

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 the unfolding of life, just like a flower blooming in spring provides nectar without thought. This talk will focus on how the capacity for generosity relates to practicing with vulnerability and how holding and befriending vulnerability when it arises can help one realize belonging.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Mark Sosetsu Stauffer
05/17/2023
Sutra Study 5 – Yogacara with Ben Connolly

Visiting Teacher Ben Connolly talks about his new book and some of the teachings of Yogacara.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Ben Connolly
05/14/2023
Savoring Significance

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.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
05/10/2023
Sutra Study 4 – Brahma Net

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
05/07/2023
What Does it Mean to Practice?

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.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Jyoshin Clay
05/03/2023
Sutra Study 3 – Universal Gateway

Genko presents and explores the verse summary of the Universal Gateway Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Genko Rainwater
04/30/2023
The Buddhist Theory of Everything

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

Categories: Dharma Talks

Sallie Jiko Tisdale
04/26/2023
Sutra Study 2 – Lotus Sutra

The Spring Wednesday evening class series is studying sutras. The active Dharma Rain Teachers will be presenting some of their favorite teachings from the sutras, so there will be a lot of variety. At that, it will be only a taste of each sutra and a small sample of all of the sutras out there. Still, we hope to get into some depth and have some good discussion and an enhanced understanding of the richness of the teachings in Buddhism.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Flying Fish Murphy
04/23/2023
Be A Good Friend to Yourself

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.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Shin’yu Vitells
04/19/2023
Sutra Study 1 – Overview

The Spring Wednesday evening class series is studying sutras. The active Dharma Rain Teachers will be presenting some of their favorite teachings from the sutras, so there will be a lot of variety. At that, it will be only a taste of each sutra and a small sample of all of the sutras out there. Still, we hope to get into some depth and have some good discussion and an enhanced understanding of the richness of the teachings in Buddhism.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Mark Sosetsu Stauffer
04/16/2023
Grounding Stillness

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.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
04/09/2023
Spring Sangha Forum

Twice a year, the sangha has an opportunity to hear from our governing bodies and to ask questions and give feedback. In the spring, the forum is sponsored by the Dharma Council. The Board and Dharma Garden Council also give updates.

Categories: Sangha Forum

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
04/05/2023
Practicing with Vow

In this series of six classes we discuss the history of vow practice in Buddhism, ways of working with vow, and go into depth with exploring our personal relation to the four Bodhisattva Vows. The classes are highly participatory and emphasize personal experience with the content more than information about it. The classes are led by three of our lay teachers: Gyoshi, Kengan, and Sosetsu.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Mike Gyoshi Kaplan
04/02/2023
The Path as We Walk

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?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Genko Rainwater
03/29/2023
Practicing with Vow

In this series of six classes we discuss the history of vow practice in Buddhism, ways of working with vow, and go into depth with exploring our personal relation to the four Bodhisattva Vows. The classes are highly participatory and emphasize personal experience with the content more than information about it. The classes are led by three of our lay teachers: Gyoshi, Kengan, and Sosetsu.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Mike Gyoshi Kaplan
03/26/2023
Faith and Confidence

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.

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kyogen Carlson
03/22/2023
Practicing with Vow

In this series of six classes we discuss the history of vow practice in Buddhism, ways of working with vow, and go into depth with exploring our personal relation to the four Bodhisattva Vows. The classes are highly participatory and emphasize personal experience with the content more than information about it. The classes are led by three of our lay teachers: Gyoshi, Kengan, and Sosetsu.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Mike Gyoshi Kaplan
03/19/2023
The Influence of Perception

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?

Categories: Dharma Talks

Kakumyo Lowe-Charde
03/15/2023
Practicing with Vow

In this series of six classes we discuss the history of vow practice in Buddhism, ways of working with vow, and go into depth with exploring our personal relation to the four Bodhisattva Vows. The classes are highly participatory and emphasize personal experience with the content more than information about it. The classes are led by three of our lay teachers: Gyoshi, Kengan, and Sosetsu.

Categories: Wednesday Classes

Kyri Kengan Trieman
Date Title & Details Speaker Listen Download

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