A collection of dharma talks, events, interviews and other media from Zen Mountain Monastery and the Zen Center of NYC. Please scroll down for all available talks. Subscribe via: iTunes | Google Play
A collection of dharma talks, events, interviews and other media from Zen Mountain Monastery and the Zen Center of NYC. Please scroll down for all available talks. Subscribe via: iTunes | Google Play
In this talk from November’s Shuso Hossen Sesshin, Shugen Roshi illustrates how ethical action, meditation and insight rely on and support each other, forming a unified path which can address the many aspects of our humanity. Drawing on several teachings from the Pali Canon, he notes, “Concentration nurtured with virtue is of great fruit, great reward. Discernment nurtured with concentration is of great fruit, great reward. The mind nurtured with discernment is rightly released.”
Featured Event
What does it mean to bow towards an altar? Or a tree? Or a meal? In this dharma encounter led by Zuisei Sensei, students bring their understanding to the matter.
Featured Video
This talk was given at the opening of the current ango training period. Shugen Roshi addresses the theme of the ango, and questions how we can best honor our lineages, knowing that […]
Featured Interview
Listen in on our insightful conversation with Rev. Tenku Ruff, board president of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, following the 2018 SZBA conference which took place at ZMM[…]
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, 1/13/2019
As we find ourselves in the new year, Hogen calls upon poet W. S. Merwin to investigate our asking ourselves the deeper questions. What does it mean to be still? What makes our practice real? How can we fully inhabit our own experience? How do we create a good day?
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The Book of Serenity, Case #62
Zen Mountain Monastery, 01/13/2019
The student in this koan asks, “Do people these days need Enlightenment or not?” Shugen Roshi deeply investigates the many facets of this question, presenting a path which acknowledges the painful reality of suffering but remains based in unshakeable faith in the basic wholeness of every person.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye, Case #39
Zen Mountain Monastery, 01/06/2019
Is there Buddhadharma in the new year? How could it be any different in the new year? Reflecting on the recent passing of his 91-year-old mother, Shugen Roshi speaks on how we prepare ourselves for transitions and what we can rely upon at moments of great change.
Danica Shoan Ankele, Senior Monastic
Zen Center of New York City, 1/6/2019
“Seeking answers with closed ears is like trying to touch the ocean bottom with a pole.” Opening with a poem by Ryokan, a 17th century Zen master, Shoan encourages us to stop creating, let go of our fixed ideas, and practice attentively listening to ourselves, to others, and to our world.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 12/31/2018
This talk was given during our annual New Year’s Eve renewal of vows ceremony. In it, Hojin Sensei urges us to use this new beginning as a chance to recommit to our practice and our lives, courageously acknowledging both our greed, anger, and ignorance and our generosity, wisdom and compassion.
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic
Zen Mountain Monastery, 12/30/2018
In the second of two talks on a Pali teaching about the urgency of practicing the present moment, Gokan reflects on the tendency to imagine the future, whether with excitement or dread, rather than truly dwelling where we find ourselves. He urges us to remember that our fantasies of the future are only mental fabrications – our life is happening right now.
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 12/29/2018
“What I saw or heard or felt came not but from myself — and there I found myself more truly and more strange.” Zuisei Sensei speaks from the heart about her own spiritual journey and her ongoing commitment to practice as she steps further into lay life.
Prabu Gikon Vasan, Senior Lay Practitioner
Zen Mountain Monastery, 12/28/2018
Gikon uses the opening prayer from Shantideva’s “Way of the Bodhisattva” to draw our attention to the many moments of offering which punctuate the liturgy of sesshin, urging us to take up this practice wholeheartedly even in moments where we may feel we have nothing to give.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Center of New York City, 12/23/2018
