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
Everyday Words
Picking up where he left off from a previous Fusatsu talk on Right Speech (Learning How to Speak – 4/8/21), Shugen Roshi investigates storied examples of practitioners using language to express the ordinary and the extraordinary. Master Dogen says, “Words are neither different nor not different from our fundamental nature. But if a person becomes attached to words and their everyday meaning, they can become attached to views.” We tend to use words very casually, but language has power and views can imprison.
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Dharma Talks on Livestream
Check out our continually expanding library of talks archived on Livestream. And join us live each Sunday morning for zazen, liturgy and a talk that concludes our training week.
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The Jizo Project Rolls Out
A multimedia presentation of the Jizo Project: our initiative that aspires to make Zen Mountain Monastery a more accessible and welcoming place for all.
A Look Back on 40 Years
Check out This Thing We Made: a special filmstrip that looks back on the Monastery’s origins and development over the course of 40 years on Tremper Mountain.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 06/13/2021
Gateless Gate, Case 16 – “The Bell Sound and the Priest’s Robe”
At the conclusion of this month’s introductory “Zen Training Weekend”, Shugen Roshi evokes our Zen path; a path which is not something separate; it’s our life, it’s the whole of what we are.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/6/2021
On June 6th, the Monastery held the first double monastic ordination in our 40+ year history. Shugen Roshi officiated this shukke tokudo ceremony for Suzanne Taikyo Gilman and Hokyu JL Aronson. Tokudo marks the formal taking of monastic vows and, in our tradition, expresses a lifetime commitment to the Monastery. Taikyo was given the monastic name Yusen, meaning Courageous & Devoted River, and Hokyu was given the monastic name Josen, which Shugen Roshi translated as Humble Mystic.
Linda Shinji Hoffman, Senior Lay Student
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/30/2021
True Dharma Eye, case #199 – Dongshan’s Essential Path
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/29/2021
Gateless Gate, Case 48 – Ch’ien-feng’s “One Way”
How do we harmonize inner and outer and learn to understand the expression of dualities? As there will always be more for us to learn, how can we go forth knowing that at each stage of our life we are functioning within a degree of ignorance and blindness? Master Ch’ien-feng’s answer is: “With humility”. The mind of the person on the way gets transformed from samsaric hunger to the appetite of a seeker. Shugen Roshi suggests that we can delight in our hunger to know more rather than be distressed by our ignorance. This is not an egotistic process however; we should remember that our seeking must be for everyone.
Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Senior Lay Student
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/28/2021
Exploring verses from the Mahayana Sutralamkara, Senior lay student Yosha shares the inspiration she receives from these explicit teachings on compassion and faith.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/27/2021
Blue Cliff Record, Case 57 – Zhaozhou’s “Stupid Oaf”
In the language of the Dharma, how is “the self” a barrier, and how is it different from our true nature? The challenge when hearing an insult is to see into our own suffering——reactivity and delusion——as the stuff which are the barriers themselves. Shugen Roshi asks the question: While our basic nature is good, happy and peaceful, how do we practice when suffering seems all pervasive? How do we investigate our delusions, remembering that all beings have buddha nature?
Prabu Gikon Vasan, Senior Lay Practitioner
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/26/2021
Making a connection between Master Dogen’s “Ten Directions” fascicle and lines from a number of contemporary poets, Gikon points out that they speak about the hardships we experience while urging us to use it all for healing.
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Zoom Broadcast, 5/23/2021
Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) – Case 23: Think Neither Good Nor Evil
Hogen Sensei uses this well-known interaction between Hui Neng, the Sixth Ancestor, and Monk Ming to delve deeply into the meaning of faith. He asks us: When we speak of faith in our practice, the Dharma, what do we mean? Faith in what? Can faith be taken? Can it be given to another?
Virginia Black, Sangha Member
Zen Center of New York City, 05/20/2021
The Noble Path series offers personal accounts of MRO sangha members coming to practice and dives into their experiences walking the spiritual path. A diverse set of students and circumstances shows us the many unique ways we encounter and resonate with the Dharma. Yet, despite these differences, we often find a shared thread in each others stories.
Click here to hear more personal stories of sangha members walking the Noble Path.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/16/2021
Blue Cliff Record, Case 58 – Zhaozhou’s Can’t Explain.
As we share this earth with countless other creatures, we easily forget that we come from one primordial source. In the Dharma we can recognize that each being is a manifestation of one great body. So then, Shugen Roshi asks, why do we make it so complicated? From the perspective of our deluded views, everything is separate and apart, but even this view is the path of awakening to our true nature.
