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.
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This talk by Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, was given on June 22, 2018 during Summer Solstice Sesshin. Referencing Master Hongzhi’s Cultivating the Empty Field, Shugen Roshi addresses samadhi as a factor of meditation that brings forth insight.
Featured Event
Tokudo (Monastic Ordination) Ceremony for Jeffrey Kyokai Onjin Plant at Zen Mountain Monastery, June 10, 2018.
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
Hear Margaret Gibson, recorded live at the Buddhist Poetry Festival, in conversation with Zuisei Goddard, Sensei, as they discuss […]
Judy Lief
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/21/2018
Judy Lief, a teacher in the Shambhala lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, concludes a retreat on the lojong slogans by speaking about the importance of a tender heart in practice and in action.
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, 10/18/2018
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/17/2018
Zuisei Sensei leads an in-depth examination of selected Jataka Tales, stories of the Buddha’s previous lives. The discussion touches on the role of female characters, the workings of karma, and the power of religious narrative.
In September, Zen Mountain Monastery hosted the biannual conference of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association for three full days of practice, discussion and exploration. Close to 70 ordained priests and transmitted teachers joined the conference, representing dozens of training centers and sitting groups throughout North America. Following the conference, we spoke with Tenku Ruff who serves as the president of the SZBA Board of Directors and was very involved in the organization of the event. CLICK HERE to see photos from the conference. Continue reading “The Soto Zen Buddhist Association at ZMM” »
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
The Gateless Gate, Case #31
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/14/2018
“Better to fall than to stand still with weeds growing around our feet.” Zuisei Sensei urges us to ask true, deeply felt questions with courage, honesty, and faith.
Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/12/2018
In this talk, given during a renewal of vows ceremony, Zuisei Sensei speaks of the fierce tenderness required to create a sacred space that will hold our practice, our atonement, and our vows.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The Blue Cliff Record, Case 58
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/07/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/4/2018
Shugen Roshi leads a discussion of the recorded lives and past lives of the Buddha’s first disciples, touching on the nature of religious narrative, Buddhist philosophies of karma and rebirth, and the importance of studying the ancestors.
Unfortunately, a few minutes of this talk could not be recorded due to technical difficulties.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/30/2018
In a moment which so urgently demands that we step forward to alleviate the suffering of the world, where do we take refuge? Where do we find the ground from which to act justly and with compassion in difficult moments? Shugen Roshi invites the sangha to present their understanding.
Danica Shoan Ankele, Monastic
Zen Center of New York City, 9/30/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koan Shobogenzo, Case #25
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/29/2018
What does it mean to bow to the Buddha, to the mountain, to our teachers? Shugen Roshi speaks of a kind of veneration that allows us to be earnest in asking for the teachings while maintaining deep faith in our own enlightened nature.
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
The Gateless Gate, Case #12
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/28/2018
Vividly evoking the ‘village’ of personas we each contain, Hogen Sensei urges us to acknowledge and learn from our multiple identities without mistaking them for a fixed self.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 09/26/2018
Hojin Sensei uses the life and enlightenment poems of Mugai Nyodai Daiosho, the first female Zen master in Japan, to explore keeping it together and falling apart in practice.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koan Shobogenzo, Case #129
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/26/2018
Shugen Roshi speaks about the karmic patterns of the mind as they arise in zazen and the need to find a middle way between suppressing thought and being swept away by it.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
From Master Dogen’s Fascicle “Buddha Ancestors”
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/23/2018
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery 9/16/2018
At the conclusion to this year’s Wild Grasses Sesshin, a meditation intensive for those who identify as women, Hojin Sensei and Zuisei Sensei investigate the roles we assign our ancestors, both personal and spiritual. Are we making the best use of them? Are they making the best use of us?
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Blue Cliff Record, Case #24
Zen Mountain Monastery, 09/15/2018
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Transmission of the Light, Case 27
Zen Center of New York City, 9/15/2018
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 09/12/2018
Hojin Sensei leads a large study group through an introduction and overview to the Therigatha, a collection of poems by early female monastics and practitioners, many of whom were students of the Buddha himself. Hojin Sensei ends the discussion by chanting one of the poems.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The Gateless Gate, Case 8
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/09/2018
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, 9/09/2018
This talk was given at the opening of the current ango training period.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/2/2018
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 the manners of the past can sometimes clash with our own values of equality and inclusivity.
Check out the audio above or watch a video of this talk below.
With apologies, the video image cuts out during the last couple minutes of the talk. The audio, however, remains consistent through the conclusion.
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
The Gateless Gate: Nansen’s Not Mind, Not Buddha, Not Things, Case 27
Zen Center of New York City, 9/02/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 149
Zen Mountain Monastery, 8/26/2018
Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 08/25/2018
Drawing on her time at a mountain lake, Zuisei Sensei talks about that which is beyond ordinary knowing and must be known intimately. As she puts it, devoting our full attention to an object — the breath, a koan — can be an act of love. Zazen itself is that act of love, an act rewarded in ways we cannot predict.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 163
Zen Mountain Monastery, 8/24/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
From Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo
The Fascicle “Refrain from Unwholesome Action”
Zen Mountain Monastery, 8/22/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
From the Record of Master Dongshan
Zen Mountain Monastery, 8/19/2018
Jeanne Seisen Lewis, Senior Lay Student
Zen Center of New York City, 08/19/2018
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic
Zen Mountain Monastery, 8/12/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 147
Zen Mountain Monastery, 8/05/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 127
Zen Mountain Monastery, 7/29/2018
Susan Seien Wilder, Lay Senior
Zen Mountain Monastery, 7/26/2018
Margaret Gibson in conversation with Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 7/6/2018
Over the course of four decades, Margaret Gibson has amassed a body of work as rich and varied as it is consistent in aspiration. One reads a poem by Margaret Gibson and comes away having shared in the yearning to see deeply, often exploring how seeing through another’s eyes can expand our sense of self. Continue reading “Margaret Gibson at the Buddhist Poetry Festival” »
On Sunday, July 8, The Buddhist Poetry Festival at Zen Mountain Monastery concluded with a talk by Shugen Roshi. The koan case referenced in the talk is Dongshan’s “No Grass” from the Book of Serenity.
Find out more about the festival by visiting BuddhistPoetryFestival.org
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Book of Serenity, Case 89
This talk was given at the conclusion of the Buddhist Poetry Festival.
Zen Mountain Monastery, 7/08/2018
Jeanne Seisen Lewis, Senior Lay Student
Zen Center of New York City, 07/08/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 243
Zen Mountain Monastery, 7/01/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Blue Cliff Record, Case 3
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/24/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Blue Cliff Record, Case 3
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/17/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/10/2018
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Transmission of the Light, Case 51
Zen Centre of New York City, 6/10/2018
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Gateless Gate, Case 19
Zen Centre of New York City, 6/9/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The Gateless Gate, Case 7
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/3/2018
Robert Rakusan Moshin Ricci, Monastic
Zen Mountain Monastery, 05/27/2018
From The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Collection of Three Hundred Koans, Case 169: Mahakasyapa and the Flagpole
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 148
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
The Gateless Gate, Case 26
Zen Mountain Monastery, 5/25/2018
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Book of Serenity, Case 52
Zen Mountain Monastery, 5/24/2018
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi
This is a follow up on Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi’s retreat on Social and Communal Harmony
Zen Mountain Monastery, 5/20/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The Gateless Gate, Case 41
Zen Mountain Monastery, 5/06/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
The True Dharma Eye: Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans (Shinji Shobogenzo), Case 101
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/28/2018
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/27/2018
Michelle Seigei Spark, Lay Senior
Zen Mountain Monastery, 04/26/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
A discourse on an excerpt from Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo Fascicle “Body-Mind Study of the Way”
Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/22/2018
Gateless Gate, case 36
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic
Zen Center of New York City, 4/22/2018
A Retreat given by Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/21/2018
A Retreat given by Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/21/2018
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Blue Cliff Record, Case 82
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, 4/14/2018
Book of Serenity: Case 19
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi & Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, 4/8/2018
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, 4/8/2018
Gateless Gate: Case 37
Patrick Yunen Kelly
Konjin Gaelyn Godwin, Roshi
Michael Yukon Grody, Monastic