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
Breathing into Humility
On the second to last day of 2020, Shugen Roshi offers a thoughtful and compassionate teaching on wholehearted-continuous practice. He begins with a story of the very first ZMM New Year’s Eve in 1980, illustrating how grateful we should be to those who gave birth to this spiritual home when the likelihood of the Monastery’s survival was anything but assured.
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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, 2/28/2021
Transmission of the Light, Case 35: Quingyuan
(Note: due to technical problems this audio lost 18 seconds of Roshi’s talk and has about eight minutes of lower quality audio)
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 2/21/2021
Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) – Case 29: Neither the Wind, Nor the Flag
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Broadcasted from Hogen Sensei’s home in Pennsylvania, 2/14/2021
The True Dharma Eye, case 248
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 2/7/2021
Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) – Case 23: Think Neither Good Nor Evil
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 01/31/2021
Transmission of the Light, Case 34: Huineng
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 01/30/2021
Master Hongzhi Zhengjue said, “Study the Buddha and research his lineage’s subtlety. You must clarify your heart, dive into the spirit, and silently wander in contemplation, apprehending the dharma’s source.”
With this teisho, Shugen Roshi begins a series of talks on the concept and actualization of transmission in the Zen tradition. While it is said to be a “mind-to-mind” transmission, it is at least equally important to point out that the student-teacher relationship requires some degree of face-t0-face interaction.
Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Senior Lay Student
Zen Mountain Monastery, 1/29/2021
Senior lay student Yosha explores the depth of body practice, one of the Eight Gates of Zen, during our New Year’s Sesshin. Yosha shows that body practice doesn’t have to just be a checkmark on our “to-do” list, nor is it limited to 60 minutes of mindful exercise a day. Body practice is a full and complete practice, available to us wherever we are, whether we are walking, eating, cleaning, or even using the restroom. Zazen itself is a body practice. With this understanding Yosha goes on to explain how these forms of body practice are both profound and subtle. All the while, she offers us ways to engage our bodies with authenticity.
Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student
Zen Mountain Monastery (Via Zoom), 01/27/2021
Senior lay student Yunen brings forth the beloved Lotus Sutra and the Precepts to dive into the powerful practice of non-disparaging. Pointing to his own direct experience, Yunen highlights how talking poorly of others will often be turnaround on ourselves, by ourselves. Realizing this, we can use the ancient practices passed down through the teachings to help us grow in wisdom and compassion.
The following dharma talk was given by guest teacher Pema Khandro, following a retreat presented over Zoom in January 2021.
Pema Khandro is a scholar and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the founder of the non-profit organization Ngakpa International and oversees its projects, the Dakini Mountain Retreat Center, the Buddhist Studies Institute and the Yogic Medicine Institute as well as Ngakpa House, a charity which supports the education of children and elders in the Himalayas.
