Navigating Down River
Chris Yudo Abraham, Senior Lay Student – ZMM – 8/20/26 – When we take a chance, we always risk failure. But if we don’t take a chance, we miss the opportunity to encounter our life in its fullness. Lay senior student Yudo shares how Zen training can offer…Give Yourself to Yourself and Others to Others
Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student – ZCNYC – 8/16/26 – Drawing on Dogen’s short essay “The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance,” Yunen discusses the relationship between our zazen on the cushion and the practices of generosity and compassion…In Silence There Is Illumination
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho – ZMM – 7/25/26 – Zazen practice of shikantaza, “just sitting” comes from the Chan practice of Silent Illumination. In solitude we find our way, in the support of the teachings and learning to allow our minds to settle and come…Water As Remembrance
Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Senior Lay Student – ZMM – 7/24/26 – Senior lay student Yosha explores Dogen’s Mountains & Rivers Sutra to bring out the qualities of water as the enlightened mind. In the sutra the emphasis on “being” rather than…Close, Inseparable, No Gap
Suzanne Taikyo Gilman, Senior Monastic -ZMM – 7/23/26 – As human beings, we rely on language—words and concepts—to make sense of nearly everything we do. But how do we come closer to the self that is direct, unmediated, and free from the dualities…In Daytime The Sun, At Night The Moon
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho – ZMM – 7/12/26 – Ancient masters offer us teachings that speak to us in subtle ways, communicating insights that can be transformative even though they may not yet be our conscious experience. Hongzhi’s guidance speaks directly…Liberating This And That
Simon Daiō Sekku Harrison, Senior Monastic – ZMM – 6/24/26 – Invoking the Diamond Sutra’s verse on impermanence in “all this fleeting world,” monastic Daiō explores how the mind’s expectations and conditioned habits cloud our understanding of all…Contemplating Buddha
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho – ZMM – 6/14/26 – What is already present is the authentic form of Buddha, not different than your own body and mind. We may think there is something broken that needs to be fixed about ourselves, or that we’re lacking in some…Finding the Genuine Within
Degna Chikei Levister, MRO Senior Lay Student – ZCNYC – 5/31/26 – Inspired by Howard Thurman’s invitation to listen for “the sound of the genuine” within, this talk explores how Zen practice reveals what obscures our deepest knowing and cultivates the…Ground, Path, and Fruit
Linda Shinji Hoffman, Senior Lay Student – ZMM – 5/27/26 – The spiritual journey on the Buddhist path is where we encounter the “original ground” — our primordial Buddha Nature. The path is one of cultivating this ground, removing obstructions, and…Graciously Share Yourself
Sarah Taisho Sands, Senior Lay Student – ZMM – 4/23/26 – We often come into practice with deep questions about our lives and a strong desire to find answers. Although we need to be clear on our intention to awaken, setting up goals and expectations can also…Wear the Robe and Carry the Bowl
Linda Shinji Hoffman, Senior Lay Student – ZCNYC – 4/20/26 – In Cultivating the Empty Field, Hongzhi recounts how Huineng received the robe and bowl, symbols of awakening, and became the Sixth Ancestor. He invites us to “wear the robe” and “eat from…
