Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM 5/28/2023 - How do we live in the context of the teachings of identity of relative and absolute, that the nature of things is fundamentally empty, and non-dual? How does realizing these teachings liberate us? How do we live...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM 5/27/2023 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 6 - Yunmen's "Every Day is a Good Day" - How is that possible? From what perspective is that so? Can we free the idea of good from our idea of good? And from Master Dogen's...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM 05/21/2023 - From Master Dogen's Treasury Of The True Dharma Eye, Case 289, Daowu's "Alive or Dead" - Shugen Roshi reflects on our understanding of birth-and-death in the context of the Buddha's profound teaching of...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, ZMM 05/14/2023 - Shugen Roshi speaks about Liturgy and in particular how Oryoki and the Meal Gatha illustrate its beauty, its purpose, and the reality and challenges of our practice in these...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM 05/07/2023 - From the Transmission of the Light, Case 7 - The 6th Indian Ancestor, Mishaka - There are strong karmic currents that keep showing up in our lives: loneliness, insecurity, anger, confusion, amongst many. We can...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM, 04/30/2023 - Dharma Encounter at the conclusion of the 2023 Apple Blossom Sesshin - A teaching in the Maha-Parinirvana Sutra uses the metaphor of an island. The Buddha says: "... You should all live with yourselves as your...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM, 04/29/2023 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 83 - Daowu Tends The Sick - Shugen reflects on this beautifully poetic koan, about seeing clearly into our suffering, into birth-and-death; the wonderful medicine that can...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery - 04/27/2023 - Teisho during the Fusatsu of ZMM's Apple Blossom Sesshin - Shugen Roshi reflects on the ever-present intimacy in our lives and the continuous practice of...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery - 4/23/2023 - Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring 2023 Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, five students - Gashin, Chosei, Juyu, Kyoshin, & Jokai - formally receive the sixteen Buddhist...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZCNYC, Fire Lotus Temple, 04/16/2023 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 41 - Zhaozhou's Person Who's Died the Great Death - Shugen Roshi invites us to confront the simple truths of our lives and to honestly and compassionately...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, 04/09/2023 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 62 - Mi Hu's "Enlightenment Or Not?" - From this koan, and quoting Daido Roshi "The way to heaven is heaven itself," and from Thomas Merton's writing on the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, 04/02/2023 - Dharma Encounter at the conclusion of the 2023 Founding Sesshin; On passages from Dogen's Fascicle "Undivided Activity" and from the Buddha's teaching in the "Maha-Parinirvana Sutra." -...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, 04/01/2023 - From Master Dogen's Treasury Of The True Dharma Eye, "Undivided Activity" - "The great way of all buddhas, thoroughly practiced, is emancipation and realization." What is it about this...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, 03/30/2023 - Fusatsu Ceremony and Teisho from ZMM's Annual Founding Sesshin - Shugen Roshi reflects on the vows of his teacher when founding the monastery; how they've been alive and thriving, reaching...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, 03/26/2023 - From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye), Case 288 - Zhaozhou's "Indestructible Nature" - Shugen Roshi talks about the MRO's newly formed Sangha Harmony Advisory...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt Tremper, New York, Sunday 03/19/2023 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 16 - Yün-men: The Sound of the Bell - Setting out on a spiritual path... is it about seeking and finding answers that...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt Tremper, New York, Saturday 03/18/2023 - Shugen Roshi offers the rich heritage of teachings on Zazen; this fundamental activity in the practice of Zen...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, New York, Saturday 03/12/2023 - How do we "cultivate a trust in our non-thinking mind"? What happens when you "give yourself over to everyday mind"? Shugen Roshi illustrates these...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt Tremper, New York, Sunday 03/05/2023 - Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of our 90-day Spring Ango training period, "Birth and Death." Preceding Shugen Roshi's dharma talk, you'll hear an 8 minute...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, New York, Saturday 03/04/2023 - "Home Leaving" traditionally referred to a person leaving their life behind and becoming a monastic. Shugen Roshi talks about Home Leaving in a deeper,...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 02/26/2023 - One of the stories of Bodhidharma (the founder of the Zen Lineage) goes this way: that he sat in his cave facing the wall for 9 years. We emulate this during our daily zazen...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 02/05/2023 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 33 - Ma-tsu: "No Mind, No Buddha"  - These things we seek and questions we have... What is Buddha? What is enlightenment? What is...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 01/25/2023 - From The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (traditionally attributed to Asvaghosa) - What does Faith mean and what does it encompass in our Buddhist tradition? In this...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/22/2023 - On this auspicious day, Shugen Roshi officiated the shukke tokudo ceremony for Jeffrey Kien Martin. Tokudo marks the formal taking of monastic vows and, in our tradition,...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/08/2023 - From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye), Case 105 - "The Hands and Eyes of Great Compassion" - In this New Year's season of reflections and...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday, New Year's Eve 12/31/2022 - Teisho during the Rohatsu Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony - Shugen Roshi reflects on the vitality of actualized vows in the context of the Paramitas, and urges us...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday 12/30/2022 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 67 - The Flower Ornament Scripture's "Wisdom" - Shugen Roshi talks about the Scriptures as the Body of Wisdom. That's not simply a metaphor;...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 12/04/2022 - From The True Dharma Eye, Case 95 - Buddha's "Teachings of a Lifetime" - This Sunday morning we concluded ZMM's weekend zazen vigil in celebration and in gratitude of...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 11/27/2022 - Beginning with the poem "In Between Your Eyebrows" by Nelly Sachs, Shugen Roshi talks about healing and awakening, the self and mind, giving and receiving; experiencing...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 11/19/2022 - From the Koans of the Way of Reality - Dongshan's "How Dirty is the Water" - In the midst of what we think we know, we can be fooled into believing we're seeing clearly....

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday Evening 11/18/2022 - Teisho during the Shuso Hossen Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony - Shugen Roshi talks about the spirit of atonement, and how the grave precepts and the the paramitas, taken...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 11/13/2022 - Shugen Roshi officiates the Fall 2022 Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, five students - Hogetsu, Shinrin, Sonju, Jiko, & Chian - formally receive the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 11/06/2022 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 53 - Huangbo's "Dreg-slurpers" - The Buddha said we all have Buddha Nature; we all have an already completely present and perfect enlightened...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 10/30/2022 - Dharma Encounter at the Conclusion of the 2022 Harvest Sesshin - In the midst of our delusions, attachments, false views, deep habit patterns, we endeavor to live a life of...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 10/29/2022 - From The True Dharma Eye, Case 247 - Ruiyan Calls "Master!" - How do we experience this "all inclusive world"? It's our basic situation; this intimacy that all sentient...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 10/23/2022 - From the True Dharma Eye, Case 146 - The Sixth Ancestor's "Your Mind Is Moving" - How does understanding bring forth compassion? How do we put to use our "not knowing"? How...

Shugen Roshi is joined by Guo Gu Roshi (Dr. Jimmy Yu) for a lively discussion on the topic of the transmission of buddha dharma in America. As the dharma continues to take roots here, how do we sustain it? How do we skillfully institutionalize it? What do we...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - From the True Dharma Eye, Case 16 - Changsha's "Returning to Mountains, Rivers, and the Great Earth" - This talk by Shugen Roshi was offered on the 13th year anniversary of Daido Roshi’s passing. Shugen shares some stories...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 10/02/2022 - Dharma Encounter at the conclusion of the Mountains & Rivers Sesshin - How do we practice self doubt? What needs to be understood about this aspect of self? What...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 10/01/2022 - From the True Dharma Eye, Case 148 - Dongshan's "Teachings of the Insentient" - "When we don’t hear the teachings of the insentient the world beyond ourselves can seem...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Thursday Evening 09/29/2022 - Dharma Talk during the Mountains and Rivers Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony - Buddhism speaks of the "Bodies of the Buddha." For instance, Master Dogen, in his Fascicle...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/25/2022 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 75 - Ruiyan's "Constant Principle" - We might normally think we understand that nothing lasts, everything is impermanent, yet we suffer from...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/11/2022 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 35 - The Dialog of Manjusri and Wu Cho "In the first moment of contact, what we see, what we hear, is not obscured. Sound and form are...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/04/2022 - Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of our 90-day Fall Ango Intensive training period, "Moon Thusness." If you'd like to learn more about our Ango program and possibly...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 08/28/2022 - From the Mahayana teaching The Uttaratantra Shastra - The Sangha Treasure - Shugen Roshi encourages us to look deeply and realize the three treasures as our own nature, our...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 08/27/2022 - From the Mahayana teaching The Uttaratantra Shastra - The Dharma Treasure - "Dharma" refers to The Law, The Teachings, Reality. But what is it actually, beyond the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 08/24/2022 - From the Mahayana teaching The Uttaratantra Shastra - The Buddha Treasure - What is it that makes Buddhist meditation, liturgy, teachings, practices, the precepts that we...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 08/14/2022 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 16 - Magu Shakes His Staff - Why do we practice mindfulness, why do we develop concentration, why do we do meditation? These and other...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 08/07/2022 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 8 - Hsi-chung Makes Carts - The Buddha realized, and taught, that it is our sense of self, our sense of our individual person...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 07/31/2022 - Our own beliefs, conventional wisdom, our enculturated consciousness; these encompass the paths we follow in life. As practitioners of The Way, Shugen Roshi encourages us to...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 07/30/2022 - What is our understanding of Conventional Wisdom, or Relative Truth in Buddhist parlance, as it makes up what we call "the self"? Shugen Roshi brings in the writing of...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 07/10/2022 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 82 - Ta Lung's "Hard and Fast Body of Reality" - In this crucible of our lives today, so full of so much, why, in Buddhism is there an...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 07/03/2022 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 44 - Pa-chiao and a Stick - "What is it that we attach to? Anything that is perceived as being outside ourselves becomes an object...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 06/26/2022 - Drawing from the teachings of Longchenpa (14th Century Tibet), Shantideva (8th century India) and Dogen (13th century Japan) Shugen Roshi speaks of The Four Immeasurables....

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 06/25/2022 - Drawing from the teachings of Shantideva (8th century India), Dogen (13th century Japan) and Longchenpa (14th Century Tibet), Shugen Roshi speaks of bodhicitta, the wish...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 06/22/2022 - From Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Fascicle "King of Samadhis" - We speak of Samadhi as being meditation, concentration, single-minded focus. In this talk Shugen Roshi points...

Zen Mountain Monastery - From The Book of Serenity, Case 70 - Jinshan Asks About Nature - "What happens in the moments when the self has been seen through and we are still being held back? In that moment, that which has been seen is not being actualized....

Zen Mountain Monastery - From The Book of Serenity, Case 12 - Dizang Planting the Fields - "How do we stop our seeking that which is outside and turn the light around? How do we learn how to investigate in a way that is nonconceptual? How do we use this mind?...

Zen Mountain Monastery - Dharma Encounter at the Conclusion of the Ocean Gathering Sesshin (and concluding the Spring Ango) - Using the Parable of the Good Physician from the Lotus Sutra, Shugen Roshi brought up questions for students to engage with him in...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 05/28/2022 - From Master Dogen's Shobogenzo Fascicle "Bussho: Buddha Nature" - When do the seeds of our practice ripen? Will our Buddha Nature appear at some moment in the future, or...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Thursday Evening 05/26/2022 - Dharma Talk during the Ocean Gathering Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony - To navigate the Path, the Buddha taught an approach of skillful means. But what does that term...

Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/15/2022 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 18 - Zhaozhou's Dog - If buddha nature is ineffable, if it has no characteristics, then how do we turn towards it? We want to direct our attention towards it so we can...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/08/2022 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 35 - Ch'ien and Her Soul Are Separated - How do we remain undivided amidst the divisive forces within and around us? And where can...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 04/30/2022 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 87 - Medicine and Disease Subdue Each Other - Why do certain afflictions arise for us? Are we simply victims of our karma, of causes and...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 04/24/2022 - Why are the Bodhisattva Vows so important in Buddhist Practice? Where do they come from and why are they these particular four--to save all sentient beings, to put an end to...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 04/17/2022 - Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery in which six students receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts. Rennin, Seisan, Jiho, Yugaku,...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 04/10/2022 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 21 - Chih Men's "Lotus Flower, Lotus Leaves" - Shugen Roshi explores Buddha Nature as a foundational teaching of the Dharma, one we can...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 04/02/2022 - In this talk, Shugen Roshi speaks about the importance of having a connection with our dharma ancestors. How we should appreciate the great heart-felt efforts that were...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 03/27/2022 - From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye), Case 19 - Ordinary Mind Is The Way - What does "non-doing" actually mean? How do we understand this profound Zen...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and Dr. Rebecca Li - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 03/20/2022 - Shugen Roshi is joined by Dr. Rebecca Li for a lively question and answer discussion with attendees to our regular Sunday Program. Rebecca is a Dharma...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 03/13/2022 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 26 - Two Monastics Roll Up the Bamboo Blinds - How do our projections affect our understanding of ourselves and the world around us?...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 03/06/2022 - Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of our 90-day Spring ango intensive training period, Faith in Buddha Nature. If you'd like to learn more about our Ango program and...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 03/05/2022 - From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye), Case 10 - Qingyuan's "Come Closer" - How do we walk the Path amidst our perceived distractions and obstructions?...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 02/27/2022 - From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye), Case 265 - Shuilao's Enlightenment - In Buddhist practice and particularly Zen, there is a great emphasis on the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 02/23/2022 - From Master Dogen's 300 Koan Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye), Case 41 - Shitou's "Ask the Pillar" - A student asked Master Shitou, "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 02/06/2022 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 13 - Deshan Carries His Bowls - How do we create our own distractedness? And how do we get caught up in our flurry of concepts? It's...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/30/2022 - From Dongshan's "Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi" - The conclusion of a series on Master Dongshan's poem, this talk looks at the dynamic relationship you have—as the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 01/26/2022 - From Dongshan's "Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi" - Faith is required—just enough to keep returning to a simple practice of deeply seeing the presence of our delusion....

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/23/2022 - From Dongshan's "Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi" and Thich Nhat Hanh's "Please Call Me By My True Names" (This is Part 3 of Shugen Roshi's teaching on Dongshan's poem.) -...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/16/2022 - Celebrating the Love in Action of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Invoking the life and words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Shugen Roshi celebrates his teachings on the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/09/2022 - From The Gateless Gate, Case 20 - A Person of Great...