A live conversation between Shugen Arnold, Roshi, abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, and Buddhist neuroscientist Dr. Phillip Ninan. The two tackle a number of tricky questions where the findings of science, the teachings of the Buddha, and the practice of meditation all intersect to better illuminate one another.The four panelists took up questions related to how they encountered Buddhism and connected with the Dharma, and their experiences as Black practitioners entering different sangha communities. This lively discussion is followed by a brief Q&A.
The ZMM Podcast is pleased to present this conversation about the practice of parenting and how informed self-inquiry can lead us to true intimacy. These are just two of the topics explored by Bethany Senkyu Saltman in her new book, Strange Situation: A Mother’s Journey into the Science of Attachment. Senkyu is a poet, essayist, and consultant, as well as a senior student in the Mountains and Rivers Order. She was drawn to the study of attachment theory to understand both her own karma as a parent and the ways in which her own upbringing—starting from the beginningless beginning—has influenced the ways she has related to her now teenage daughter.
Thinking about emptiness might seem like a misguided approach to spiritual practice or perhaps just a poor use of one’s time. But that is exactly what was advocated by the Indian philosophers who developed Abhidharma, Madyamika, and Yogācāra. As Buddhist scholar William S. Waldron points out in his work, these developments were merely a further elaboration of the Buddha’s own logical schema in helping us to dissect and divest from our presumptions and delusions.
First the podcast, an abridged version of a longer conversation you can find at the bottom of this page.
There’s a saying about modern religious practice in Japan. “When there’s a birth, go to the Shinto temple for a blessing. When there’s a marriage, go to a church for the ceremony. When there’s a death, call a Zen priest.”
Our newly launched journal—Mountains and Rivers: Zen Dharma and Practice—is now available. Just ahead of the February 2020 release date, journal editor Suzanne Taikyo Gilman and the journal’s designer, Kristin Keimu Adolphson, sat down for a conversation about this exciting project with Valerie Meiju Linet, a former editor of Mountain Record quarterly.
Here’s a bit of the backstory covered in the recorded conversation. In discontinuing our quarterly print journal in early 2019, we knew that we still wanted to offer something in print that would document some of the best teachings and conversations that were taking place in our midst. Now, after nearly a year of working through a bounty of material, the first issue has just gone on sale. Its pages are filled with rich photographs, enlivening conversations, and insightful teachings from all of our Mountains and Rivers Order teachers.
To see sample pages and order your very own copy, visit the journal’s web page. mountainrecord.org/print-journal/
Author Lawrence Shainberg will be at the Zen Center of NYC on Saturday, October 5th for a reading from his new book, Four Men Shaking.
(more…)When launching the Buddhist Poetry Festival in 2018, David Hinton was one of the first writers who came to mind and it was no accident that we scheduled him to open up the event on the first morning. Hinton bridges past and present, distinguishing himself as one of the foremost translators of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy working today. His translations strive for accuracy while coaxing the aesthetic potential out of each phrase. The results are fresh takes on early Daoist and Buddhist literature, inviting us into the heart/mind of practitioners who lived centuries and even millennia before today.
After many years of publishing highly lauded books of translations and essays about translation, Shambhala Publications recently brought out an original collection of Hinton’s own poetry, influenced by the hermits, scholars, and monastics of antiquity that he’s studied so deeply. At the Buddhist Poetry Festival, he read from that new collection, Desert, on the cusp of its release. He also read from No-Gate Gateway, a recent translation of Master Wumen’s koan collection, and from Mountain Home, an anthology of ancient Chinese poetry that helped cement Hinton’s reputation when it was first published in 2002.
Following the reading, festival director Hokyu JL Aronson sat down with David Hinton for this live conversation that also included the festival audience.
A video of the reading, featuring Achong Jusan Chen reading some of the poems in their original, classical Chinese:
Learn more about David Hinton on his website, or click here to visit the festival’s website.
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
The term Mindfulness—as an approach to meditation or perhaps as a lifestyle choice—seems to be everywhere one turns these days. But it’s origins in the Buddhist canon and its explication by some of the great meditation masters of the ages, can lead us to equanimity, insight and, ultimately, to wisdom and compassion.
In this March 2017 interview with Zuisei Goddard, Sensei, we talk about the misunderstandings and true potential of cultivating—and maintaining—awareness. This conversation was recorded ahead of Zuisei’s April 2017 retreat, “Taming the Mind.”
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt Tremper, New York, Sunday 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 Council; how and why it came about.
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 will put our questions to rest? Or is about seeing deeply, with faith, doubt and determination, in equal measure; relaxing about finding answers and instead cultivating a path of continually living the questions?
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 Buddhism.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, New York, Sunday 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 activities beginning with the the story of Deshan’s awakening.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Saturday 03/11/2023
Hojin Sensei offers Dharma words and a reading of Dogen’s fascicle Zenki, “Undivided Activity” during a Zazenkai at Fire Lotus Temple.
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 abridged version of the opening ceremony. If you’d like to learn more about our Ango program and possibly participate, please click here: https://zmm.org/teachings-and-training/ango/
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 03/05/2023
Hojin Sensei opens the Spring 2023 Ango at Fire Lotus Temple. She asks, of this Ango’s theme, “Birth and Death,” what is birth? what is death? These themes will be explored through readings, liturgy, art practice, and many other offerings at Fire Lotus Temple and Zen Mountain Monastery this Spring.
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, complete sense that applies to all of us on the spiritual path, using the story of Punyamitra and the teachings of Nagarjuna to the writings of Zen Master Hongzhi.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, 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 practice. We also say that we’re on the Bodhisattva path, actively practicing the way of the Bodhisattva in our daily lives. So what does sitting facing the wall have to do with the activity of the Bodhisattva? What is the “activity of facing the wall?” Shugen Roshi talks about the ways in which we take up this fundamental practice, and asks: What is it to “study the self” as Dogen says? How are we facing our fears? How do we go “beyond the fear of differences?”
Degna Chikei Levister, MRO Senior Lay Student
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 02/26/2023
How do we live a life grounded in truth? And how does our conditioning lead us to step outside of ourselves and look for truth elsewhere? Drawing on her own experience on and off the cushion, Chikei discusses the Fourth Grave Precept, “Manifest Truth, Do Not Lie.”
