Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/3/23 - From "The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women" - Hojin Sensei presents a koan of Lingzhao and her father, falling together. How do we fall with someone? How do we accept somebody’s...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 11/26/23 - Hojin presents a koan based on a Chinese folk tale that takes on the question of identity, and speaks about its relevance for us...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 11/12/23 - From "The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women" - Hojin Sensei examines the nature of Mara, the "lord of delusion," who comes to Soma and to all of us in many forms. What are the...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 11/5/23 - In this story, from The Hidden Lamp, an old woman hears and breaks though Hakuin’s teaching: "Your mind is the Pure Land, and your body is Amida Buddha. If you want to understand, look into your own heart.”...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 10/27/23 - Given in the context of a Fusatsu: Renewal of Vows Ceremony, Sensei explores the mythical lore around one of the primary bodhisattvas of the Buddhist world, Samantabhadra, the bodhisattva of “enlightened...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 10/22/2023 - What happens to the moon when its reflection vanishes? In the same vein, where do we go when we truly open up and let go? Becoming more aware that we and all things are without self, we'll experience the...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 10/21/23 - During this Zazenkai talk it’s brought out that as we practice we see how much strength and training the mind needs so it doesn’t go off the rails. Zazen may be the most useful skill to develop in bringing...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 10/15/2023 - How do we walk the path of peace in this life, especially in times of great conflict and violence? How do we practice intimacy with our tendency to create conflict in our actions, words, and thoughts? And how...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/03/2023 - Hojin Sensei opens the Fall Ango practice period at Fire Lotus Temple and introduces this Ango's theme of "Intimate Language." She speaks about the historical roots of the Ango tradition, what "intensification...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/2/2023 - From The Gateless Gate, Case 41: "Bodhidharma and Peace of Mind." - In this talk given during the Peaceful Dwelling Zazenkai at Fire Lotus Temple, Hojin Sensei asks what it means to truly walk the path of peace....

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/20/2023 - The first of the Four Immeasurables is "May All Beings Know Happiness." In encountering this as a practice, we might wonder: is it really possible for all beings to know happiness? Examining this question, Hojin...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/19/2023 - What makes effort joyful? In Buddhism, there are many metaphors pointing to the ineffectiveness of extremes: if a lute's strings are too taught or too loose it will not play well. Hojin Sensei invites us to...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 07/23/2023 - Hojin Sensei brings us back to the breath. And to the Buddha's teaching in the Ānāpānasati (Mindfulness of Breathing) Sutra, looking at the practice of paying attention to our breath - and the fruits of doing...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 7/16/2023 - Hojin cites the case "Advice of the Caterpillar," written by Daido Roshi on the conversation between Alice and the Caterpillar, from Alice in Wonderland. The Caterpillar asks Alice "Who Are You?" In Zen...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei- ZCNYC - 07/09/2023 - Hojin Sensei offers a "care package" for uncertainty, interweaving poetry and Dharma teachings. In the midst of the small and large uncertainties of life, fear often arises. Zazen, Hojin says, is a practice of...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 07/02/2023 - Hojin Sensei shares teachings and stories about Patience Paramita. She explores the description of patience given by Larry Ward, a senior teacher in Thich Nhat Hanh's lineage: "patience is the capacity to...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 07/01/2023 - In this Jodo-style talk during a Zazenkai, Hojin Sensei delves into Dogen's teachings on zazen. Dogen taught that zazen is not a means to an end - not a meditation technique to achieve something, but "the...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC 6/11/2023 - What is our relationship to joy, in ourselves and in others? In this talk, Hojin Sensei explores the third of the Four Immeasurables: "May all beings live in sympathetic joy, rejoicing in the happiness of others."...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei ZCNYC 05/21/2023 - How should we regard and love one another? In the Vimalakirti Sutra, Vimalakirti begins by describing to Manjushri about the insubstantiality of beings. What kind of teaching is this? If people are like balls of...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC 5/14/2023 - For Mother's Day Hojin Sensei introduces us to Ambapali, one of the important female figures in the Buddhist tradition alive during the time of the Buddha. Her enlightenment poem is found in the Therigatha...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC 05/07/2023 - Hojin Sensei introduces us to the Five Remembrances first found in the Upajjhatthana Suttra. We are encouraged to reflect on these because we will do things that make ourselves and others suffer. We are reminded...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC, Fire Lotus Temple, 04/23/2023 - Hojin Sensei quotes from Hongzhi, Charlotte Joko Beck and teaches how to practice in accord with our true self and our relative self. She invites us to open to the parts of ourselves that...

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...

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...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 02/12/2023 - Hojin Sensei reflects on Tilopa's Six Nails, a set of instructions for practitioners composed by the 10th century Buddhist master Tilopa. This talk reminds us to...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 02/05/2023 - Hojin Sensei officiates the Novice Monastic Ordination ceremony for Simon Sekku Harrison, surrounded by a full and joyful zendo at Fire Lotus Temple. Novice...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 01/08/2023 - Hojin Sensei speaks about the simple and profound practice of breathing. The breath, she shares, brings us into the body and into the present, gradually unifying...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Saturday, New Year's Eve 12/31/2022 - Dharma Talk during the New Year's Eve Fusatsu Ceremony - Hojin Sensei welcomes in the new year with a Fusatsu at Fire Lotus Temple. She invokes...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 12/11/2022 - From the Avatamsaka Sutra - A Reading Meditation - Hojin Sensei offers Dharma words from the Avatamsaka (Flower Garland) Sutra, drawing out the importance of being...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 12/04/2022 - Hojin Sensei reflects on a quotation from Dogen Zenji "When you know the place where you are, practice begins." We can view this quotation as an invitation to...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 11/13/2022 - From The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women - "The Old Woman's Miraculous Powers." - How do we view the ordinary acts of our lives?...

Zen Mountain Monastery - Dharma Talk during the Harvest Moon Sesshin 2022 Fusatsu Ceremony - What is liturgy? Is it bowing? Chanting? Washing the face? What makes something liturgy and what makes something not liturgy? Hojin Sensei speaks on this topic during...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 10/23/2022 - Hojin Sensei speaks about Shantideva's "The Way of the Bodhisattva" as a deep teaching about our true nature. She brings alive the meeting point of our Bodhisattva...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 10/09/2022 - Hojin Sensei explores the interconnectedness of buddha nature and mara nature. By envisioning Mara as a Bodhisattva, what can it teach us about the areas we wish...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 09/04/2022 - Hojin Sensei offers opening reflections on the Fall 2022 Ango training period, introducing the primary texts that training students will be working with as well as...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 07/17/2022 - Hojin Sensei speaks on Chapter 7 from the Vimalakirti Sutra entitled "The Goddess." In this chapter, Manjushri asks Vimalakirti , "How should we regard living...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 07/10/2022 - How can we recognize the mechanics of proliferation in our thoughts? How can we skillfully meet the "grasper" in our minds? In this talk, Hojin Sensei speaks to...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 07/03/2022 - What is sincere practice? How can we look at ourselves and the world honestly and gently? Hojin Sensei speaks about the role of sincerity in Zen practice and how...