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Zen Studies Podcast!
Study Buddhism Online for Free
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I offer all of the content on the Zen Studies Podcast for free, because I want the Dharma (Buddhist teachings) to be available to everyone. Plus, I enjoy creating episodes – audio and text – about this ancient, incredibly rich spiritual tradition.
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Recent Episodes
330 – Teisho: Awakening Bodhicitta, Seeking Your Heart’s Inmost Desire
Teisho are sometimes called “encouragement talks,” and they are meant to help listeners connect with the Dharma in the spaciousness and silence of zazen. Teisho are not about explanations or the imparting of information, and they generally are not recorded. They are offered spontaneously, just for the moment, just for those listening. Although you may not be sitting zazen while you listen to this episode, I thought I would offer you a teisho as if you are.
329 – No Buddhist Bible: A Brief Overview of 2500 Years’ Worth of Buddhist Texts (2 of 2)
In Part 2 of this episode, I continue giving my “2,500 years’ worth of Buddhist texts in a nutshell,” an overview of texts in my Zen lineage. I cover Mahayana philosophers, Chinese Chan literature, and the writings of two of the main Japanese Zen ancestors in my lineage.
327 & 328 – A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Sangha as Community
In Buddhism, we have three treasures: Buddha, teachers or our own awakened nature; Dharma, the teachings or the truth itself, and Sangha, the community of people who practice and maintain the tradition together. From the beginning of Buddhism, then, community has been considered essential – but in what sense? We may think of Sangha primarily as an impersonal institution providing access to Buddhist teachings and practice. It certainly fulfills that function, but I believe it’s equally important that our Sanghas be welcoming, loving, joyful, mature communities: A place where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.








