Welcome to the
Zen Studies Podcast!
Study Buddhism Online for Free
- Three new episodes every month
- Listen to episodes in order in specific categories:
Buddhism Today
Buddhist History
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Buddhist Teachings
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Meditation
Zen Teachings
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- Browse and see what interests you! See Categories, Recent Posts, Series, look through the Glossary, or type a topic of interest in the search box.
How Can the Podcast Be Free?
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.
However, we all need to make a living, and I spend 10-12 hours a week on the podcast. Members support the podcast with a small monthly pledge. If you want to help me keep generating great content, consider becoming a member!
Recent Episodes
187 – Lotus Sutra 5: Step Right Up to Get YOUR Prediction of Buddhahood
In the Lotus Sutra, thousands of the Buddha's disciples line up, each requesting their own, personal prediction of buddhahood. What is this about? Shouldn't advanced practitioners of the Buddha way be beyond any concern about themselves? I share the stories from the Lotus Sutra and discuss the teaching contained in them - namely, that we all have self-doubt, and that spiritual liberation is about transcending the self but only manifests through unique, individual sentient beings.
186 – Making Peace with Ghosts: Unresolved Karma and the Sejiki (Segaki) Festival
The annual Buddhist ceremony of “feeding the hungry ghosts,” or Sejiki, offers rich mythological imagery as a teaching. Metaphorically, a “ghost” is anything painful or difficult which continues to haunt the present although its causes lie in the past. Sejiki and its surrounding mythology encourages us to make peace with our ghosts: We acknowledge them, set appropriate boundaries, make an offering, and hope that, over time, the ghosts will be able to partake of some healing and liberating Dharma.
185 – 14 Ways to Enliven Your Zazen – Part 2
As I discussed in the last episode, if our zazen (seated meditation) practice is shikantaza, or just sitting, it can be difficult to remain wholehearted and attentive. I share nine more ways to enliven your zazen without employing methods that introduce dualism and struggle into your sitting. See Episode 184 for why this is important, and for my first five approaches.
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