
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
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Dharma Talks
Meditation
Zen Teachings
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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.
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
299 – Q&A: Revisiting Veganism and Moral Choices, and Questions about Shikantaza
In this extemporaneous question-and-answer episode I address a listener's comment on my answer in a recent Q&A episode about the relationship between Buddhism and being vegan. Then I respond to two different questions about the practice of shikantaza, or just sitting.
298 – Framing Your Dharma Practice in a Helpful Way
Chances are, whether you're aware of it or not, you have a certain way of framing your Dharma practice. That is, you function using a conceptual framework that defines your relationship to your practice, the intent of that practice, and what is supposedly being transformed by that practice. When you're centered in the moment, you can practice without framing, but most of the time you'll be framing things whether you mean to or not. It's good to be conscious of your framing and choose a framing that's helpful.
297 – Investigating the Wandering Mind
Almost everyone who practices meditation or mindfulness encounters the phenomenon of the wandering mind – when, despite your conscious intention, your mind is filled with thoughts that have nothing to do with your current experience. You can employ various techniques to let go of the thoughts and “bring the mind back” to your meditative object or to the present moment, but often these techniques are applied as if all mind wandering was of the same nature. I investigate different reasons your mind wanders and how they call for different responses.