206 – Zendo Tierra, Zendo Nube, Una Sangha: La Comunidad Budista en la Era Digital – Parte 1

206 – Dirt Zendo, Cloud Zendo, One Sangha: Buddhist Community in the Digital Age – Part 1

by | Jun 7, 2022 | Buddhism Today

Since COVID lockdown, Buddhist communities have greatly expanded their online practice opportunities. Virtual spaces are surprisingly effective for practice and building a sense of Sangha. Many Buddhist and Zen centers are now facing the prospect of permanently including options for virtual participation, which brings many opportunities but also many challenges. I discuss how the virtual and physical practice spaces look at my Zen center, and how we structure hybrid meetings. Then I talk about the merits of what we call the “Cloud Zendo.” In my next episode, I’ll discuss the merits of a good old-fashioned physical practice space, which we call the “Dirt Zendo,” and the ways my Zen center is trying to integrate and care for both of our Zendos and create a sense of being one Sangha.

205 – Motivación para la práctica: ¿Qué amas más profundamente?

205 – Motivation for Practice: What Do You Love Most Deeply?

by | May 28, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

In order to find motivation for diligent practice, it can help to identify and connect with what you love more than anything else in the whole world. What love makes your life worth living? Love for your children, grandchildren, animals, nature, music, beauty, justice, knowledge? What or who arouses an unconditional sense of affinity and inspiration in the core of your being? Then practice for the subject of your love, because practice makes you better able to access, express, and manifest your love.

204 – La Naturaleza de Buda: ¿Qué Diablos Es y Cómo la Realizamos? Parte 2

204 – Buddha-Nature: What the Heck is It and How Do We Realize It? Part 2

by | May 21, 2022 | Buddhist Teachings

This is my second episode on one of the central teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, that all beings have Buddha-Nature (buddhata). In the first episode I discussed the view of human nature in original Buddhism and why the teaching of Buddha-Nature may have arisen in response to it. Then I talked about the beauty of the Buddha-Nature teaching along with some of its potential pitfalls. In this episode I discuss more about what Buddha-Nature is and is not, how we can benefit from this teaching, and in what sense having Buddha-Nature is a good thing even before you awaken to it.

204 – La Naturaleza de Buda: ¿Qué Diablos Es y Cómo la Realizamos? Parte 2

203 – Buddha-Nature: What the Heck is It and How Do We Realize It? Part 1

by | May 13, 2022 | Buddhist Teachings

One of the central teachings of Mahayana Buddhism is that all beings have Buddha-Nature (buddhata). Awakening to this Buddha-Nature allows one to attain unsurpassed enlightenment, so it is clearly pure, good, and redemptive. But what is Buddha-Nature? Sometimes it is presented as our potential for awakening. Sometimes it is associated with our bodhi-mind – that which causes us to seek the Buddha Way. Not surprisingly, the teaching of buddhata is difficult to grasp. Even so, we can have a sense of it, and this offers an experience of personal redemption and deep faith in the Dharma.

202 – Dos Verdades: Todo Está Bien y Todo NO Está Bien al Mismo Tiempo

202 – Two Truths: Everything is Okay and Everything is NOT Okay at the Same Time

by | Apr 28, 2022 | Buddhist Teachings

Reality has two dimensions. Along the dependent dimension, our world is unequivocally full of greed, hate, delusion, and suffering, and any moral person should feel compelled to do something to make things better. Along the independent dimension, things are just as they are, and when we don’t impose our expectations and preconceived notions on the world, it’s a miracle anything exists at all. The two dimensions do not conflict with one another but are simultaneously true. The challenge is to be awake to, and live in harmony with, both dimensions, without clinging to either one.

200 – Historia de mi viaje espiritual Parte 4: Iluminaciones

200 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 4: Enlightenments

by | Apr 15, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

This episode is the story of my spiritual journey, part 4. I start sharing a series of what I’m calling “enlightenments” I experienced over the course of the first ten years or so of my monastic training. These “enlightenments” were transformational insights that allowed me, slowly but surely, to find the happiness and peace of mind I was searching for.

199 – ¿Languidece mi práctica? Si es así, ¿qué puedo hacer al respecto?

199 – Is My Practice Languishing? If So, What Can I Do About It?

by | Mar 30, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

It’s not unusual for our practice to languish at times. “Languish” means to be or become weak or feeble, to lose vigor or vitality, to be subjected to neglect or prolonged inactivity. How do we recognize when our practice is languishing and revitalize it, without falling into the dualistic trap of striving? How do we avoid the trap of striving without then falling into the opposite trap of complacency?

198 – La Renuncia como Acto de Amor

198 – La Renuncia como Acto de Amor

by | Mar 23, 2022 | Spanish Translations

Category: Práctica Budista, Enseñanzas Budistas ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 198 El Budismo es un camino de renuncia. Mucha gente asume que esto significa que nuestro objetivo es separarnos de las...
198 – La Renuncia como Acto de Amor

198 – Renunciation as an Act of Love

by | Mar 22, 2022 | Buddhist Practice, Buddhist Teachings

Buddhism is a path of renunciation. Many people assume this means we aim to separate ourselves from the things and beings of the world and work ourselves into a state where we no longer care about them – at least not to the point where it might hurt or upset us. Fortunately, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Renunciation leaves us much more capable of sincere and open-handed love.

197 – Ni Evitación ni Identificación: Estar con la Realidad de las Situaciones Dolorosas

197 – Neither Avoidance nor Identification: Being with the Reality of Painful Situations

by | Mar 11, 2022 | Buddhism Today, Buddhist Practice

Sometimes there is no avoiding painful situations, whether the difficulty is arising in our own life or from witnessing suffering in the world around us. How can we respond to troubling conditions with generosity and compassion, but also without being overwhelmed? I discuss the Zen approach of being with the reality of situations – neither avoiding the pain, nor identifying with it.

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