The Zen Studies Podcast

Dharma Talks (a bit more personal take on Dharma topics)

339 – Bright Clarity Appears Before You: Insight When You’re “Just Sitting”

by | Aug 27, 2026
339 – Bright Clarity Appears Before You: Insight When You’re “Just Sitting”

When we sit Zazen, even if we’re working with a koan, we do not actively try to achieve insight. But nonetheless, Chan and Zen masters throughout history have exhorted us to awaken to Reality. How does insight happen when you’re “just sitting?” How do you awaken to what you have not yet seen without getting caught up in concepts of enlightenment and delusion, before and after? How do you lean into the unknown if you’re trying to let go of any kind of doing at all?

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338 – Seijo Is Separated from Her Soul: Waking Up from Alienation from Ourselves

by | Aug 15, 2026
338 – Seijo Is Separated from Her Soul: Waking Up from Alienation from Ourselves

There are countless ways in which we can feel inwardly divided or somehow alienated from our true self. Case 35 of the Mumonkan, or Gateless Gate koan collection addresses this matter with a pointed question about Seijo, the character in a traditional Chinese story who ends up living parallel lives. The koan asks, “Which one is the true Seijo?” Naturally, the answer is “Both… and neither.”

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337 – Finding the Edge of Your Practice (2 of 2)

by | Jul 31, 2026
337 – Finding the Edge of Your Practice (2 of 2)

In the previous episode (Part 1), I talked about what your practice edge is not, and what it is. I discussed why it’s valuable to stay in touch with your edge, and the first step in finding it. Then I presented the idea that first you practice for the sake of your own suffering, then you practice for the sake of others, and finally, you practice for the sake of the Dharma. I am using this teaching to organize my discussion, and in the first episode I talked about finding your practice edge when you are suffering. Now I move on to the second two motivations for practice.

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336 – Finding the Edge of Your Practice (1 of 2)

by | Jul 19, 2026
336 – Finding the Edge of Your Practice (1 of 2)

To keep your Dharma practice lively, it’s important to regularly identify the "edge” of your practice. This is your growth point – the current limit of your understanding and your capacity to embody it. Of course, you don’t have a single practice edge; it might be more accurate to say it’s important to identify something on your growth “perimeter,” or find one of your many edges, so you can focus your practice or have a dialogue with a teacher. I discuss what an edge is, what it means to find one, why this is important, and how to go about it.

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335 – Six Useful Lessons from the Buddhist Teachings on Rebirth (2 of 2)

by | Jul 9, 2026
335 – Six Useful Lessons from the Buddhist Teachings on Rebirth (2 of 2)

This is second episode of two on this topic. In the first episode (334), I identified existing episodes of the Zen Studies Podcast on - or related to - rebirth that you might want to listen to for context and background. Then I discussed the way you are free to believe in rebirth, disbelieve, or remain agnostic about it. Finally, I talked about the first useful lesson we can take from the teachings of rebirth: The basic laws of karma, or behavioral cause-and-effect, as portrayed in the cosmology of the Six Realms. In this episode I cover five more useful lessons from the Buddhist teachings on rebirth.

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333 – Buddha Is Like an Old-Growth Tree: Practice as Human Maturation

by | Jun 16, 2026
333 – Buddha Is Like an Old-Growth Tree: Practice as Human Maturation

Sometimes it’s difficult to relate to the goal of “awakening” or “enlightenment.” Especially if we’ve gained a hard-won sense of peace with ourselves and our lives, it can seem counterproductive to dwell on some experience or understanding we don’t yet have and then drive ourselves to achieve it. I want to share an alternative way to frame your practice that might kindle your Bodhicitta in a different way.

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332 – My Guidelines for Deepening Your Zen Practice

by | May 31, 2026
332 – My Guidelines for Deepening Your Zen Practice

For many years now, people have been asking me how to deepen their Zen practice. They wonder, “What’s next?” Some lay people are perfectly content guiding their own practice, but others long for more structure – some kind of program to which they can apply themselves. I have long desired to meet such requests, but I wasn’t clear how. After teaching Zen for over 15 years, I have developed a clearer sense of what to require of my students if they are asking me to personally guide their practice. I share my practice agreement for formal students here.

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331 – When Confronted with Great Difficulties: Zhaozhou’s “Just Right”

by | May 15, 2026
331 – When Confronted with Great Difficulties: Zhaozhou’s “Just Right”

How can we practice without ignoring the world, but also without being overwhelmed by it? We can learn something from a koan involving the 9th century Chan master Zhaozhou (Joshu): A monk asked, “When a great difficulties come, how should I avoid them?” Zhaozhou said, “Just right.” We can include great difficulties in our perception of this life without being destroyed by them, letting our hearts break without rejecting this world or becoming consumed by anger or grief.

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330 – Teisho: Awakening Bodhicitta, Seeking Your Heart’s Inmost Desire

by | Apr 30, 2026
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.

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