The Zen Studies Podcast

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

231 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 1: What Spiritual Questions Are and Why They Matter

by | Feb 27, 2023
231 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 1: What Spiritual Questions Are and Why They Matter

There are many aspects of Buddhism which suggest you ought to have deep spiritual questions – questions which are not merely intellectual, but which matter to you, personally, very much. Questions which bother you so much that you are driven to seek answers in the hope that they will bring peace of mind, or reveal better ways to think or behave, better ways to live your precious life. How can you come up with meaningful spiritual questions, or choose which of your many questions you should focus on?

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230 – The Importance of Bodhi-Mind, or Way-Seeking Mind

by | Feb 15, 2023
230 – The Importance of Bodhi-Mind, or Way-Seeking Mind

Buddhism is based on seeking – seeking freedom from suffering, greater wisdom and compassion, greater skillfulness in benefiting beings, and a more authentic, connected way of being. Our spiritual growth depends on arousing and sustaining “Bodhi-Mind,” or the “Way-Seeking Mind,” which in turn generates questions, curiosity, energy, and determination. How do we arouse our Way-Seeking Mind and thereby give direction and inspiration to our practice?

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229 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 1: Emptiness

by | Jan 31, 2023
229 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 1: Emptiness

Teachings like Emptiness, Buddha-Nature, Suchness, Absolute and Relative, and Mind-with-a-capital-M are challenging, and sometimes people wonder if they’re all just terms for the same thing, more or less, or whether they’re part of a long list of difficult-to-comprehend concepts we need to master as Buddhists . It may be helpful to realize that each of these classic Buddhist concepts describes Reality-with-a-capital-R, and there’s only one Reality. The concepts, therefore, are intimately related to one another, and each one emphasizes different aspects of Reality in a very useful way. In this episode I discuss Buddhist descriptions of Reality in general, and then talk about Sunyata, or Emptiness.

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228 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 2: Clarity of Purpose and Patient Determination

by | Jan 18, 2023
228 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 2: Clarity of Purpose and Patient Determination

If we live without self-discipline – without clarifying aspirations, forming intentions, or training ourselves – our lives are unlikely to go in the direction we would like them to. Unfortunately, self-discipline is notoriously difficult! In the last episode I discussed the importance of self-discipline and some of the mistakes we make when applying it. In this episode I talk about what skillful self-discipline looks like.

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227 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 1: Balancing Discipline and Gentleness

by | Jan 9, 2023
227 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 1: Balancing Discipline and Gentleness

If we live without self-discipline – without clarifying aspirations, forming intentions, or training ourselves – our lives are unlikely to go in the direction we would like them to. Unfortunately, self-discipline is notoriously difficult! In this episode I will discuss the importance of self-discipline and some of the mistakes we make when applying it. In the next episode (Part 2), I’ll talk about what skillful self-discipline looks like.

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226 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 2

by | Dec 26, 2022
226 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 2

In the first episode I defined what I mean by “worldly pleasure,” and then discussed five drawbacks of such pleasure as described in Buddhist teachings, and in our own experience. In this episode I talk about how, if we can engage worldly things with the mind that sees impermanence, we are not only inoculated against the many usual drawbacks of worldly pleasures, we can use every encounter we have with the world as an opportunity to practice deeply. Not only that, we actually end up engaging worldly pleasures with more appreciation and awareness.

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225 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 1

by | Dec 25, 2022
225 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 1

Traditionally, the ideal of Buddhism is the renunciate monastic who forgoes worldly pleasures because they are fleeting and distract us from practice. How should a serious practitioner relate to worldly pleasures if they’re not living a renunciate lifestyle? Is it possible to fully enjoy the pleasures in our lives while maintaining a strong Buddhist practice, or are we fooling ourselves when we try to do so? In this episode I define what I mean by “worldly pleasure,” and then discuss five drawbacks of such pleasure as described in Buddhist teachings, and in our own experience.

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224 – Human Nature: Why Aren’t We Born Enlightened?

by | Dec 15, 2022
224 – Human Nature: Why Aren’t We Born Enlightened?

Why aren't we just all born enlightened and avoid suffering? Or, we could ask: Why are human beings the way they are? Why did they evolve to cause so much suffering for themselves and others? If we all have Buddha-Nature, why isn’t that manifest from the beginning, and why does it get obscured so completely? Why is practice so hard if, as the teachings say, we have everything we need from the beginning?

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223 – Integrando Introspecciones

by | Dec 1, 2022
223 – Integrando Introspecciones

Category: Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 223 En el asiento de meditación y fuera de él, podemos experimentar percepciones...

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223 – Integrating Insights

by | Nov 30, 2022
223 – Integrating Insights

On the meditation seat and off, we may experience significant insights - realizations that shift our perceptions of ourselves and world, and help relieve suffering. Insights may be sudden or gradual, major or minor, but we naturally want to be able to hold on them instead of forgetting them and going back to our previous way of thinking or being. Yet sometimes these insights seem to slip away or fade with time. Our effort to hold on to them sometimes causes them to recede even further. How can we integrate insights into our lives and practice?

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222 – Confronting the Buddha’s Sexist Discourse – Part 2

by | Nov 23, 2022
222 – Confronting the Buddha’s Sexist Discourse – Part 2

I explore how - for some of us - explaining, dismissing, or justifying the story of the Buddha’s resistance to ordaining women does not completely neutralize the discouraging effect of this story’s presence in the Buddhist canon. I then discuss how we can relate to this story without losing our faith in Buddhism as a path of practice.

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