The Zen Studies Podcast
Dharma Talks (a bit more personal take on Dharma topics)
190 – Leaping Beyond Fear of Rejection: Giving the Gift of Self
The gift of self - such as our time, attention, energy, enthusiasm, perspective, sympathy, and creativity brightens the lives of everyone around us. Although the self is "empty" of inherent, enduring self-essence, it is all we have to offer the world. Unfortunately, many of us are very inhibited when it comes to sharing ourselves. We fear rejection, judgment, disinterest, and embarrassment. We figure no one particularly appreciates or needs our contribution. Fortunately, we can make a practice of offering ourselves open-handedly, setting aside the need for affirmation as we do so.
read more189 – Recolectando el Corazón-Mente: La Celebración de Una Sesshin – Parte 1
Category: Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 189 La Sesshin, un retiro de meditación Zen silencioso y residencial que incluye un horario...
read more189 – Collecting the Heart-Mind: A Celebration of Sesshin
Sesshin - a silent, residential, Zen meditation retreat involving a 24-hour communal schedule - is an extremely valuable way to deepen your Zen practice. I discuss why I strongly encourage you to participate in sesshin, but also why - if you can't do so - it isn't necessary. Then I talk about several of the benefits and Dharma lessons of sesshin. I have many more such benefits and lessons to share, but I'll cover them in Celebration of Sesshin Part 2.
read more188 – ¿Cómo Se Desarrola la Práctica Cuando su País está Destrozado?
Category: Budismo hoy, Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 188 Cuando nuestro país, o nuestra comunidad global, se rompe, ¿cómo...
read more188 – What Does Practice Look Like When Your Country Is Broken?
When our country - or our global community - is broken, how do we practice? Faced with incomprehensible violence, injustice, lies, greed, and destruction, how do we cope, let alone respond in accord with our bodhisattva vows to help free all beings and end all delusions? Our first responses are usually anger, fear, judgment, and an effort to assign blame. Then may come a desire to check out - to ignore what's happening because we feel powerless to do anything about it. I discuss how our Buddhist practice can help us remain open, strong, and responsive.
read more187 – Sutra del Loto 5: Pasen y Vean SU Predicción de la Budeidad
Category: Textos Budistas ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 187 En el Sutra del Loto, miles de discípulos del Buda se alinean y cada uno solicita su...
read more187 – 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.
read more186 – Haciendo las Paces con los Fantasmas: Karma No Resuelto y el Festival Sejiki (Segaki)
Category: Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 186 La ceremonia Budista anual de “alimentar a los fantasmas hambrientos”, o...
read more186 – 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.
read more185-14 Formas de Avivar tu Zazen – Parte 2
Category: Meditación ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 185 Comparto nueve formas más de avivar tu zazen sin emplear métodos que introduzcan el dualismo...
read more185 – 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.
read more184 – 14 Formas de Avivar tu Zazen – Parte 1
Category: Meditación ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 184 Cuando nos sentamos a zazen, puede ser difícil permanecer sincero y atento. Debido al impulso...
read more184 – 14 Ways to Enliven Your Zazen – Part 1
When we sit zazen, it can be difficult to remain wholehearted and attentive. Because of the momentum of habit energy, we get wrapped up in thoughts about the past and future, or we fall asleep, fantasize, or brood in worry or negative judgements. Our meditative practice (zazen) gives us nothing to concentrate on, nothing to do, so how can we enliven our zazen? In this episode I’ll discuss how to avoid duality and struggle in our zazen, and why we want to do so. Then I’ll share five ways to enliven your zazen. In the next episode I’ll describe nine more approaches, so you’ll have a nice repertoire of methods and may end up with some ideas of your own.
read more183 – Koans Naturales: Utilizando Nuestras Limitaciones Como Puertas del Dharma
Categories: Práctica Budista, Enseñanzas Zen ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 183 Los koans Zen formales son historias cortas o declaraciones de...
read more183 – Natural Koans: Engaging Our Limitations as Dharma Gates
Formal Zen koans are short stories or statements by past Chan/Zen masters which have been passed down through the generations for study and contemplation by Zen students. Each koan contains a Dharma teaching, and until you personally experience and digest that teaching, the koan remains a closed gate you need to pass through. On the other side of that gate is greater freedom, wisdom, and compassion. In this episode, I discuss “natural koans,” or Dharma gates that arise in our everyday lives, and how to work with them.
read more182 – Respuestas a las Preguntas de la Entrevista de la Revista Eastern Horizon
Category: Preguntas del oyente ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 182 En este episodio, comparto con ustedes preguntas y respuestas de mi entrevista...
read more182 – Answers to Interview Questions from Eastern Horizon Magazine
In this episode, I share with you questions and answers from my 2020 written interview for Eastern Horizon, a tri-annual magazine of the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM). There are some basic questions about Zen, and then some questions about what Buddhism has to offer with respect to understanding and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thought you might enjoy hearing a different kind of presentation, where I have kept my answers very succinct.
read more181 – Bodhicitta: Way-Seeking Mind, or the Mind of Enlightenment
Bodhicitta can be translated as Way-Seeking Mind, or the Mind of Enlightenment. Bodhicitta is the part of us that recognizes and seeks truth and goodness, inspiring our spiritual search and motivating our practice. In a sense, bodhicitta is the part of us that is already awakened, because without it we wouldn’t recognize or seek truth and goodness in the first place. In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhicitta is essential to the path and a cause for gratitude. It also can be seen as the primary source of redemption for humankind, even when it seems the world is dominated by greed, hate, and delusion.
read more180 – The Dharma of Staying Calm When Facing Challenges
When we can't - or don't want to - avoid facing challenges (our own or those of others), what does the Dharma offer us in terms of preventing anxiety, fear, overwhelm, burnout, depression, or despair? I talk about what is really means to stay calm, the value of staying calm, and some practices that can help us do this.
read more179 – Inadecuado para la Abundancia: Reeescribiendo Nuestra Narrativa
Category: Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 179 Como seres humanos tenemos una auto-narrativa, y para la mayoría, si no todos, de...
read more