1 – How Does Zen Buddhism Fit Within the Context of Buddhism as a Whole?

2 – The Three Treasures of Buddhism: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha

3 – Zazen (Seated Meditation) Part 1: What Zazen Is and How to Do It

4 – Zazen Part 2: How to Deal with Thinking, Stay Engaged, and Maintain a Practice

5 – Buddhist History 1: Arising of Buddhism Part 1 of 2 – Historical and Religious Context

6 – Buddhist History 2: Arising of Buddhism Part 2 of 2 – New Religious Developments

7 – Dharma Talk – Beyond Mindfulness: The Radical Practice of Undivided Presence

8 – It-with-a-Capital-I: The Zen Version of God

9 – Shakyamuni Buddha’s Enlightenment: What Did He Realize?

10 – What Is “Zen Practice” Anyway?

11 – Buddhist History 3: Life of Shakyamuni Buddha Part 1 – Birth through Homeleaving

12 – Buddhist History 4: Life of Shakyamuni Buddha Part 2 – Before and After Enlightenment

13 – What Zen “Acceptance” and “Non-Attachment” Really Are

14 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 1: The Three Marks and the Teaching of Not-Self (Anatta)

15 – To Study Buddhism Is to Study the Self (and Why That’s Not Selfish)

16 – Sangha: The Joys, Challenges, and Value of Practicing in a Buddhist Community

17 – Buddhist History 5: Life of Shakyamuni Buddha Part 3 – Early Teaching and Sangha

18 – Zen Forms (Customs and Rituals) and Why They Matter

19 – The Heart Sutra Part 1: Introduction to the Most Common Mahayana Text

20 – The Heart Sutra Part 2: Line by Line Explanation, Continued

21 – Sesshin: 24-7 Silent Meditation Retreats

22 – How Buddhists Should Behave: Evolution of the Buddhist Precepts Part 1

23 – How Buddhists Should Behave: Evolution of the Buddhist Precepts Part 2

24 – Deepen Your Zazen by Not Getting Stuck in Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction

25 – Work as Spiritual Practice According to Dogen’s “Instructions to the Cook” – Part 1

26 – Work as Spiritual Practice According to Dogen’s “Instructions to the Cook” – Part 2

27 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 2: The Four Noble Truths

28 – Listener’s Questions: The Teaching of Rebirth and Too Much Thinking During Zazen

29 – Six Realms of Existence Part 1: Introduction and the Heaven Realm

30 – Six Realms of Existence Part 2: Asura, Beast, and Hell Realms

31 – Six Realms of Existence Part 3: Hungry Ghost and Human Realms

32 – The Practice of Not-Knowing: Relief, Intimacy, and Ground for Effective Action

33 – Buddhist History 6: Life of Shakyamuni Buddha Part 4 – More Teachings and Stories

34 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 1: Non-Duality, Intimacy, and Enlightenment

35 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 2: Our Experience of Absolute and Relative

36 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 3: The Noble Eightfold Path

37 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 3: Seeking, Self-Nature, and the Matter of Life-and-Death

38 – The Two Sides of Practice: Samadhi Power and Karma Relationship

39 – Buddhist History 7: Indian Buddhism After the Buddha – The First 200 Years

40 – Being Beneficial Instead of Right: The Buddhist Concept of Skillful Means

41 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 4: Moon in a Dewdrop and Views of the Ocean

42 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 4: Right Speech – Factual, Helpful, Kind, Pleasant, and Timely

43 – The Value of Buddhist Prayer Part 1: Paradox of Prayer in a Nontheistic Spiritual Tradition

44 – The Value of Buddhist Prayer Part 2: Aid-Seeking If There’s No God

45 – The Value of Buddhist Prayer Part 3: Prayer for Personal Transformation

46 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 5: Birds Fly, Fish Swim, a Zen Master Waves a Fan

47 – How to Guide Your Own Meditation Part 1: Do Something, Don’t Just Fall Asleep

48 – How to Guide Your Own Meditation Part 2: First-Person Stories

49 – Buddhist History 8: Aśoka, First Buddhist Emperor – Facts and Legend – Part 1

50 – Buddhist History 8: Aśoka, First Buddhist Emperor – Facts and Legend Part 2

51 – Profound, Practical, Mutable: Dharma Transmission in Zen – Part 1

52 – Profound, Practical, Mutable: Dharma Transmission in Zen – Part 2

53 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 5: Karma, the Law of Moral Cause-and-Effect

54 – You Don’t Need to Improve or Get Anything to Fulfill the Buddha Way

55 – Listener’s Questions: Enlightened Behavior, Openings, Chanting, Recommended Books

56 – Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and the Power of Compassion

57 – Dogen’s Bendowa Part 1: What’s the Big Deal about Zazen?

58 – Dogen’s Bendowa Part 2: Inconceivable Dharma, Practice, and Realization

59 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 6: The Three Poisons as the Root of All Evil

60 – Taking Refuge and Precepts: The Significance of Becoming a Buddhist – Part 1

61 – Taking Refuge and Precepts: The Significance of Becoming a Buddhist – Part 2

62 – Listener’s Questions: Practicing with Mental Illness

63 – Buddha’s Teachings 7: The Four Brahmaviharas, or Sublime Social Attitudes – Part 1

64 – Shikantaza: Having the Guts to Just Sit and Let Go of Doing Anything

65 – Dealing with Fear, Anger, and Hatred as a Buddhist

66 – Buddha’s Teachings 8: The Four Brahmaviharas, or Sublime Social Attitudes – Part 2

67 – Relating to Buddhist Teachings 1: Their Abundance, Diversity & Authenticity

68 – Relating to Buddhist Teachings 2: Wrestling with the Teachings

69 – The Soto Zen Goal of Goallessness: How to Awaken Without Trying

70 – Buddhist Practice: Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts and Emotions

71 – Buddha’s Teachings 9: The Four Brahmaviharas, or Sublime Social Attitudes – Part 3

72 – Taking Care of Our Lives: More About the Karma Relationship Side of Practice

73 – Is Buddhism Religious, Spiritual, or Secular?

74 – Sekito Kisen’s Sandokai: The Identity of Relative and Absolute – Part 1

75 – Sekito Kisen’s Sandokai: The Identity of Relative and Absolute – Part 2

76 – Western Zen Grows Up and Faces the Koan of Race – Part 1

77 – Western Zen Grows Up and Faces the Koan of Race – Part 2

78 – The Ten Oxherding Pictures: Stages of Practice When You’re Going Nowhere

79 – Buddha’s Teachings 10: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

80 – Four Foundations of Mindfulness Practice and Similarities in Zen

81 – Five Steps for Positive Change without Waging War on the Self

82 – Buddhist History 10: Early Indian Buddhism – Stupas and Devotional Practice – Part 1

83 – Two Paths to Meditative Concentration: Directed Effort Versus Letting Go – Part 1

84 – Two Paths to Meditative Concentration: Directed Effort Versus Letting Go – Part 2

85 – I Shouldn’t Feel Like This: A Practitioner’s Conundrum

86 – Samvega and Pasada: Two Buddhist Emotions Indispensable for Practice

87 – Nyoho: Making Even Our Smallest, Mundane Actions Accord with the Dharma – Part 1

88 – Nyoho: Making Even Our Smallest, Mundane Actions Accord with the Dharma – Part 2

89 – Buddhist Practice as a Lifelong Path of Growth and Transformation

90 – Buddhist History 11: Early Indian Buddhism – Stupas and Devotional Practice – Part 2

91 – Unethical Buddhist Teachers: Were They Ever Really Enlightened?

92 – Buddha’s Teachings 11: The Five Hindrances – Part 1

2019-03-15 Off-Week Book Review: Why Buddhism Is True

93 – Buddha’s Teachings 12: The Five Hindrances – Part 2

94 – Buddha’s Teachings 13 – The Five Hindrances – Part 3

95 – Lineage in Buddhism: The Intersection Between the Individual and the Collective Tradition

96 – A Zazen Pamphlet: Essential (and Brief) Instructions for the Practice of Zazen

97 – Twelve Pali Canon Suttas Every Buddhist Should Know – Part 1

98 – Nine Fields of Zen Practice 1: Zazen, Dharma Study, and Cultivating Insight

99 – Nine Fields of Zen Practice 2: Precepts, Opening the Heart, and Connecting with the Ineffable

100 – Twelve Pali Canon Suttas Every Buddhist Should Know – Part 2

101 – The Koan of Awakening: Do You Know the Essential Truth Yet, Or Not?

102 – Nine Fields of Zen Practice 3: Nyoho, Karma Work, and Bodhisattva Activity

103 – Twelve Pali Canon Suttas Every Buddhist Should Know – Part 3

104 – Buddhists: It’s Time to Address the Climate Emergency

105 – Dogen’s Shishobo: The Four Ways Bodhisattvas Embrace Living Beings – Part 1

106 – Dogen’s “Four Ways Bodhisattvas Embrace Living Beings” – Part 2 – Giving

107 – Active Hope 1: Finding and Enacting Our Best Response to the World’s Suffering

108 – Buddha’s Teachings 14: The Five Skandhas as Focus for the Practice of Not-Self (Anatta)

109 – What Does Buddhism Have to Say About Mass Shootings?

110 – How Understanding Impermanence Can Lead to Great Appreciation

111 – You Can’t Hold on to Stillness: Practice in Activity

112 – Dogen’s “Four Ways Bodhisattvas Embrace Living Beings” – Part 3 – Loving Words

Talk at San Francisco Zen Center: A Sermon for Buddhists in the Climate Crisis

113 – Clarification: It’s Okay to Use Multiple Types of Meditation

114 – Why Your (Real) Happiness Benefits Others

115 – Dogen’s Four Ways Bodhisattvas Embrace Living Beings – Part 4 – Beneficial Action

116 – Do You Need a Zen or Buddhist Teacher?

117 – Clarifying the Mind Ground According to Keizan’s “Zazen-Yojinki”

118 – Buddha’s Teachings 15: Nibbana (Nirvana) as the Ultimate Goal

119 – Brightening the Mind: Refusing to be Tyrannized by Negative States

120 – Dogen’s Four Ways Bodhisattvas Embrace Living Beings – Part 5 – Identity Action

121 – The Practical Value of Awakening to the Absolute Aspect of Reality

122 – Meditation Is NOT About Stopping Thoughts

123 – Engaging Our Climate Emergency as a Koan and Opportunity

124 – The Buddhist Practice of Vow: Giving Shape to Our Lives

125 – Liberation Through Understanding the Five Wisdom Energies

126 – Crisis Buddhism: Sustainable Bodhisattva Practice in a World on Fire – Part 1

127 – Bearing Witness: Exposing Ourselves to the Suffering in the World (Crisis Buddhism Part 2)

128 – Taking Action: Getting Out of the House and Helping Others (Crisis Buddhism Part 3)

129 – Why Is Self-Esteem Essential When the Self is Empty?

130 – Practicing with Fear in Buddhism

131 – Facing Impermanence? Fortunately, Buddhism Is All About Life and Death

132 – Restoring Wonder: Hongzhi’s Guidepost of Silent Illumination – Part 1

133 – Restoring Wonder: Hongzhi’s Guidepost of Silent Illumination – Part 2

134 – Lotus Sutra 1: What Is Devotion, and How Does It Fulfill the Buddha Way?

135 – Grief in Buddhism 1: Buddhist Teachings on Grief and the Danger of Spiritual Bypassing

136 – Grief in Buddhism 2: Some Buddhist Practices Helpful for Facing and Integrating Grief

137 – Sustainable Bodhisattva Practice when the World is (Literally) on Fire

138 – Buddhist Images of Fierceness and Compassionate Anger

139 – Suchness: Awakening to the Preciousness of Things-As-It-Is

140 – Sustainable Buddhist Practice: Creating Form But Keeping It Flexible

141 – The Practice of Vow 2: Choosing the Direction We Want Our Lives to Take

142 – Direct Experience Is Liberation: When There Are No Stories, There Is No “You”

143 – The Experience of Enlightenment and Why It’s for All of Us

144 – Lotus Sutra 2: Wake Up! The Parable of the Burning House

145 – No Matter What Happens to You, You Have Choice in the Matter

146 – Unconditional Respect for Terrible People: What Does It Mean?

147 – Loving-Kindness (Metta) Practice as an Antidote to Fear and Anxiety

148 – Three Ingredients for a Generous Life in a Crazy World

149 – Understanding People’s Actions Through the Six Realms Teaching

150 – Zazen as the Dharma Gate of Joyful Ease

151 – The Emptiness of Self and Why It Matters

152 – Lotus Sutra 3: This Means YOU – The Lost Son Parable

153 – Kshanti, The Perfection of Endurance: Life’s Not Always a Bed of Roses

154 – Avatamsaka Sutra – Each One of Us Has Unique Bodhisattva Gifts to Offer – Part 1

155 – Avatamsaka Sutra – Each One of Us Has Unique Bodhisattva Gifts to Offer – Part 2

156 – Ebb and Flow in Buddhist Practice: Cycles of Energy, Inspiration, and Focus

157 – Bodhicitta: The Critical Importance of Dissatisfaction

158 – Social Strife and the Forgotten Virtue of Decorum

159 – Active Receptivity in Zazen: Surrounded by a Symphony

160 – Bearing Witness without Burning Out

161 – The Parinirvana Ceremony and the Teaching of the Buddha’s Dying and Death

162 – Am I a Good Buddhist?

163 – Lotus Sutra 4: Parable of the Plants – Superior, Middling, or Inferior Beings and the Dharma

164 – Gratitude as a Dharma Gate

165 – The Buddhist Moral Precepts as a Practice for Studying the Buddha Way

166 – The Wesak Ceremony: Celebrating and Expressing Gratitude for Our Teachers

167 – If You’re Not Making Mistakes, You’re Not Practicing

168 – Is This IT? Dogen’s Everyday Activity (Kajo) – Part 1

169 – Looking to Buddhism to Support Values and Beliefs We Already Hold – Part 1

170 – Looking to Buddhism to Support Values and Beliefs We Already Hold – Part 2

171 – Five Requirements for Effective Practice with Any Issue

172 – The Profound and Difficult Practice of Putting Everything Down

173 – True Satisfaction: Dogen’s Everyday Activity (Kajo) – Part 2

174 – A Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 1: Conveyor Belt to Death

175 – A Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 2: Why I Think Buddhism Is Awesome

176 – A Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 3: A Phoenix Rises from the Ashes of Despair

177 – Unconditional Strength and Gratitude: The Medicine of Suchness

178 – Declaring a Climate War and What That Means to a Buddhist

179 – Inadequacy to Abundance: Rewriting Our Self-Narrative

180 – The Dharma of Staying Calm When Facing Challenges

181 – Bodhicitta: Way-Seeking Mind, or the Mind of Enlightenment

182 – Answers to Interview Questions from Eastern Horizon Magazine

183 – Natural Koans: Engaging Our Limitations as Dharma Gates

184 – 14 Ways to Enliven Your Zazen – Part 1

185 – 14 Ways to Enliven Your Zazen – Part 2

186 – Making Peace with Ghosts: Unresolved Karma and the Sejiki (Segaki) Festival

187 – Lotus Sutra 5: Step Right Up to Get YOUR Prediction of Buddhahood

188 – What Does Practice Look Like When Your Country Is Broken?

189 – Collecting the Heart-Mind: A Celebration of Sesshin – Part 1

190 – Leaping Beyond Fear of Rejection: Giving the Gift of Self

191 – Contemplating the Future: The Middle Way Between Dread and Hope

192 – The Eight Worldly Winds: Gain, Loss, Status, Disgrace, Praise, Censure, Pleasure, Pain

193 – Pain in Meditation 1: Why the Seated Posture?

194 – Pain in Meditation 2: Adjustments to Posture and When to Tolerate Discomfort

195 – Hongzhi’s “Wander into the Center of the Circle of Wonder”

196 – Death and the Emptiness of Self: What’s the Meaning of Life If You’ve Got No Soul?

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

198 – Renunciation as an Act of Love

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

200 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 4: Enlightenments

201 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 5: Finding What I Was Looking For

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

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

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

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

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

207 – Dirt Zendo, Cloud Zendo, One Sangha: Buddhist Community in the Digital Age – Part 2

208 – Nine Benefits of Buddhist Practice in Difficult Times

209 – Book Review: Issho Fujita’s “Polishing a Tile”

210 – Book Review: Kyogen Carlson’s “You Are Still Here”

211 – Book Review – Kosho Uchiyama’s “Opening the Hand of Thought”

212 – The Wisdom of Play

213 – Deconstructing Self: Which Aspects Are Fine, and Which Cause Suffering?

214 – How Do You DO Zazen, Anyway?

215 – We Will Die Soon: Contemplating Impermanence to Motivate Practice

216 – The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 1: Freeing All Beings

217 – The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 2: Ending All Delusions

218 – The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 3: Entering Dharma Gates & Attaining Buddhahood

219 – Being the Only Buddhist in Your Family – Part 1

220 – Being the Only Buddhist in Your Family – Part 2

221 – Confronting the Buddha’s Sexist Discourse – Part 1

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

223 – Integrating Insights

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

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

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

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

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

229 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 1: Emptiness

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

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

232 – Spiritual Questions Part 2: Resistance to Questions and Karma Work Versus Awakening

233 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 3: Identifying our Karmic Issues

234 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 4: Investigating and Resolving Karmic Issues

235 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 2: Suchness or Thusness

236 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 5: Koans and Awakening

237 – Eco-Anxiety and Buddhism – Part 1

238 – Eco-Anxiety and Buddhism – Part 2

239 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 3: Buddha-Nature 1

240 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 4: Buddha-Nature 2

241 – What Does It Mean to Waste Time?

242 – Reflections on Sansuikyo, Dogen’s Mountains and Waters Sutra

243 – The Buddha’s Life Story as Archetype and Teaching

244 – Zazen as a Religious Act

245 – Sangha Challenges: How and Why to Open Up to the Treasure of Sangha – Part 1

246 – Sangha Challenges: How and Why to Open Up to the Treasure of Sangha – Part 2

247 – Sangha Challenges: How and Why to Open Up to the Treasure of Sangha – Part 3

248 – Are the Buddha’s Teachings on Renunciation Relevant for Householders? – Part 1

249 – Are the Buddha’s Teachings on Renunciation Relevant for Householders? – Part 2

250 – In Zazen We Stop Imposing Ourselves on the World and Meet It Instead

251 – Reflections on Dogen’s “Bussho: The Buddha-Nature” Part 1: Total Existence

252 – Reflections on Dogen’s “Bussho, The Buddha-Nature” Part 2: Total Existence

253 – Practice Each and Every Moment – Part 1

254 – Practice is How You Live Each and Every Moment – Part 2

255 – The Medicine of Emptiness When Witnessing Suffering and Injustice

256 – Do Your Own Practice: Spiritual Translation Versus Transformation

257 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 5: The Two Truths of Absolute and Relative 1

258 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 6: The Two Truths of Absolute and Relative 2

259 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice- Introduction: What Is Zen Practice?

260 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chapter 1: Bodhicitta, Way-Seeking Mind

261 – The Value, Care, and Feeding of Dharma Friendships – Part 1

262 – The Value, Care, and Feeding of Dharma Friendships – Part 2

263 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chapter 2, Part 1 – Zazen – Our Total Response to Life

264 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chapter 2, Part 2: Zazen – Our Total Response to Life

265 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chapter 2, Part 3: Zazen – Our Total Response to Life

266 – What Would the Buddha Say About the Suffering in the World?

267 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chapter 3 – Mindfulness: Cultivating Awareness Every Moment

268 – Teisho, An Encouragement Talk During Zazen

269 – Making a Vow of Inner Nonviolence and Complete Acceptance

270 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chp 4, Part 1 – Dharma Study: Wrestling with the Teachings

271 – Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chp 4, Part 2 – Dharma Study: Wrestling with the Teachings

272 – Keizan’s Denkoroku Chapter 3: Ananda and the Flagpole

273 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Five – Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment (1 of 3)

274 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Five – Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment (2 of 3)

275 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Five – Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment (3 of 3)

276 – My Sesshin (1 of 2)

277 – My Sesshin (2 of 2)

278 – Having a Zen Teacher – A Live Talk (an August sabbatical release)

279 – Talking about Politics as a Buddhist – A Live Talk (an August sabbatical release)

280 – Stories of My Teachers – A Live Talk (an August sabbatical release)

281 – Cutting Moral Corners: Is Buddhism Compatible with 21st-Century Life? (1 of 2)

282 – Cutting Moral Corners: Is Buddhism Compatible with 21st-Century Life? (2 of 2)

283 – Reflections on Continuous Practice and Dogen’s “Gyoji” (1 of 2)

284 – Reflections on Continuous Practice and Dogen’s “Gyoji” (2 of 2)

285 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Six – Ending Dukkha: Taking Care of this Precious Life (1 of 2)

286 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Six – Ending Dukkha: Taking Care of this Precious Life (2 of 2)

287 – A Few Useful Teachings for Tumultuous Times

288 – 10 Fields of Zen, Field 7 – Opening Your Heart: Self-Acceptance and Non-Separation (1 of 2)

289 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 7 – Opening Your Heart: Self-Acceptance and Non-Separation (2 of 2)

290 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 8 – Realization: Direct Experience of Reality-with-a-Capital-R

291 – Keizan’s Denkoroku Lead Chapter: Shakyamuni’s “I and All Beings”

292 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 9 – Bodhisattva Activity: Enacting Vows to Benefit All Beings

293 – Q&A: Veganism, Letting Thoughts Go, and Motivation for Action

294 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field 10 – Connecting with the Ineffable, or What Is Most True

295 – The Power of Equanimity

296 – Q&A: Paramis, Mindfulness, Karma, and Enjoyment

297 – Investigating the Wandering Mind

298 – Framing Your Dharma Practice in a Helpful Way

299 – Q&A: Revisiting Veganism and Moral Choices, and Questions about Shikantaza

300 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 6: Trikaya, the Three Bodies of Buddha

301 – Teisho: You Have to See Your Nature