The Zen Studies Podcast
Episodes on Buddhist Practice (what Buddhists do)
46 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 5: Birds Fly, Fish Swim, a Zen Master Waves a Fan
In this episode we finish up the Genjokoan, focusing first on the rather long passage comparing our path of practice to the way a fish swims in the water, or a bird flies in the sky. Then I’ll talk about the story at the end of the essay, where a monk asks a Zen master why he uses a fan when the nature of wind permeates everywhere, which is really a question about why we practice if reality ultimately lacks nothing.
read more41 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 4: Moon in a Dewdrop and Views of the Ocean
In this 4th episode of 5 on Zen master Dogen's Genjokoan (written in 1233), I discuss the image of the moon reflected in a dewdrop (ultimate reality reflected/realized by a limited person), and the metaphor of different experiences of the ocean (the nature of relative and absolute truths).
read more37 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 3: Seeking, Self-Nature, and the Matter of Life-and-Death
In part 3 of my series on the famous Zen text called “Genjokoan,” written in 1233 by Japanese Zen master Eihei Dogen, I discuss the sections about seeking the Dharma, riding in a boat (recognizing self-nature is impermanent), and firewood and ash (the Great Matter of Life-and-Death).
read more35 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 2: Our Experience of Absolute and Relative
My second episode focused on the famous Zen text “Genjokoan,” written by Japanese Zen master Eihei Dogen in 1233. In this episode I cover "the moon reflected in water" section, and the "to study Buddhism is to study the self" section.
read more34 – Dogen’s Genjokoan Part 1: Non-Duality, Intimacy, and Enlightenment
Part of my Buddhist Texts series, this episode focuses on a famous Zen text called “Genjokoan,” written by Japanese Zen master Eihei Dogen in 1233. Genjokoan is one of the most popular and widely studied of Dogen’s essays. In the interest of unlocking it's profound teaching for you, I’ll proceed through the essay verse by verse over the course of a few episodes.
read more26 – Work as Spiritual Practice According to Dogen’s “Instructions to the Cook” – Part 2
This episode is part 2 of “Work as Spiritual Practice According to Dogen’s “Instructions to the Cook.” In this episode I take you through five ways to engage your work as spiritual practice, based on Dogen’s teaching.
read more15 – To Study Buddhism Is to Study the Self (and Why That’s Not Selfish)
Liberation from self-concern is central to all forms of Buddhism, although the methods used to achieve that liberation differ widely. In this episode, I present a classic Zen teaching on not-self: Zen Master Dogen’s statement that “to study Buddhism is to study the self” and "to study the self is to forget the self."
read more8 – It-with-a-Capital-I: The Zen Version of God
Zen Buddhism is a non-theistic religious tradition. However, it's not entirely correct to say that there is no God in Zen. While we don’t conceive of, or worship, an omnipotent personification of the Divine, at the heart of our tradition is the teaching that reality itself is luminous, precious, and infused with compassion. We don’t ascribe an agenda, personality, or gender to That-Which-Is-Greater, but we long to live in harmony with It, and personally experience intimacy with It. These longings infuse our spiritual practice with meaning.
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