Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Controlling the Message (Rage & Repression) w/ Sara Campbell

Sara dives deep into the dangerous waters of molten lavas of rage, grief, and repression bubbling just beneath the surface of our coping mechanisms. What do we deprive th

What to Love in Everything (Listening Practice) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave brings us a brass tacks talk on meditation technique with a deep look at listening practice, inner listening, and intentional meditation practice in general. Can we

Tune In (Deep Listening) w/ Matthew Sherling

Resident poet Matthew is back with a deep exploration of the Buddhist and personal lore around listening practice, as wayward monks almost get sexy, a patron saint of lis

Bones to Pick (Post Traumatic Growth) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave dives into the intersection of Zen and cutting edge psychology to learn about post traumatic growth and whether that might just be the wellness Zen has been quietly

Some Kind of Freak (The Inner Critic) w/ Sara Campbell

Sara explores the inner critic and its role in the creative process through an insightful dissection of Bodhidharma’s original founding text of Zen. How does what our Gre

Silence! (Silence) w/ Beth Kaiserman

Beth explores the lure of silence, how to find it, what it asks of us, and what it offers. How much of our energy and attention do we owe to our family and friends? What

A Kind of Magic (Magic in Zen) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave takes a secular look at the the literal magic embedded in the ceremonies and rituals of Zen to see if we can still wholeheartedly relate to them in our modern ration

A Cool Girl with Cute Shoes (Right Livelihood) w/ Sara Campbell

Sara questions a dubiously lucrative job she’s been working and what the dubiously perfect Zen teacher in her head might have to say about it. What if our work doesn’t se

A Blessing & A Curse (Depression & Impermanence) w/ Samm

Samm walks through a dark night of the soul on retreat and paints us vivid portraits of her grief embracing liberatory epiphanies. Can depression be a blessing and a curs

The Sardine Sutra (Robbery & Restlessness) w/ Matthew Sherling

Matthew plays thief to his own empty room as he wrestles with restlessness and whether trying to scratch that perpetual itch is a futile attempt to take empty space, or r

By Nature (Camping Retreat) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave takes the opportunity of a scenic coastal camping retreat to reconcile all the regrets and ruminations that naturally arise given a little space, and maybe hold us b

Animal Nature (Self Trust) w/ Sara Campbell

Sara takes an unflinching look at learning to trust our selves despite or maybe because of whatever messes we may have made in our lives along the way. What’s the differe

Happy Accident (History of Zen: The Samye Debate) w/ Dave Cuomo

In the year 794 a populist, liberating, and some might say threatening brand of Buddhism spreads like wildfire in the countryside forcing a Tibetan king to convene a grea

Silly, Sincere, Savvy (Zuise) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave gives a full report on the processes, practices, and spiritual journeys involved in our recent sangha trip to Japan for Zuise, the final ceremonies in a years long q

Riptide (Change) w/ Heather Ross

Heather takes a serene unflinching look at the indomitable waves of change, that universal constant that refuses all our attempts to corral it into something knowable or

Born to Run (Ryokan) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave regales us with stories and poetry from everyone’s favorite Soto renegade poet monk hero, Ryokan, while trying to figure out if he’s the scrappy unpretentious rebel

Two Way Relationship (Spiritual Crises) w/ Sara Campbell

Sara delves into the thorny weeds of spiritual crises, starting with a raw one of her own, and how to work with listening practice in zazen. What is that black tangled kn

Pith & Prayer (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Cole Agustin

In our ongoing series where brave sangha members tell us the story what they’re doing and why they’re here (while we just maybe learn something about those things for our

A Bountiful Bummer (What Makes You Not a Buddhist?) w/ Dave Cuomo

What would make someone not a Buddhist?? Life is fleeting, unsatisfying, & essentially empty, and are we into, and ready to reckon with that? Or so the argument goes. Is

A Material Mystery (Choice & Renunciation) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

In a starkly honest and personal talk, Gyokei reflects on renunciation and picking & choosing through his experience growing up as a rural temple kid and living as a mode