Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Disney Princess (Not Doing Wrong) w/Chris Arnett

Chris reports on his efforts to tend the delicate ecosystem of his beloved backyard without letting it take over his life. Is it ever possible to figure out what the righ

How to Stop Time (Body Mind & Flow State) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave explores the body mind and the art and science of flow states with a brief autobiography of his own body and all the things it knows and does that he will never comp

The Big E (Enlightenment) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave gives us a personal, factual, and historical explanation of enlightenment in Buddhism and how we might or might not relate to it in our everyday practice. What does

Winning and Winners (Competition) w/ Sara Campbell

Sara wrestles with the competitive spirit, who we’re really competing with, and what we might actually be trying to win. What does a healthy relationship to being right l

The One Technique (Roadmap to Meditation) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave gives a road map to meditation and what you might expect to find in doing it for a half hour, an hour, a decade, or a lifetime or two. What is the one technique that

Stress Test (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Sebastien

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

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