The Zen Studies Podcast

339 – Bright Clarity Appears Before You: Insight When You're "Just Sitting"

When we sit Zazen, even if we're working with a koan, we do not actively try to achieve insight. But nonetheless, Chan and Zen masters throughout history have exhorted us

338 – Seijo Is Separated from Her Soul: Waking Up from Alienation from Ourselves

There are countless ways in which we can feel inwardly divided or somehow alienated from our true self. Case 35 of the Mumonkan, or Gateless Gate koan collection addresse

337 - Finding the Edge of Your Practice (2 of 2)

To keep your Dharma practice lively, it's important to regularly identify the "edge" of your practice. This is your growth point – the current limit of your understanding

336 - Finding the Edge of Your Practice (1 of 2)

To keep your Dharma practice lively, it's important to regularly identify the "edge" of your practice. This is your growth point – the current limit of your understanding

335 – Six Useful Lessons from the Buddhist Teachings on Rebirth (2 of 2)

This is second episode of two on this topic. In the first episode (334), I identified existing episodes of the Zen Studies Podcast on - or related to - rebirth that you m

334 – Six Useful Lessons from the Buddhist Teachings on Rebirth (1 of 2)

Zen practice is not dependent on rebirth being true or untrue, and I suspect most Dharma teachers would say the same of their lineage traditions. As long as you practice,

333 - Buddha Is Like an Old-Growth Tree: Practice as Human Maturation

Sometimes it's difficult to relate to the goal of "awakening" or "enlightenment." Especially if we've gained a hard-won sense of peace with ourselves and our lives, it ca

332 - My Guidelines for Deepening Your Zen Practice

For many years now, people have been asking me how to deepen their Zen practice. They wonder, "What's next?" Some lay people are perfectly content guiding their own pract

331 - When Confronted with Great Difficulties: Zhaozhou's "Just Right"

How can we practice without ignoring the world, but also without being overwhelmed by it? We can learn something from a koan involving the 9th century Chan master Zhaozho

330 – Teisho: Awakening Bodhicitta, Seeking Your Heart's Inmost Desire

This is a teisho – like a cross between a Dharma Talk and guided meditation. Teisho are sometimes called "encouragement talks," and they are meant to help listeners conne

329 - No Buddhist Bible: A Brief Overview of 2500 Years' Worth of Buddhist Texts (2 of 2)

In Part 2 of this episode, I continue giving my "2,500 years' worth of Buddhist texts in a nutshell," an overview of texts in my Zen lineage. In Part 1 I explained what m

328 – A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Sangha as Community (2 of 2)

In Buddhism, we have three treasures: Buddha, teachers or our own awakened nature; Dharma, the teachings or the truth itself, and Sangha, the community of people who prac

327 – A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Sangha as Community (1 of 2)

In Buddhism, we have three treasures: Buddha, teachers or our own awakened nature; Dharma, the teachings or the truth itself, and Sangha, the community of people who prac

326 - No Buddhist Bible: A Brief Overview of 2500 Years' Worth of Buddhist Texts (1 of 2)

You may have discovered there are lots of Buddhist teachings and texts. Jews have their Torah, Christians their Bible, Muslims their Quran, and Hindus their Vedas, but Bu

325 – Imagine Yourself as a Buddha and Unblock Your Natural Generosity

In Buddhism, we are guided by the ideal of a Buddha, or awakened being. One of the characteristics of a Buddha is unconditional and selfless generosity, and when your gen

324 - Yunmen's "Every Day Is a Good Day"

In koan #6 from the Blue Cliff Record, Yunmen says, "Every day is a good day." I explore this koan, including the way we sometimes imagine our real life is going to happe

323 – Zazen As Defiant Self-Care

Since the term arose in 1950's, "self-care" has referred to a number of different things. If we consider self-care to be things you do to remain physically and mentally h

322 – Q&A: Relationships, Cultural "Zen," No-Self, and Confession

This a Q&A episode based on questions I've received from listeners: Does Zen have anything to say about human relationships? Can we learn anything from the cultural popul

321 - How Buddhist is Zen? The Buddha's Teachings Compared to Radical Nondualism

Viewed historically, Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that evolved from the original forms Buddhism that were established in India after the Buddha's death around 2,500

320 – Two Ends of the Spiritual Practice Tunnel: Self-Power Versus Other-Power

Zen Buddhism exemplifies practice based in self-power, or jiriki. Pure Land Buddhism exemplifies practice based in other-power, or tariki. These are very different entry