Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

Open Dharma: Nonviolence and Our Moral Imperative

In this Wednesday night Dharma talk, given the night after the midterm elections, Roshi Joan Halifax speaks into a precarious moment in our national and global culture. R

The Proliferation of Stories

In this Wednesday night Dharma talk, Genryu Clayton Dalton explores papañca, the Pali term for the way the mind turns experience into ever-multiplying stories. Most of th

The Measure of Our Humanity: FREEDOM

In this session of The Measure of Our Humanity, meditation teacher and author Jack Kornfield explores freedom as something already ours rather than a reward for spiritual

FPP 2026 Sesshin Day 6: When Boundlessness Makes a Seven-Pound Shirt

On the sixth and final day of the Fall Practice Period sesshin, Sensei Kathie Fischer takes up a koan in which a monk asks Zhao Zhou a sweeping question about oneness, on

FPP 2026 Sesshin Day 5: Letting Practice Be Ordinary

On the fifth day of the Fall Practice Period sesshin, Sensei Shinzan turns to an exchange between Zhao Zhou and his teacher, Nanquan. Shinzan reads the story as a gentle

Zhao Zhou’s Instructions for Finding Our True Home

In this Wednesday night Dharma talk, given on the fourth day of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Cynthia Ryotan Kear explores how Zhao Zhou understands “leavi

FPP 2026 Sesshin Day 3: Unburdened Attention

In this Dharma talk, given on the third day of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Sokaku Kathie Fischer offers gentle guidance on meeting thoughts in zazen. She

FPP 2026 Sesshin Day 2: Going Straight On

In this Dharma talk, given on the second full day of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Shinzan returns to Zhao Zhou, the Tang dynasty master whose teachings ha

FPP 2026 Sesshin Day 1: Beyond Picking and Choosing

In this Dharma talk, given on the first full day of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Cynthia Ryotan Kear turns to a poem echoed throughout the koans of Tang d

FPP 2026: The Buddha Before You (Part 5)

In this Zazenkai Dharma talk during Upaya’s Fall Practice Period, Sensei Shinzan explores confidence in practice through Zhaozhou’s first meeting with his teacher Nanquan

FPP 2026: The Space All Around Thoughts (Part 3)

In this Zazenkai day Dharma talk, Sensei Kathie Fisher turns to several of Zhao Zhou’s understated koans as part of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period. She explores what Zhao Z

FPP 2026: Introduction to the Text: Zhao Zhou’s Legacy and Teachings (Part 2)

In this introduction to the text during Upaya’s Fall Practice Period, Senseis Kathy Fisher, Cynthia Ryotan Kear, and Shinzan Palma open the recorded sayings of Zhao Zhou,

Fall Practice Period 2026: The Teachings of Zen Master Zhao Zhou: Opening Session

In this opening session of the Fall Practice Period, Sensei Shinzan, Sensei Kathie Fisher, and Sensei Monshin invite participants to step out of ordinary life and into a

Zen History: Informing our Practice and Lives Today

In this Wednesday night Dharma talk during Upaya’s Fall Practice Period, Sensei Sokaku Kathie Fischer explores how Zhaozhou’s teachings invite the busy, generalizing mind

Ancestral Stories: A Dharma Gate of Intimacy with Our Lives

In this Wednesday night Dharma talk, Sensei Cynthia Ryotan Kear opens up the practice of koans as part of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period devoted to the Chinese master Zhao

Zhao Zhou’s Mu: The Threshold of Everyday Practice

In this Wednesday night Dharma talk, Sensei Shinzan explores the famous koan “Mu” from Zhao Zhou (Joshu in Japanese), leading up to Upaya’s fall practice period devoted t

LOVE and DEATH 2026: Keeping Close (Part 5B)

This is the second half of the closing session for the Love and Death series: Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on what it means to practice beyond our transactional habits. Sh

LOVE and DEATH 2026: Keeping Close (Part 5A)

This is the first half of the closing session for the Love and Death series: Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on what it means to practice beyond our transactional habits. She

LOVE and DEATH 2026: The Law of Change and Becoming (Part 4)

In part four of the Love and Death series, Frank Ostaseski brings death into the room through photographs of people he accompanied at the Zen Hospice Project. Inviting pa

LOVE and DEATH 2026: Guided by Grief (Part 3B)

In this second half of part three of the Love and Death series, Frank Ostaseski continues with Guest teacher Sensei Koshin Flint Sparks, a poet and former psychologist, w