Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

Episode Description: In this episode from Saturday evening, Roshi Norman opens by discussing the next portion of Dogen's "The Point of Zazen," which Roshi describes as a summary or conclusion of the first two Zen stories. Dogen writes, "Transmission of buddha dharma in the west and east is no other than transmission of sitting buddha. This is the pivotal point ... Thus, buddha ancestors unfailingly receive and transmit zazen person to person." For Dogen, zazen and spiritual life are not private or personal as we might think. Rather that it they are public, that zazen is actually a matter of relationships. To this Roshi adds that he believes that "the purpose of zazen is compassion. To share our lives with everyone. To care about the sorrows of the world. And to know that when we sit zazen we are sitting amid all of these sorrows. Sitting in the middle of all of the buddhas of the past and sitting in the middle of all the sorrows of the world. And I care about that and that is part of my zazen." For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Beyond Thinking: Dogen's Teachings on Zazen Series: All 8 Parts

A Landmark Undertaking for the Convergence of Science and Spirituality History In February 2006, Geshe Lhakdor, Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, visited Emory University as a Halle Distinguished Fellow. During his visit, Dean Ro...

Episode Description: Tias Little offers an in depth and fascinating commentary on the Savasana or death pose in yoga. Through this talk he describes not just the physical form of the pose, but also it's relation to sleep and the importance of deep rest. He also suggest how the sava can aid us in the meditative journey. Fundamentally the pose gives us an opportunity to practice a daily death, "deathing." According to Zen Master Dogen: "Life and death are the everyday practice of the Buddha Way." The savasana pose allows for a temporary cessation. To stop or arrest. By practicing stopping, we can begin to integrate it into our going. The pose also allows us to really touch the ground of death, the ground of emptiness. Through which we soften our dualistic way of seeing the world. Tias goes on to relate a story wherein the deity of death, Yama, explains the nature of yoga. Yama says: "Having realized the self which is soundless, intangible, formless undecaying and likewise tasteless, eternal and orderless. Having realized that which is without begining and end. Beyond the great and unchanging. One is freed from the jaws of death." BIO: Tias Little’s background is steeped in both academic study and physical discipline. He began his yoga training in 1984 in the Iyengar system under the guidance of his mother, Susan Little. Tias’ first trip to India was in 1989. He lived in Mysore for 6 months, learning the first two series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with K. Pattabhi Jois. After practicing Ashtanga Yoga for 10 years, Tias immersed himself in the study of the healing arts, including massage, cranial-sacral therapy and bodywork. He teaches yoga with a sensitivity and subtlety informed by his anatomical knowledge and keen sense of touch. His teaching is grounded in the structure and precision of alignment from the Iyengar system, while sharing the spaciousness and compassionate wisdom that stems from the Buddhist tradition. Tias earned an MA in Eastern Philosophy from St. John’s College in 1998. His dharma training has been further informed by teachings from the Zen and Vipassana communities. Tias is currently a student of Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Episode Description: In this recording, Roshi Norman completes his discourse on Dogen's commentary on the Zen story regarding Mazu and Nanyue. The story resumes with Nanyue instructing: "If you practice sitting Zen, you practice sitting buddha. If you practice sitting Zen, [you will know] Zen is not about sitting or lying down. In the practice of sitting buddha, the buddha has no fixed form." Roshi works through these and Nanyue's remaining statements thoroughly and makes Dogen's teachings quite accessible. In conclusion Roshi Norman hopes that "it makes you think. Think about your life. What's important? What's the bottom line? What is the most basic thing? Why are you here?" For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Beyond Thinking: Dogen's Teachings on Zazen Series: All 8 Parts

Episode Description: This recording starts with the next part of the famous exchange between Zen Masters Mazu and Nanyue. Mazu picks up a tile and starts to polish it on a rock. Mazu said, "What are you doing?" Nanyue said, "I am polishing a this tile to make a mirror." Mazu said, "How can you make a mirror by polishing a tile?" Nanyue responds, "How can you become a buddha by doing zazen?" Just as Dogen's commentary on this interaction between Mazu and Nanyue strips away the superficial surface meaning and sheds light on the profound deeper meaning, Roshi illuminates the subtleties of Dogen's writing in a clear and accessible manner. The session continues moving on to discuss the meaning of Nanyue's statement, "When driving a cart, if it stops moving, do you whip the cart or the ox?" This apparently simple statement is carefully deconstructed, each term analyzed, offering a meaning far beyond what one might garner from a casual reading. This part of the session concludes with Roshi having the group do a brief writing exercise regarding one's effort in their life. For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Beyond Thinking: Dogen's Teachings on Zazen Series: All 8 Parts

Episode Description: In this, the first of three parts, Roshi Norman continues his commentary on "The Point of Zazen" by exploring the second story of Dogen's text in great detail. This story revolves around the interaction of Zen Master Mazu and Zen Master Nanyue. Nanyue asks of Mazu, "Virtuous one, what's your intention of doing zazen?" As Dogen indicates that we should do in the text, Roshi has the participants investigate their intention by leading a brief guided meditation. Returning to the text, Mazu responds to question by stating, "My intention is to become a buddha." Roshi explains that Mazu understands and is expressing the fact that "The reason we do zazen is because doing zazen expresses and immerses us in the intention to become a buddha. Which is already becoming a buddha. Being a buddha." He goes on to state that "zazen is the expression of, our respect for, and love for the immense possibilities of what it means to be a human being." For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Beyond Thinking: Dogen's Teachings on Zazen Series: All 8 Parts

Episode Description: In this episode, Roshi Norman begins to delve into "The Point of Zazen." What Dogen meant by the "point," according to Roshi, is the "pivot point" or essence of the practice. So the text is about the very heart of zazen. "The Point of Zazen" is organized around three traditional Zen texts, each of which Dogen comments upon at length. The first text involves a dialogue between Zen master Yaoshan and a monk, and it is the subject of the rest of this episode. In brief, Dogen tells us through his analysis of this dialogue that zazen is neither about chasing after thoughts nor is it about denying thoughts and pursuing a kind of transcendent or quiescent state. Zazen is about sitting with both thinking and the absence of thinking, bearing witness to what arises, and allowing our "life to be our life." It also involves bringing to practice a wholehearted effort to investigate our experience and also a seeking of meaning. So, we meditate and investigate. We "engage in zazen, and endeavor in the way," realizing that we lack nothing; we are already sitting, practicing Buddhas. The episode concludes with a brief Q&A. For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Beyond Thinking: Dogen's Teachings on Zazen Series: All 8 Parts

Series Description: In this retreat we will practice meditation, and study in detail one of Dogen's seminal essays on zazen, as found in Kazuaki Tanahashi's book, "Beyond Thinking: A Guide to Zen Meditation" /Shambhala, 2004, and in other places. We will concentrate on The Point of Zazen. The workshop will include various experiments in meditation practice as well as writing exercises and large and small group discussions as ways to make Dogen's teaching personal. Episode Description: In the opening session, Roshi Norman introduces the theme for the weekend: a study of Zen master Dogen's thoughts on zazen through a close reading of his essay "The Point of Zazen." Dogen's view of zazen is quite different from his predecessors and contemporaries. For Dogen, zazen is "not exactly a meditation exercise," but something "entirely different." Before diving into the essay, Roshi Norman discusses the process of reading religious texts. We read texts such as "The Point of Zazen" not for information, which is our default mode of reading, but contemplatively. And we read them over and over again, in a process of engaging the heart and mind. Dogen's writing is sometimes accused of being unnecessarily impenetrable. However, Roshi Norman argues that Dogen says precisely what he means. He is grappling with some of the deepest, existential questions we as human beings can ask. This is not easy, and any text that deals with these questions will similarly not be "easy." Finally, Roshi Norman discusses the origins and beauty of the Zen tradition. He places Dogen in a line of practitioners who have received the Zen transmission dating back to Buddha and continuing into the present. For Roshi Norman, Zen is about human relationship and communication, and the cultivation of complete accord and trust between people. Bio: Roshi Zoketsu Norman Fischer is a poet and Zen Buddhist priest. For many years he has taught at the San Francisco Zen Center, the oldest and largest of the new Buddhist organizations in the West, where he served as Co-abbot from 1995-2000. He is presently a Senior Dharma Teacher there as well as the founder and spiritual director of the Everyday Zen Foundation, an organization dedicated to adapting Zen Buddhist teachings to Western culture. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Beyond Thinking: Dogen's Teachings on Zazen Series: All 8 Parts

Episode Description: This thought-provoking talk is centered around what seems to be a dichotomy between contemplation and action. Joshin describes his own personal experience with these two facets of spirituality. At a young age, he attended a Benedictine seminary and took vows with the Dominican religious order, before coming to the practice of Zen. In each of these paths he found a contemplative component as well as an active component. Joshin relates how throughout his life he has swung from one extreme to the other: at times throwing himself fully into social justice work and activism, burning himself up in the process. At other times the pendulum swinging toward intensive meditation practice. Joshin feels that one of the most important questions that we come to in spiritual practice is how to reconcile our meditative life of non-attachment with being active on the Eightfold Path to serve the world that suffers. Later in the talk he expresses his belief that contemplation and action are both manifestations of our drive to be fully alive, our desire to be fully present. That we should not approach them in a dualistic manner. Certainly the teachings of Dogen are supportive of this notion. Dogen’s vision of monastic life, ritualized in every aspect and every action of daily life as ritual. Everything from sitting in the Zendo, to sweeping the floor, to cleaning the bathroom, to washing oneself. Dogen says when all of our distinctions drop away and we cannot find any boundary between contemplation and action we are no longer separate, to be present in the process of co-creation of reality as it emerges. Bio: Joshin Brian Byrnes is a novice priest at Upaya Zen Center and president and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation. He worked at the Boston AIDS Action Committee, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and was CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation and Managing Director at Tides Foundation. His nonprofit career spans over twenty years, where he has led complex organizations through profound change processes, organizational growth, and repositioning them for increased social impact, financial sustainability, and organizational learning. Currently, he is involved with a number of of national philanthropic projects including being the chair-elect of CFLeads: Community Foundations Leading Change, and is a member of the Community Foundation Leadership Team at the Council on Foundations. His academic background includes undergraduate and graduate work in philosophy at St. Meinrad College, theology at the Aquinas Institute at St. Louis University, early music performance at New England Conservatory of Music, and medieval musicology at New York University. He has also studied and practiced organizational development with Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and has been trained in Organizational and Relationship Systems Coaching. He is cultivating a “back and forth” practice, moving between the zendo and the larger world of social service, organizational leadership, and social engagement.

Episode Descripton: In this talk from the Beginner Mind Dana Retreat, Roshi Eido and Shinzan offer an excellent introduction to the Zen tradition and practice. Roshi opens the talk by discussing a number of points related to Zen. She mentions that most people come to the practice for their own sake, generally in an attempt to confront their own suffering. However she does not feel that this constitutes a "gaining idea." She continues on to talk about The Four Noble Truths and how a great deal of suffering is derived from our appetite. Roshi prefers the term appetite over craving or desire as it seems more natural or inherent to our nature. Roshi then turns her attention to zazen, stating that "zazen resonates in our lives, in our reality that is prior to our thinking, prior to any gaining idea, prior to us being able to find words." he discusses what it means to make a vow and the role of Sangha in zazen as well as in our lives. Roshi concludes by stating that our job is to investigate zazen, to not waste our precious time, to investigate deeply why we have come to this practice. Shinzan opens his portion of the talk stating that "zazen is a journey of self discovery that never ends." He describes how he initially became interested in Zen practice being primarily driven by his own suffering and dissatisfaction in life. Shinzan says that the first time he sat he realized peace of mind. He realized that the whole of suffering is based on the mind not being in the present. He continues on to discuss three foundations of practice as expressed by a former teacher: "don't worry, practice contentment and gratefulness." Bio: Roshi Eido Frances Carney received Dharma Transmission from Niho Tetsumei Roshi in 1997 at Entsuji Temple in Kurashiki, Japan. She founded Olympia Zen Center in 1995 when she returned to Olympia after priest training at Shoboji in Iwate Prefecture. She was the first woman and first foreigner to train at this temple founded in the 13th Century. She had been a long-time student of Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi beginning practice in the early 70′s. Kobun Roshi died in 2002. She was Adjunct Faculty in Humanities at South Puget Sound Community College for ten years from 1996 until 2006. She is former President of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, a national organization of Soto Zen Buddhist priests. As she is in lineage with the hermit priest-poet Ryokan, she endeavors to teach about Ryokan, his poetry and life, entering art and poetry for transformation and insight. In 2008, Niho Roshi named Eido Roshi, Abbess of Fukujuji, a new temple which Niho Roshi had built in Nakasho, Japan, which is near Kurashiki and Okayama. Shinzan Palma was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He has been practicing Zen since 1996. He met his former teacher, Korean Master Samu Sunim, in Mexico City and trained under his guidance for 8 years. He did a residential training for 4 years at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Toronto, Canada and was ordained as a novice priest by Samu Sunim in 2004. After leaving Canada, he was invited by Roshi Joan Halifax to come to Upaya in 2006. Shinzan asked Roshi to be her student and he was re-ordained as a Priest in 2007 by Roshi Joan Halifax. Since then, he has been at Upaya practicing with the community. He is now Head Priest and Temple Coordinator, giving guidance to the residents on Zen training. He became Dharma holder in March, 2010. He has a sincere and strong heart committed to the Dharma.

Episode Descripton: In this talk Roshi Eido shares a number of passages from her recently released book Kakurenbo: Or the Whereabouts of Zen Priest Ryokan. She opens with a delightful story of Ryokan playing hide-and-seek with the children of the village near his hut. Eido continues offering stories and poems from Ryokan's life. Roshi also relates some of her experiences in studying at Entsu-ji, the same monastery where Ryokan trained for twelve years. Bio: Roshi Eido Frances Carney received Dharma Transmission from Niho Tetsumei Roshi in 1997 at Entsuji Temple in Kurashiki, Japan. She founded Olympia Zen Center in 1995 when she returned to Olympia after priest training at Shoboji in Iwate Prefecture. She was the first woman and first foreigner to train at this temple founded in the 13th Century. She had been a long-time student of Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi beginning practice in the early 70′s. Kobun Roshi died in 2002. She was Adjunct Faculty in Humanities at South Puget Sound Community College for ten years from 1996 until 2006. She is former President of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, a national organization of Soto Zen Buddhist priests. As she is in lineage with the hermit priest-poet Ryokan, she endeavors to teach about Ryokan, his poetry and life, entering art and poetry for transformation and insight. In 2008, Niho Roshi named Eido Roshi, Abbess of Fukujuji, a new temple which Niho Roshi had built in Nakasho, Japan, which is near Kurashiki and Okayama.

Episode Descripton: In this talk Shinzan offers an overview of Zen practice from a number of different perspectives. Starting with the history of Zen, he traces it's development through some the great teachers: Bodhidharma and Huineng, to Dogen and Shunryu Suzuki. Shinzan than explorers "How do we practice Zen?" Drawing from life experiences and his own personal perspective he seeks to answer this question as well as: "Why do we practice Zen?" Shinzan suggests what he calls the Three "P" Method: "Practice, Patience and Perseverance." Bio: Shinzan Palma was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He has been practicing Zen since 1996. He met his former teacher, Korean Master Samu Sunim, in Mexico City and trained under his guidance for 8 years. He did a residential training for 4 years at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Toronto, Canada and was ordained as a novice priest by Samu Sunim in 2004. After leaving Canada, he was invited by Roshi Joan Halifax to come to Upaya in 2006. Shinzan asked Roshi to be her student and he was re-ordained as a Priest in 2007 by Roshi Joan Halifax. Since then, he has been at Upaya practicing with the community. He is now Head Priest and Temple Coordinator, giving guidance to the residents on Zen training. He became Dharma holder in March, 2010. He has a sincere and strong heart committed to the Dharma.

Episode Description: Joshin frames this wonderful talk around Case Nineteen from The Gateless Gate known as "Ordinary Mind is the Way." The koan starts: Joshu asked Nansen,"What is the Way?" Nansen answered,  "Everyday, ordinary mind is the Way." Joshu asked "If everyday, ordinary mind is the way. How shall I direct myself to it?" Nansen said "if you try to direct yourself toward it, you are going in exactly the wrong direction." Joshin explains what is meant by ordinary mind and how should be present, accepting what life has to offer, moment to moment. "Every day reminds us that we don't have to run around looking for something special. We just have to turn around and look at our everyday ordinary lives." Bio: Joshin Brian Byrnes is a novice priest at Upaya Zen Center and president and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation. He worked at the Boston AIDS Action Committee, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and was CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation and Managing Director at Tides Foundation. His nonprofit career spans over twenty years, where he has led complex organizations through profound change processes, organizational growth, and repositioning them for increased social impact, financial sustainability, and organizational learning. Currently, he is involved with a number of of national philanthropic projects including being the chair-elect of CFLeads: Community Foundations Leading Change, and is a member of the Community Foundation Leadership Team at the Council on Foundations. His academic background includes undergraduate and graduate work in philosophy at St. Meinrad College, theology at the Aquinas Institute at St. Louis University, early music performance at New England Conservatory of Music, and medieval musicology at New York University. He has also studied and practiced organizational development with Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and has been trained in Organizational and Relationship Systems Coaching. He is cultivating a “back and forth” practice, moving between the zendo and the larger world of social service, organizational leadership, and social engagement.

Episode Description: In this talk Sean describes the approach he uses in teaching meditation classes to students at the University of New Mexico. In an accessible, down-to-earth manner he offers suggestions for a secular practice based in Zen. Sean goes on to talk about self, original mind and how one actualizes selflessness. Bio: Sean Murphy lives in Taos, New Mexico, with his wife Tania Casselle, a freelance journalist, travel author and fiction writer. His third novel, The Time of New Weather, was released in April 2008, and was named best novel in the 2009 National Federation of Press Women's Awards, as well as in the NM Press Women's awards. Sean is an MFA graduate in writing from The Naropa Institute, the Buddhist-inspired university founded by Poet Allen Ginsberg and Tibetan Lama Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. He's had 20+ years of formal Zen training, first under the direction of Taizan Maezumi Roshi of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and then with John Daido Loori Roshi of Zen Mountain Monastery in upstate New York. He now studies with Gerry Shishin Wick Roshi of the Great Mountain Zen Center in Colorado. Sean teaches creative writing, meditation, and literature for the University of New Mexico in Taos, as well as SMU-in-Taos campus at Ft. Burgwin and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

Episode Description: The retreat wraps up with this informative and at times humorous question and answer session. Questions include: "Whether we use faith as a language?" "Could you talk more about Ngondro practice?" "Could you mind talking a little bit about 'looking'?" "How do you distinguish the there types of liberation?" "Can you explain the relationship between samadhi and rigpa?" "What is the relationship between subtle body and intuition?" For Series Description and teacher BIO, please see Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Dzogchen and Zen Series: All 8 Parts