Summary: Episode Description: Fresh from working with Latin American immigrants in dire circumstances in Arizona, Upaya's Shinzan Palma speaks movingly (and movedly) about bringing our practice to the front lines -- bringing the front lines to our practice. The plain though subtle fact is, our acts and being echo "throughout space and time." The light left on, the Amazon click... let us not be fooled by the first impression that Mexicans in detention centers, or Guatemalans riding through Mexico on the roof of a train, are situations basically distant from such choices. Always we will find, if we ask, that we have a place in the mandala, form a link in the chain. By forgetting this intimacy, we have let prisons and detention centers become society's shadow: where we put things we don't want to look at. 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.
