Recorded October 14, 2025.This teisho was given by Roshi Martin on the fourth day of the 15th annual Jataka Sesshin held at the Vermont Zen Center.______________________________The Monkey King jataka is also explored in <a href='https://a.co/d/gQY6GJQ'>Endless Path: Awakening Within the Buddhist Imagination: Jataka Tales, Zen Practice, and DailyLife</a> by Rafe Martin <ul> <li><a href='https://endlesspathzendo.org/books.html'>Books by Roshi Rafe Martin</a></li> <li><a href='http://www.youtube.com/@endlesspathzendo4064'>Talks on YouTube</a></li> <li>More information at <a href='https://www.endlesspathzen.org'>endlesspathzen.org</a> </li> </ul>

Recorded October 14, 2025. This teisho was given by Roshi Martin on the fourth day of the 15th annual Jataka Sesshin held at the Vermont Zen Center. ______________________________ The Monkey King jataka is also explored in Endless Path: Awakening Within the Buddhist Imagination: Jataka Tales, Zen Practice, and DailyLife by Rafe Martin Books by Roshi Rafe Martin Talks on YouTube More information at endlesspathzen.org

Recorded October 14, 2025.This teisho was given by Roshi Martin on the fourth day of the 15th annual Jataka Sesshin held at the Vermont Zen Center.______________________________The Monkey King jataka is also explored in <a href="https://a.co/d/gQY6GJQ" rel="noopener noreferrer">Endless Path: Awakening Within the Buddhist Imagination: Jataka Tales, Zen Practice, and DailyLife</a> by Rafe Martin <ul> <li><a href="https://endlesspathzendo.org/books.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Books by Roshi Rafe Martin</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/@endlesspathzendo4064" rel="noopener noreferrer">Talks on YouTube</a></li> <li>More information at <a href="https://www.endlesspathzen.org" rel="noopener noreferrer">endlesspathzen.org</a> </li> </ul>

2025 Jataka Sesshin: The Monkey King

Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva. Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, then from 2002-2016 worked intensively with Danan Henry Roshi, founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver and a Kapleau Roshi Dharma Heir as well as a Diamond Sangha Dharma Master. Rafe received full lay ordination in 2009, and in 2012 received inka—recognition of his successful completion of the Diamond Sangha/ Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, along with authorization to begin teaching. In 2016 he received full Dharma Transmission as an independent Zen teacher. An award-winning author and storyteller whose work has been cited in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and USA Today, Rafe has a master’s degree in English literature and literary criticism and is a recipient of both national and state awards, including the Empire State Award for the body of his work. His writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Parabola, The Sun, and Inquiring Mind, among other journals of religion and myth. He has given talks at Zen and Dharma Centers around the US and Canada, as well as such venues as the American Museum of Natural History, Zuni Pueblo, and The Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story.&nbsp; His most recent books are <a href="https://sumeru-books.com/products/a-zen-life-of-buddha">A Zen Life of Buddha (Sumeru 2022)</a>, <a href="https://wisdomexperience.org/product/the-brave-little-parrot/#:~:text=This%20book%20draws%20on%20modern,find%20they%20sleep%20better,%20too!">The Brave Little Parrot (Wisdom Publications, 2023)</a> and <a href="https://sumeru-books.com/products/a-zen-life-of-bodhisattvas">A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas (Sumeru, 2023)</a>.&nbsp;

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism

Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva. Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, then from 2002-2016 worked intensively with Danan Henry Roshi, founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver and a Kapleau Roshi Dharma Heir as well as a Diamond Sangha Dharma Master. Rafe received full lay ordination in 2009, and in 2012 received inka—recognition of his successful completion of the Diamond Sangha/ Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, along with authorization to begin teaching. In 2016 he received full Dharma Transmission as an independent Zen teacher. An award-winning author and storyteller whose work has been cited in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and USA Today, Rafe has a master’s degree in English literature and literary criticism and is a recipient of both national and state awards, including the Empire State Award for the body of his work. His writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Parabola, The Sun, and Inquiring Mind, among other journals of religion and myth. He has given talks at Zen and Dharma Centers around the US and Canada, as well as such venues as the American Museum of Natural History, Zuni Pueblo, and The Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story.  His most recent books are A Zen Life of Buddha (Sumeru 2022), The Brave Little Parrot (Wisdom Publications, 2023) and A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas (Sumeru, 2023). 

Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva. Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, then from 2002-2016 worked intensively with Danan Henry Roshi, founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver and a Kapleau Roshi Dharma Heir as well as a Diamond Sangha Dharma Master. Rafe received full lay ordination in 2009, and in 2012 received inka—recognition of his successful completion of the Diamond Sangha/ Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, along with authorization to begin teaching. In 2016 he received full Dharma Transmission as an independent Zen teacher. An award-winning author and storyteller whose work has been cited in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and USA Today, Rafe has a master’s degree in English literature and literary criticism and is a recipient of both national and state awards, including the Empire State Award for the body of his work. His writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Parabola, The Sun, and Inquiring Mind, among other journals of religion and myth. He has given talks at Zen and Dharma Centers around the US and Canada, as well as such venues as the American Museum of Natural History, Zuni Pueblo, and The Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story.&nbsp; His most recent books are <a href="https://sumeru-books.com/products/a-zen-life-of-buddha" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Zen Life of Buddha (Sumeru 2022)</a>, <a href="https://wisdomexperience.org/product/the-brave-little-parrot/#:~:text=This%20book%20draws%20on%20modern,find%20they%20sleep%20better,%20too!" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Brave Little Parrot (Wisdom Publications, 2023)</a> and <a href="https://sumeru-books.com/products/a-zen-life-of-bodhisattvas" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas (Sumeru, 2023)</a>.&nbsp;

Share 2025 Jataka Sesshin: The Monkey King

Sign up to save your podcasts

2025 Jataka Sesshin: The Monkey King

2025 Jataka Sesshin: The Monkey King