Japanese Americans founded our practice, and they preserved and adapted it to life in the internment camps during WWII. Today we must adapt our practice in a crisis, are we up to the challenge?

Panic obliterates the self. We need a strong self to face fear in meditation and all of life. Dharma at the Village Zendo, February 23, 2020.

Photo: Sam Bald https://www.flickr.com/photos/28931095@N03/3115110964

On a visit to some Buddhists incarcerated on a jail barge, I had to improvise how to practice Zen, just like we always have to improvise our practice.

Everyone deserves a place where we can practice together. Everyone deserves the opportunity for redemption. A talk I gave at the Village Zendo on December 5, 2019.

Meditation can transform your life, but it only works if you sit regularly. You can establish a strong, serious practice following these five methods.

Recorded October 3, 2019, and the Village Zendo.

When you do something with attention, your self merges with your activity. Watch how the self shifts and moves, and you'll start to see through the illusion of ego.

We waste our lives chasing temporary, superficial things, and our disappointment leads to grief. Here's a practice that loosens greed's grip on our minds, and frees us to appreciate this moment.

When we practice mindfulness of what we're experiencing here and now, we can be at peace and free of worry. But we can go much deeper than that. Buddha taught that we can see through our greedy, self-centered delusions and clearly comprehend the truth of our lives.

Each new year, Americans resolve to work harder and be more austere, for no reason. Let's stop torturing ourselves.

The old stories all have the same punchline: the monk was suddenly enlightened. What really happens when we have an experience of insight?

Transcript: https://emptysqua.re/blog/the-day-yunmen-broke-his-foot/