A Year of Zen

A practice for the days when we are drenched, (perhaps drowning!) in the unknowable. Bonnie Myotai reflects on the heartbreak of recognizing many around us have given the okay to suffering and cruelty, and the spiritual imperative to simply practice, regardless.

A Halloween episode...with Mater Rinzai!

What is it to let the ego’s predominance recede, and practice a life in which “all is good”? With a nod to 16th C Zen master Shido Munan, we explore the humility and balance of an awakening life.

Bonnie Myotai offers a reflection on fear, the absolute self, and facing the lions around us. Reading from Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, teaching from Daido Roshi, and a writing/contemplation inspired by a pig and a chicken.

October 24th’s episode considers loneliness and spiritual practice. A bit of teaching from Pema Chodron, a memory of a hard night in NYC, and a writing/contemplation exercise.

The evening rooster calls out as Bonnie Myotai gives an autumn writing/contemplation prompt.

Bonnie Myotai takes us back to the cemetery to write our epitaph, and explore what message our life may leave .

Bonnie Myotai invites a contemplation of the “drying, wrinkling, falling” autumn of our lives. She remembers the first night she heard the Evening Gatha, and Maezumi Roshi teaching her about “the little knife” at its heart.

In Episode 38 Bonnie Myotai offers a reflection on how the shift happens from always looking to be loved to looking for how we can be loving. A bit of Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes of the Broken-hearted,” getting an “I’m Wrong” tee shirt, and how not to turn spiritual practice into a plate of cold liver. You read that right...!

Episode 37 finds us contemplating both ocean and waves, absolute and relative. Bonnie Myotai offers a poem of Thich Nhat Hanh’s and a writing prompt.