Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast episodes:

• 04.19.2024

  The Winning Ticket (Spiritual Bypassing) w/ Tanya Orlov

  “The winning ticket, the unfortunate truth, is that you have to take a good look at your bullsh*t before you can get to the good stuff.” - Tanya Orlov   Tanya brings us some wise warnings about our purported wisdoms with an...

  
• 04.12.2024

  Mutual Conspiracy (Sonic Meditations) w/ Robert Holliday

  “There's no reason sound can't be appreciated wherever you're at. It's always there. We think something has to be dramatic or highly structured, but there's always structures to find in our minds. We have that freedom in our own being...

  
• 04.05.2024

  Your Kindness & Your Hatefulness (See y’all soon) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “Can we keep the goofy light heartedness of being rebel antagonists, along side the sincerity of really caring? Can we care and be funny at the same time? And you know what I've seen us do? Exactly that. And that delights...

  
• 03.29.2024

  Rote Reverence (Rituals) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

  “First, there's ‘the thing that I want to do.’ They strip that away completely. Then when we’re hollow and empty they come back and ask, ‘So now, what do you really, really want?’” - Gyokei Yokoyama   Gyokei pulls back the curtain...

  
• 03.22.2024

  The Why Question w/ Jitsujo Gauthier

  “In order to learn something new,  first you have to be confused about it. If you aren't confused about it, you already know what it is and then you're not learning anything.” - Jitsujo Gauthier   Great sangha friend Jitusjo brings us...

  
• 03.15.2024

  A Clever Game (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Pedro Peres

  “Whatever goals you accomplish, you're still the same. There's still that same emptiness - there's still something missing. There's always going to be something missing. And that's okay.” - Pedro Peres   Long time sangha friend Pedro Peres regales us with the...

  
• 03.08.2024

  F#@k Around and Find Out (Prajna (Wisdom)) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “Think for yourselves. Be unruly. Challenge what we tell you, Challenge what I think I know about how this place should work. That’s what all the old teachings tell us to do - even if it is kind of inconvenient...

  
• 03.01.2024

  The Messy Middle (The Curse of Self Awareness) w/ Heather Ross

  “You can't sit motionless for 30 minutes without learning something,  and when that happens day after day, we learn and we learn. Like it or not, we learn.” - Heather Ross   Heather opens up the Pandora’s Box of zazen and takes...

  
• 02.23.2024

  Dharmically Unqualified (Dharma Combat) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

  “Liberation means being liberated from the inclination to ignore our flaws - to dismiss them, hide them, divert or disguise them.“ - Gyokei Yokoyama   Gyokei unravels the deeper meaning of Dharma Combat on the eve of ACZC’s first ever attempt at...

  
• 02.16.2024

  Liberty’s Laments (Year of the Wood Dragon) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “There's a freedom, a pit, a dropping off into something you don't know and don't necessarily trust… It takes a strange kind of trust to let go of everything you’ve known as you.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave celebrates the year of...

  
• 02.09.2024

  A Subtle Sober Magic (Zazen) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

  “There's some discomfort there, and there's some comfort there. And when you let that go… it's quite a revolution.” - Gyokei Yokoyama   Gyokei gives us fully fleshed out, bare bones official Soto Zen explanations and instructions for zazen -  body, breath,...

  
• 02.02.2024

  A Seat at the Table (Meditation) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “Probably the best we can train for is to get a seat at the table where our decisions are made; which is not where we're usually hanging out. Usually we’re hanging out after the fact writing propaganda to justify what...

  
• 01.26.2024

  The Problem With Happiness (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Patrick Carroll

  “There ain't no answer. There ain't going to be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer” - Gertrude Stein   Patrick brings us the timeless tale of a Catholic kid trading his faith for the freedom of not...

  
• 01.19.2024

  Effortless Efforts (Energy & Depression) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “It includes everything, no matter what. Even being depressed is part of it. That's why I don’t backslide like I used to anymore; because even if I do, I now know for certain that has weight and that's important too.”...

  
• 01.12.2024

  Sorrowful Splendor w/ Sara Campbell

  “It’s less, yes it must be this way, and more, let's go this way together.” - Sara Campbell   Sara reflects on the holidays and turns the page on a new year with a simple but endless question, how do we live...

  
• 01.06.2024

  A Long Loving Look Into the Darkness w/ Dave Cuomo

  “All the philosophies I grew up on were always trying to take me toward the light - be a good person, know what's going on, know how to handle things… It was always about happiness and positivity. Thats what led...

  
• 12.30.2023

  Tantrum of the Tathagata (Story Time)

  “Maybe we don’t need take everything as gospel, or maybe taking things as gospel doesn’t always mean what we want it to mean” - Dave Cuomo   Dave brings us a special podcast exclusive Holiday Story Time, with a dramatic reading of...

  
• 12.22.2023

  Embracing the Suck (Space Flowers) w/ Jason Dodge

  “A person with cloudy eyes is a person of fundamental enlightenment, a person of subtle enlightenment.” - Dogen   Jason dives into Dogen’s treatise on the flowery delights of delusion - ‘Space Flowers,’ while discussing the inspiration behind his recent benefit print...

  
• 12.15.2023

  Dukkha Happens (Patience) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “If you’re not at least a little uncomfortable, you probably haven’t found whatever it is you really need to make peace with yet.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave dives back into the paramitas to learn about patience and finds out that Buddha...

  
• 12.08.2023

  Free and Unavoidable Things w/ Gyokei Yokoyama (Great Compassionate Mind)

  “The spring has no particular shape, and yet spring manifests naturally. Or like the moon, it just emerges, versatile and free.   When something happens, nobody can really say who did it. That's why we get frustrated.  Nobody can know how...

  
• 12.01.2023

  Surprised and Delighted (Self Compassion & the 5 Skandas) w/ Sara Campbell

  "The more you start to learn about what you are, which is absolutely completely interdependent and just a fractal of what everyone else is,  the more it starts to break down. I can't hate myself. It just doesn't make sense.” -...

  
• 11.24.2023

  A Carnage of Compassion pt 1 (Compassion Monsters & the 5 Skandas) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “We don't downplay it. We don't sit here and say, ‘what I'm feeling isn't real and doesn't matter.’ It's this weird technique where it's like, no, no, go all in on it and take it very, very seriously with an...

  
• 11.17.2023

  Aimless Affirmations (Empowerment vs Emptiness) w/ Sara Campbell

  “If Zen's teaching me that I have inherent value just for existing, part of that whole deal is that I'm going to be doing mantras or some other wacky sh*t that I come across in six months. And I'm okay...

  
• 11.03.2023

  Where’d the Glow Go? (Morality) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “You see the problems with the system, problems with teachers, and problems with yourself and realize, none of us can quite live up to what we're teaching here. But if I want do something actually good in the world, I...

  
• 10.27.2023

  Fierce Compassion (The Magic Hour) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

  “Zen isn't there to sugarcoat things and cuddle you. We're not talking about being mean, we're talking about, how do we slap someone's face in the most compassionate way? (…metaphorically of course)” - Gyokei Yokoyama   Gyokei talks us through the spirit...

  
• 10.20.2023

  The Great G(r)ift (Generosity) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “The benefit of you existing is you get to figure out what that means for yourself. And then you can come back and teach the rest of us about that. That is a generosity.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave gifts us with...

  
• 10.13.2023

  Clarity, Purpose, and Joy w/ Curtis Fabens

  “Joy is not a failing. It’s not irresponsible. It’s not deluded. True joy is the birthright of every being. It's a normal thing.” - Curtis Fabens   Founding ACZC resident Curtis gives us an impassioned exhortation to the recipe for a life...

  
• 10.06.2023

  Burn it Down (Alignment & Blockages) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

  “You burn the whole forest once. And what comes back is the same forest - the same aspiration, the same desires, the same dreams… But there's this indescribable difference. And that's what makes all the difference.” - Gyokei Yokoyama   Gyokei discusses...

  
• 09.29.2023

  Ruinous Revelations (Dongshan’s “It’s Only This”) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “We don't need you to regurgitate our answers. We need you to go figure out who the hell you are. That's your contribution.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave shares a favorite legend about a cocky young monk crossing a river and a...

  
• 09.22.2023

  Baseline (Finding Balance) w/ Jitsujo Gauthier

  “She asked, ‘How are you?’ And I said, ‘…good.’ But it was like nothing, like plain rice, like oatmeal without sugar and you forgot to even put the dash of salt - like original flavor.” - Jitsujo Gauthier   Jitsujo, University of...

  
• 09.15.2023

  Nobody’s Fool (The Five Skandhas) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “I never feel freer then when I realize I'm the schmuck I've been trying not to be this whole time. If I'm the asshole, I can't judge anybody else. And then I'm free of all of us.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave...

  
• 09.08.2023

  Consistent Inconsistency (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Ish Lipman

  “Zazen is always kind of great, even when it's awful. When I don't understand what I'm doing, I can always sit Zazen.” - Ish Lipman   Long time sangha friend Ish brings us the story of what he’s doing and why he’s...

  
• 09.01.2023

  Baby Come Back (The Three Returns) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “What was really liberating for me was finding out who I am when leaving or getting kicked out aren’t an option for anyone. When not I’m worried about my own survival or earning my place in the community, when you...

  
• 08.25.2023

  On the Road with Herman the Worm Boy w/ Sara Campbell

  “Really question what you perceive or know and don’t draw many conclusions from it. Also don't think you know nothing. You do know something, and if you abandon what you know to be true you've missed it altogether.” - Sara...

  
• 08.18.2023

  A Terrifying Teaching (Diamond Sutra ch 14) w/ Jason Dodge

  “If you don't have the perception of a self, you’re probably not going to get angry. But… we can discuss whether maybe sometimes it's okay to get angry if someone chops off your arms and legs…” - Jason Dodge   In a...

  
• 08.11.2023

  Tell Me What You Want (Desire & The 4 Noble Truths) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “Learning to love the a-hole is the way you fix the problem, not getting rid of the a-hole.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave takes a practical look at desire and how to work with it in real world terms, while also trying...

  
• 08.04.2023

  Every Day is a Good Day w/ Shumyo Kojima

  “If we do not have stress, we will not be healthy enough to survive. We have to be in this. We have to be with our enemies. Even enemies make us healthy.” - Shumyo Kojima   Special guest Reverend Shumyo Kojima, Abbot...

  
• 07.28.2023

  Dawdling Destiny (How I Spent My Summer Vacation) w/ Henry Zander

  “Conditions can be perfectly aligned for you to do the right thing, but you have to meet that with a strength of will that comes from failing over, and over, and over again. And that's not easy.” - Henry Zander   Tasked...

  
• 07.21.2023

  Over the Wall (Monastic Training Report) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “The world of Zen is so full of sh*t, something beautiful is bound to bloom.” - Anonymous   Our long wandering resident priest returns from his stint in Japan with tales of monkly mayhem in the monastery. Did they really beat the...

  
• 07.15.2023

  Settled Questions w/ Sara Campbell

  “I’ve definitely angrily swept the floor, definitely not been stoked. But I think the constraints are good for you, like in the way that creative constraints can be really helpful. On some level its a privilege and an honor to have...

  
• 07.06.2023

  Kind Mind (Zen & Multitasking) w/ Helena Harvilicz

  “Capitalism does suck, but you shouldn’t let that make you a bad worker” - Helena Harvilicz   Helena tells stories of Zen, parenting, multitasking, and a history of being half assed at work until a job came along where failure was no...

  
• 06.29.2023

  Instructions for the Working Stiff w/ Emily Eslami

  “Never think you’re better than the show. It’s not pleasant to work with, and it doesn’t make the work any easier.” - Emily Eslami   Emily gets brass tacks practical with a walk through Dogen’s best advice for all the working stiffs...

  
• 06.22.2023

  Mountains Walk, Rivers Talk (Return to the Mountains & Rivers Sutra) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “I came to this because I'm a disillusioned person, and they said that's okay. That's the point. But now they’re saying that there is something that doesn’t die, something that stays. And they’re teaching it through their own skepticism and...

  
• 06.15.2023

  Degenerate Dharma (The Diamond Sutra & Buddhist Cosmology) w/ Jason Dodge

  “When I found out that we're in the degenerate dharma ending age where nobody can get enlightened, I thought, ‘That sucks. Why am I even doing this then?’ And then I decided that's a great place to practice. If we...

  
• 06.08.2023

  Friends Without Benefits (Sangha) w/ Gyokei Yokoyama

  “It's brave of them to let people just step in and screw up. But it's not about how well you do, or whether you want to do it - we have a task and each person embodies it. If we’re...

  
• 06.01.2023

  Mind Blowing Mediocrity - (The Witness Mind) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “If you watch a movie where somebody's having a bad day, you laugh along and empathize and think ‘Well that's a good movie about a guy having a bad day.’ And that's what zazen is, just watching a guy maybe...

  
• 05.25.2023

  Forget Yourself (Non Duality) w/ Emily Eslami

  “The cornerstone of non dualism is that you can’t even hold onto non dualism - that non dualism is itself dualistic.” - Emily Eslami   Emily unpacks the perfection of paradox that is Non Dualism, Zen’s crowning ideal that it will never...

  
• 05.18.2023

  Blooming Buddhas (Zen Gardening) w/ Helena Harvilicz

  “Plants are actually great meditation teachers. They really know how to stay put even in the face of danger.” - Helena Harvilicz   Crowd favorite Helena returns with all the dharma she dug up in her time as ACZC’s gardener, along with...

  
• 05.11.2023

  Summer of Space (Writer’s Block and the Faith In Mind Inscription) w/ Dave Cuomo

  “To really do this practice is to let go of the wheel and assume someone's driving. And that's gonna be terrifying every time.” - Dave Cuomo   Dave celebrates the lazy days summer by trying to cure a decade long writer’s block...

  
• 05.04.2023

  Comes and Goes (The Tathagata) w/ Jason Dodge

  “It’s not your zazen, it’s just zazen. And it’s going all the time.” - Jason Dodge   Jason unpacks the meaning behind the Buddha’s beguiling nickname while reminding himself exactly why he does want to sit zazen during a hard month when...