The Zen Buddhist instructions to let go of ideas of right and wrong, true or false, good and evil, love and hate, and deluded or enlightened, might sound familiar to you - if you've read through everything in our chant book! But what is this not "picking and choosing" that the Zen masters recommend? Are we aiming toward becoming a Zen zombie? At a more subtle level, we can still be fully engaged in living our external lives while letting go of our internal commentaries, attachments, preferences, and judgements. A thoughtful discussion follows.

In this episode Domyo talks about the establishment of Westside Zen Circle in 2009, incorporation as Bright Way Zen, the evolution and mission of our Sangha. This talk includes pictures, as well as words from BWZ members who date back to the early days.

The Buddha's basic teaching is that life is marked by Dukkha, often translated as "suffering", and the cause of that is Tanha, sometimes translated as "craving" or "thirst". However, in order to practice and maintain our bodhicitta, or way-seeking mind, we actually need to thoughtfully cultivate some desire. Using the five wisdom energies from Vajrayana teachings as a lens, Domyo describes the five kinds of appropriate longing that can give us insight into our personality type and what we need to nurture in ourselves: red (intimacy), yellow (enjoyment), blue (knowing), green (effectiveness), and white (transcendence).

In this episode, using journal enteries and poetry from her early life, Domyo guides the Sangha through her path of Soto Zen

Why are we intensifying our practice during Ango? In Zen, the question of effort vs. non-effort in practice is, in itself, a Koan. Should we aim for vow, intention, motivation, with the urgency of "putting out a fire on your head"? Or, would we be better off settling into equanimity and radical acceptance, just "resting in the Samadhi of all the Buddhas"? Domyo takes input from Sangha on the positives and negatives of each approach, and further discussion follows.

Bright Way Zen's Sangha opens a new season of practice with acknowledging all who have practice roles, chanting the Heart Sutra, and singing "Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva."

In the second week of our study series on our Bright Way Zen Linieage we look at the Dharma Cloud lineage including Sanghas established by Kyogen and Gyokuko Carlson and their students. We begin with Roshi Kennett and talk about the Carlson's training, their move to Oregon, the establishment and evolution of Dharma Rain Zen Center, and end with some audio of one of Kyogen's talks.

Our guest speaker leads Plum Blossom Zendo in Vancouver, Washington, and is a teacher and resident of Great Vow Monastery. Here, she shares a little bit about vows and how her community works with them, the difference between a vow and a goal, and the various kinds of vows and how they operate. Small group discussions follow - what might our own life vows actually be?

In this episode, Domyo has returned from her sabbatical and begins our series on The Bright Way Zen Lineage. Starting with the Bodhi Dharma, Domyo begins tracing our lineage through China and Japan and it's move to North America by Jiyu Kennett.

Before Katie joined Bright Way and accepted Jukai, she made a list of religious elements that mattered to her. She called the list "natural religion" because it came from human values and experience. How does American Zen Buddhism measure up against natural religion? (in case you are holding your breath — pretty well). You might see your own values as she identifies key elements of natural religion in Buddhism.