In this episode of Living Zen, Eshū reflects on two guiding phrases: the Zen teaching “To study the self is to forget the self…” and the Gàidhlig seanfhacal “Cuimhnich air na daoine às an tàinig thu” — remember the people you came from.

As he returns to regular practice at Zenwest, Eshū speaks candidly about the pitfalls of spiritual bypassing, the power of ritual technologies like zazen and chanting, and the importance of community as a container for awakening. He explores how our practice is rooted not in escaping the past, but in embracing it — recognizing that our lives, our questions, and even our suffering arise from deep interwoven relationships, both ancestral and present.

This talk invites us to turn toward our conditioning with compassion, to see practice as relational, and to remember those who brought us here — not just in blood, but in all the “selves” that shaped us along the way.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Free Orientation to Zen course: zenwest.ca

• Support Eshū’s work and access more teachings: patreon.com/redmountainway

• Personalized mentorship and Zen training: monarchtrancework.com

This week there’s no Dharma talk from the Zendo — UVic was cleaning the carpets on Sunday, so our usual sit was cancelled. But I didn’t want to leave the Sangha hungry. Instead, I’m sharing this reflection on how Zen was “de-animated” when it came west — and how we might begin to re-animate it, in relationship with land, ancestors, and the many seen and unseen beings who share our world.

It’s not doctrine; it’s just some thoughts I found worth writing down. May they serve you in some way.

If this resonates (or even troubles you), I’d love to hear how. Zen has always been about companionship on the Way.

Zenwest Buddhist Society: www.zenwest.ca — a living Zen community on Vancouver Island

Monarch Trancework: monarchtrancework.com — for Zen orientation, mentorship, and integration work

Support this work on Patreon: patreon.com/redmountainway

In this episode, we explore the long arc of practice — how insight and awakening might come suddenly, but true transformation takes slow, organic time. Like digestion or composting, it can’t be rushed. We reflect on moments of birth and death, on coming back to practice after seasons away, and on learning to pace ourselves at the endless feast of awakening.

Whether you’re tasting your first bites or returning after time away, the Buddha’s buffet is always open. It’s good to be here together.

I’m Eshū, Abbot of Zenwest Buddhist Society, where we make Zen come alive in contemporary community. At Zenwest we offer a fully online Free Orientation to Zen program here

https://app.kit.com/landing_pages/77458?v=7 

If you’d like support building a foundation for practice, I offer one-on-one Orientation to Zen Support here:

https://monarchtrancework.com/orientation-to-zen-support

For deeper mentoring and one-on-one guidance, you’ll find my Zen Mentorship & Training program here:

https://monarchtrancework.com/zen-mentorship-training

You can also join me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/redmountainway, where I share reflections, Zen resources, and more to support your path.

If this talk nourishes you, please help others find it by rating, reviewing, or sharing. It makes a real difference — especially for those practicing far from a Zen centre.

In this talk, I explore how practice invites us to return again and again — to breath, posture, intention — dissolving fear and self-criticism, and opening to the quiet miracle of simply being here.

When we give ourselves fully to this moment — to a bow, a breath, a meal, a conversation — life itself becomes the miraculous medicine this world so deeply needs.

Thank you for listening, and for walking this path alongside me.

• Support this work & get early access as a Patron: patreon.com/redmountainway

• Free Orientation to Zen program: zenwest.ca

• Orientation to Zen Support with Eshū: https://monarchtrancework.com/orientation-to-zen-support 

• Zen Mentorship & Training with Eshū:  https://monarchtrancework.com/zen-mentorship-training

With gratitude,

Eshū

“The Dharma is being preached in everything."

This Dharma talk, offered just after summer solstice, reflects on the rhythms of breath, season, and spirit. It explores the natural arising and dissolving that moves through our practice, our emotions, and our path — and invites us to rest in the still point between.

Recorded in the Zenwest zendo and shared here on Living Zen – Red Mountain Way.

Support this work and access more teachings at The Red Mountain Way on Patreon.

If this offering supports you, please consider leaving a rating or review on your podcast platform. It really helps others find the path.

Thanks for listening!

This episode is a quiet invitation to long-time listeners and new friends alike. After years of practice, storytelling, and podcasting, Eshū speaks directly to those who’ve walked this path with him—often at a distance—and shares the next steps in the journey, including a return to leadership at Zenwest and the weaving of many streams through Red Mountain Way.

Join the Sangha. Join the kinship. The path is wide enough for all of us.

➤ Become a member of Zenwest: zenwest.ca/join-zenwest

➤ Support Red Mountain Way: patreon.com/redmountainway

This short preparatory session offers a gentle introduction to the themes and intentions behind Rewriting Money Stories, part of the Thought Pattern Trancework series.

You’ll be guided through a few minutes of grounded presence, some light reflection on your current money narratives, and an orientation to the deeper trancework session available through Patreon or the Monarch Trancework website.

This episode includes:

• A brief induction and settling

• An overview of the subconscious themes addressed

• Suggestions for how and when to listen to the full trance session

• A quiet close, perfect for listening before engaging the full work

Show Notes

This is a prep session — not the full trancework experience.

Best experienced with headphones in a quiet space.

The full 21-minute trance session is available to members on Patreon or for purchase at Monarch Trancework.

Listen to the full session at:

https://monarchtrancework.com

Or support and access all sessions via Patreon:

https://patreon.com/redmountainway

After a long hiatus, I’m returning to regular teaching in the Zendo with Zenwest — and inviting you to join me on a new path of practice and connection through my Patreon, The Red Mountain Way.

Support the work: https://www.patreon.com/redmountainway

Thank you for walking this path together.

I've made some big changes at Monarch Trancework, and within my approach to doing my work in the world. I hope you'll join me.

In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing an active Trancework session that will provide resources for your subconscious mind to more quickly discern, clarify, express, and sustain healthy boundaries with others and with yourself.

Almost everyone, at one time or another is going to run into challenges around the issue of boundaries – it might be one of the most important subconscious thought patterns to address well... and in this session, I’ve pulled out all the stops, and I’m confident this session won’t just transform your awareness and expression of healthy boundaries, but that you’ll genuinely enjoy it too!

This session, and many others are also available to download, for FREE from the downloads page of my website.

If you enjoy what I'm offering on the Living Zen Podcast, please let me know by commenting, and you can like, subscribe, and I'd love it if you share Living Zen with anyone you think will enjoy and appreciate it!