Where do you go to be seen and to be seen through? Facing reality, facing yourself, that is what’s needed here and now.

From the spacious and bare zazen practice of the Zen Sōtō priest Kosho Uchiyama and the new movement of Secular Buddhism to Yuval Noah Harari’s 21st Lesson for the 21st Century, his book on pressing global issues like the consequences of rapid changes in pervasive technology, Zuisei takes up various paths that lead to the realization that to liberate ourselves and each other, we must understand our minds.

A reflection on what it means to know all of ourselves and each other as

treasure—if we really knew this, how would it affect the way in which we

live our lives?

This talk on a koan about the love between parent and child (teacher and

student), lays bare the uniqueness of this relationship and the

unconditional trust and love that it’s based on—a love grounded in the

aspiration for liberation, for awakening…

This talk, part of the study session series on Thich Nhat Hanh’s Understanding Our Mind, deals with perception and experience.

“What conditions do we need to be truly happy?” Thich Nhat Hanh asks. It’s another way of asking, Do we understand how the seeds of our experiences shape the way we perceive our lives? This text on the Fifty Verses shows us that it’s not what happens to us that determines whether we’re happy or unhappy, but how we respond to it.

Without you, I cannot be me. Who am I?

In this talk Zuisei reflects on how we see ourselves and one another verses the reality of what is, who is. How could you be one unchanging self? Why do we often hold each other and ourselves to a familiar idea of who we are, and what happens when individuals and communities do not?

I can’t. I won’t. This is the sound of fear in the lead. And a sign to look closer.

In this talk Zuisei returns to the three steps or ways to enter our zazen—failing, falling, and feeling—and studies the fear that often holds us back from fully realizing them. How does practice enable us to stay with our fear—to be both fearful and fearless?

Zuisei reminds us that when we realize that we’re like the sky, vast and boundless, there’s no thought or feeling we cannot face or hold.

This talk includes a short guided meditation.

Acknowledging that practice does not always come easily, in this talk Zuisei skillfully guides us back to the art of shikantaza, “the gate of ease and joy,” as Dogen called it.

But what is shikantaza? How do we practice it, when we have to let go of doing and striving? Zuisei describes three steps: failing, falling, and feeling—ways to enter our zazen and also our day-to-day lives.

It’s never been more important to cultivate an attitude of care and

reverence for this world and for one another. How can we use the teachings

and our practice to remind us of the sacredness inherent in all things?

Why prostrate yourself, when Buddhism doesn’t include belief in God or a higher power?

With insights from Eihei Dogen, Judy Lief, and Reggie Ray, Zuisei looks at the power of the sacred and of bowing, as well as the importance of prostration in the cultivation of devotion—an attitude of respect and reverence so needed in this world today.

“When we practice mindfulness we are not practicing for ourselves alone, but also for the countless generations to follow.” –Thich Nhat Hanh

In this session, Zuisei and the sangha take up this teaching as they continue their study of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Understanding Our Mind. The session opens with a “student entering ceremony,” recognizing sangha members Marguerite Battaglia, Adam Green, Brian Pontillo and Jess Angelson, as Zuisei’s formal students.