Discover what it means to create this world and how we might face it and

ourselves in spaciousness and love…

In this study session, Zuisei explores Koso Uchiyama’s Opening the Hand of Thought, a contemporary Zen text that speaks about the importance of zazen and letting go of thoughts in order to see the nature of the self.

In the words of Uchiyama Roshi: You are within me. I'm just facing myself. In other words, you exist within myself, and it is to that you that I direct myself. That is what "vow" is.

In this talk Zuisei invites us to join a “zazen streak,” committing to sit in silent meditation at least ten minutes a day, every day, “no matter what,” pointing to the power of that kind of constancy and stability.

Drawing on the heart of restorative justice, koan study, and specifically the koan “Dongshan’s No Cold or Heat” (Blue Cliff Record Case 43), Zuisei explores what it means to be fully present and open to all the circumstances of our lives, no matter how challenging, and certainly appreciating all their wonder.

December 8 was Bodhi Day, the celebration of Buddha’s Enlightenment. In this talk, which brings a weekend sesshin to a close, Zuisei speaks of the Buddha’s life of practice and realization, focusing specifically on the aspiration, courage and determination that supported his vow to awaken. Most importantly, she links his aspiration to our own, stressing the point that we have everything that the Buddha had, which means that we too can awaken; we too can reach “the Unbinding.”

The Buddha may have had to walk the path on his own, but we have his inimitable example, which can always be a source of inspiration.

A continuation of the exploration of the Buddhist precepts focusing on

taking refuge, highlighting the importance of understanding what it is that

we take refuge in…

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?