In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk coinciding with Upaya’s Being With Dying program, Frank Ostaseski breaks open the conversation of caring for those near death or in the dying process. Like curling up with a good book, Frank draws us in with stories of love and intimacy, of tender care, and loss. Going beyond the procedural instructions of engagement, Frank challenges us to “stay close and do…

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Buddhist philosopher David Loy traces humanity’s evolving quest for meaning through historical religious frameworks. Loy examines how humanity’s search for purpose has evolved through the ages – from ancient civilizations that found meaning in appeasing a cosmic order to the rise of salvation religions promising escape from worldly suffering.

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In this powerful talk from the Awakened Action series, Roshi Joan Halifax explores how solidarity can transform our shared and interwoven world during these critical times. After a warm introduction, Roshi begins, “From a Buddhist point of view, solidarity is expressed through mutual support, through shared responsibility… we emphasize the experience of interconnectedness, of cause and effect…

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In this unique and powerful Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Roshi Joan Halifax displays the poise and clarity of practice. Unexpectedly, she turns the talk into a dialogue with the audience as she reflects on the profound circumstances we find ourselves in as sentient beings today. With the main theme of how to hold up the Three Treasures—Buddha, Dharma, Sangha—Roshi candidly points out our…

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In this closing talk from the last day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, the faculty of the practice period weave together final reflections on the vows and actions of true bodhisattvas. Sensei Monshin shares a moving story from Bryan Stevenson’s book “Just Mercy” about an unnamed woman who lost her grandson to violence transforming into what Stevenson calls a “stone catcher” – someone who…

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In this talk during the fifth full day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Cynthia Ryotan explores the fourth of the bodhisattva’s methods of guidance: kind speech. She fames the importance of kind speech but quoting Dogen, “You should ponder the fact that kind speech is not just praising the merits of others, it has the power to turn the destiny of the nation.

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In this third full day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Monshin explores the concepts of beneficial action and identity action from Dogen’s Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance. She identifies beneficial action as “skillfully benefiting all classes of sentient beings,” noting our tendency to exclude certain beings or neglect long-term consequences in our desire to help others.

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In this second full day of Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Shinzan explores the Four Bodhisattva Vows as expressions of what Suzuki Roshi described as an “inflexible determination to carry out one’s will even through an infinite series of rebirths.” While “inflexible determination” might sound rigid, Shinzan suggests this determination can be understood as dedication or surrender to our vow…

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In this talk during the Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Ryotan explores the first of Dogen’s Four Methods of Guidance: Dana (generosity). Dogen himself lived in a tumultuous era of social upheaval, war, and natural disasters, in the midst of which he chose to deeply contemplate and write about generosity. Ryotan explains how “this idea of generosity is radically reimagined in the hands of…

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In this opening talk for the Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Senseis Monshin, Ryotan, and Shinzan offer their remarks and suggestions to make the most of the deep quiet and practice of sesshin. Sensei Shinzan explains that the word “sesshin” means “touching your mind” or “gathering the mind” and emphasizes that Zen practice is about intimacy with oneself through simple presence rather than…

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