Sarah Dōjin Emerson’s talk, entitled “Renewal and Reverence,” recorded on March 21, 2026, during the three-day sesshin in preparation for the Jukai ceremony, at Boundless Mind Temple, Brooklyn. In this second and final dharma talk of the sesshin, Sarah-sensei explores engaging Zen practice tenderly, for the sake of love, as a training in reverence.

Sarah shares a quotation from an interview with Toni Morrison, which includes the words, “Sometimes you don’t survive whole, you just survive in part. But the grandeur of life is that attempt. It’s not about that solution. It is about being as fearless as one can, and behaving as beautifully as one can, under completely impossible circumstances. It’s that, that makes it elegant. Good is just more interesting, more complex, more demanding.”

Morrison’s complete response can be found here:

https://youtu.be/5xvJYrSsXPA?si=ITUp9BRYhtpkOiXS

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