Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - 5/28/26 - Going beyond our ancestors, going further than they could go, is the task of every student of the dharma. What is the ultimate truth? In other words, asks Hogen Sensei, who is this person asking the question? Going beyond conceptual thought, what is it? Here where you are, fully alive, what is it now? Close the gap, as Daido Roshi used to say, and you go beyond the ancestors. (From the Book of Equanimity, Case 78 - Ummon's Rice-Cake.)

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/26/26 - The energy of our lives is something that we tend to take for granted, but in spiritual practice it is understood that we can deliberately cultivate the energy of clarity through zazen. We can study the ways that energy can “leak out” and diminish our clarity and focus. How do we practice those things that seem to limit us, which might dull or diminish our aspiration? How do we cultivate the “empty field” of Hongzhi’s teachings? In this lively encounter with the sangha, Hogen Sensei and the sangha explore how to gather and nourish our life energy on the path of liberation. (Dharma Encounter at the conclusion of the April 2026 Apple Blossom Sesshin.)

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/20/25 - The moment when each person decides to step into the unknown, to an authentic life where our karma does not determine our choices, is a turning point. Hogen Sensei picks up the opening line from Genjokoan, ”When all dharmas are Buddhadharma…” as that moment when everything has the great potential to change.

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/22/25 - Our biggest challenges often take form in how we create or perpetuate suffering, and these are likely to be in stark contrast to the peace and groundedness experienced in zazen. In zazen we experience our true nature up close, but it often doesn’t seem to be in alignment with our restless and uneasy mind. How do we close the distance, take responsibility for the rift that seems impassable, and continue to move closer? - From the Master Dogen's True Dharma Eye - Case 10 - Qingyuan's "Come Closer"

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 9/28/25 - Manifesting absolute reality—awakened reality—in everyday life is Genjokoan. In this lively Dharma Encounter with Hogen Sensei, the awakened reality of everyday life is explored as our fundamental practice. Sensei says “true realization manifests as compassionate action in the world; that’s the bottom line,” and asks that we each consider how we enter this ordinary, everyday actualization of compassion. (Dharma Encounter at the September 2025 Mountains and Rivers Sesshin)

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/24/25 - Honesty is essential to serious spiritual practice. We need to become honest with ourselves about the nature of our suffering, our habitual reactivity and our fear, so that we can acknowledge them before being able to release them. This level of integrity is needed for the entrance to a loving and compassionate relationship with ourselves and others. As Hogen Sensei says, this intention affects every aspect of living and dying, and the choices we’re free to make along the way. - From Master Dogen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye - Fascicle 31 - Continuous Practice (Gyoji)

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 3/30/25 - To not deceive oneself is the fundamental ground of all moral and ethical action, and to do that we need to go deep into the roots of our greed, aggression and ignorance. How do we work with this? How has our zazen practice helped us become more skillful and to take responsibility even when we resist that? This Dharma Encounter with the sangha brings out the integrity and courage we work with throughout our Zen training.

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 11/21/24 - From The Book of Equanimity, Case 30 - Daizui's Fire at the End of the Kalpa - Practice offers a way for cutting through dualities within which we tend to get lost, as all of our lives are based on these dualities. Hogen Sensei challenges us to see from a larger perspective, a way which inherently challenges dualistic ways of being in the world. Within this practice, how do we understand the permanence of Buddha Nature which is not a “thing”?

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/27/24 - Bodhicitta is simply the aspiration to save all others from suffering. Along the way, how do we go forward on an ever shifting and bumpy path? This lively dharma encounter with Hogen Sensei and the sangha is tender and encouraging of all our aspirations to be of benefit in an ever changing world.

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 09/26/2024 - What is it to be empowered on the path? What is your potential? Realizing our true nature, personally, requires trust, an intuitive trust that must be developed over time. In this exploration of dharma practice, Hogen Sensei brings forward the virtues of selflessness and compassion that can empower us on the path.