The OzZen Podcast

In this talk I will show how our practice principles can be translated into our core practices that I have inherited from Joko Beck, and in particular, from my teacher Barry Magid. The core practices to be covered in this talk are:

1. Just-Sitting.

2. Becoming aware of our curative fantasies and core beliefs and at the same time, cultivating an increasing capacity for self-acceptance.

In this Guided Meditation I invite you to contemplate the following five remembrances:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.

I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change There is no way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Denial is the biggest threat to our survival. We need to acknowledge and build our resources of love, gratitude and connection so we can recognise and accept our emotions and move into action. Survival is dependent not on competition but on nurturing and cooperating. Peace and Joy are still possible in a chaotic world, when we live in awareness.

This meditation is about allowing whatever arises in awareness. Through this practice you are encouraged to observe your breathing, thinking, feeling, and sensations with non-judgmental, non-reactive and curious awareness. That is, not pushing away, or not clinging to specific experiences, you are encouraged to observe "whatever is known", as it arises and passes into your direct experience of the present moment. Being open and allowing whatever is here, you are reminded that you are already exactly where you need to be.

This talk is an example of the ongoing project, initiated by my teacher, Barry Magid, of integrating a Relational Self Psychology approach into Zen practice – in this case – integrating Heinz Kohut’s concept of the “selfobject experience” with Buddhism’s Three Refuges. I will first make a crucial distinction between “dialogue-narrative” and “experience” before introducing what Kohut meant by “selfobject experiences”. The concept of a selfobject was a familiar kind of language in the psychoanalytic world of Kohut’s time, but I have decided to rename selfobject experiences as self-affirming experiences – I think this makes it more user friendly for non-psychoanalysts. The purpose of the talk is to show how we can give an interpretation of taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha from a Relational Self Psychology perspective – therefore continuing to highlight how our approach in Ordinary Mind Zen is a psychologically-minded approach.

In this student talk Ryan Eno gives a spiritual autobiography of his journey towards finding his spiritual home in Zen Buddhism. He begins with his parents and then explores his young adulthood and his marriage to Bec, the love of his life. This includes both reflections on his experience of being both a practicing Catholic as a child and as a young man, Evangelical Christianity, before finding his home in Zen Buddhism. Ryan also talks about finding his vocation as a music teacher and finally as a school counsellor and psychotherapist in private practice.

In this final talk on the theme of spiritual autobiography, Sono discusses the theme of home and homelessness by sharing some more stories from his own life and also discusses the memoir The Salt Path (2018) written by Raynor Winn and released as a movie in May, 2025.

In this dharma talk Sono focuses on Lou Norstrom’s Memoirs of an American Zen Pioneer published in 2023. This memoir is a courageous exploration of how zen practice can at times collude with forms of “self-alienation” and “self-abandonment” caused by early attachment trauma.

In this dharma talk Sono introduces the important place of spiritual autobiographies in Zen Practice, inspired by Lou Norstrom’s Memoirs of an American Zen Pioneer published in 2023. Since Saint Augustine (354-430) famous Confessions, spiritual autobiographies often have a “confessional” theme. This is also the case in the spiritual autobiography Wild Ivory, written by the Zen Rinzai Master, Hakuin (1685-1768). In today’s language we would talk about self-disclosure and how self-disclosure can have therapeutic benefits.Sono begins to tell the story of his “Shakyamuni” moment – based upon two traumatic events which occurred in bis life when he was 19 years old.

This is a dharma talk on. It's one of the eight noble truths, usually translated as concentration. I will to talk about the different approaches/interpretations of Samadhi you'll find in Rinzai practice and Soto practice. I will then discuss how we might talk about Samadhi from an Ordinary Mind Zen point of view, based on the teachings of Joko Beck and Barry Magid. We emphasise no-gain and you can’t get it right or wrong right. Just sitting expresses the unity of practice/enlightenment – let go of all gaining ideas – just sit – this is it.