Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/23/24 - Gateless Gate, Case 8 - Xiangyan Makes Carts - The concentration of a master craftsperson can be a samadhi-like experience. But this type of concentration does not always carry forward to our activities of living, or help in facing the challenges there. In this sesshin talk Shugen Roshi describes how the dharma helps us understand this sense of self we all rely on as not fixed or eternal, but constantly reinventing itself and therefore workable. This understanding is a doorway to true insight.

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 10/20/24 - Exploring vow, presence, and contact with the sacred mystery of our precious human lives, Shoan Osho encourages us to see the medicine in how we encounter the world and what can feel like relentless suffering. Rather than shutting down or feeling hopeless when your heart breaks, she encourages, you can let it break wide open to meet all beings with presence and wholeness.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/13/24 - Stepping forward is essential to be truly alive. It’s also the only way to learn, both where we are being genuine and true, and where we are stuck. It takes courage to give everything and risk failure, but the only way to get past relying on success or failure is in taking the next step, freeing ourselves from self-clinging. This talk by Shugen Roshi brings forth a koan from Daido Roshi’s collection Koans of the Way of Reality, on the 15th anniversary since his passing.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/6/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 39 - Zhaozhou's "Wash Your Bowl"- One of the hallmarks of Zen teaching is that the deepest truth is indivisible from the most ordinary moment. When we release our habitual, grasping mind, then the whole universe can come alive, and we can awaken to our boundless nature in the midst of the most mundane activity. In the end, the purpose of all the koans, and all the sutras, and all the sitting that we do is just simply to meet the reality that is always here, always present. Meeting this moment free and unhindered, we find the joy at the heart of aliveness.

Chris Yudo Abraham, Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 10/13/24 - Before the internet invaded our personal spaces, relationships had a different flavor. Now, we can have most of our relationships with people we never see in person. How does Zen practice and training help us break through the intimacy barrier, and recognize the richness of face to face contact? Senior lay student Yudo, himself a “digital nomad,” explores.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - 10/6/24 - Hojin Sensei explores the question of: What is true protection in our practice and for the world? Buddha once said to King Pasenadi, “your good karma, your good thought, words and good deeds; these are your protections, protection against yourself and your own unskillful habits, and protection against the unskillful habits of others.”

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/29/24 - With faith, we can use any conditions or circumstances to arouse our aspiration for enlightenment. In this dharma encounter, Shugen Roshi invites participants in the fall ango to share their questions and experiences with bodhicitta, the aspiration for realization, and how we can work with this bodhicitta to bring an end to suffering.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/22/24 - Fusatsu is a renewal of vows ceremony, translated as continuous good practice or to stop unwholesome action (karma). It is a ceremony that aligns us with the path of Buddha. It is a rededication to live in accord with our own undefiled, unperturbed original nature. In practice we need to be able to recognize where we are twisting and not in harmony. We begin by acknowledging all of our twisted actions reciting the Gatha of Atonement. Join Hojin in exploring how we are each the one who is creating our life moment to moment simply and realistically. That we have a response-ability to come into this place in which we receive our whole lives, our whole selves - and become one with it and enjoy our life with others.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/21/24 - This bodhisattva, or “great being,” vows to liberate all beings before entering nirvana themselves. This was the Buddha Shakyamuni’s aspiration. How then is aspiration practiced and brought to life? Hojin Sensei investigates the role of a bodhisattva in the context of developing faith, the paramitas (Our virtuous qualities) and practicing joyful effort in the midst of not-knowing.