Prabu Gikon Vasan, Senior Lay Practitioner - ZMM - 12/28/24 - In the Buddha’s early sutras there are teachings which encourage an honest assessment of our state of being, no matter what the circumstances, as the very stuff of our liberation. Senior lay student Gikon explores how dharma practice supports this sometimes difficult but deeply freeing inquiry into our state of being, be it health or any mind state, and the liberating practice at our fingertips within samsara.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/22/24 - How do we practice ideals such as “morality” and “equality” and bring them to life? Invoking Wendell Berry’s text The Need to Be Whole: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice, Shugen Roshi explores how words are too often used without clarity about their function in real life events, and how this is a fundamental aspect of the Buddha’s teaching, that words and reality are in alignment.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/22/24 - Hojin Sensei introduces us to Ancestor Mugai Nyodai, the first woman Rinzai Abbot in the Zen tradition from 13th century, Japan. Referring to a story from The Hidden Lamp: Chiyono’s “No Water, No Moon”, Hojin brings up this ability to exercise our freedom to keep things together or let things come apart all according to circumstances.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/15/24 - We are continuously receiving from our ancestors, “bringing us the Dharma here and now.” To see ourselves as part of the continuous body of interconnecting, interdepending, and interpenetrating members—past, present, and future—is one of the functions of Buddhist training and meditation practice. When we know this, sense this, the natural response is to bring our ancestors forth and look at them in veneration. We formally bow and meet them, which is none other than meeting ourselves. This talk brings forth Ancestor Otagaki Rengetsu, Lotus Moon, the brilliant poet, potter, Buddhist nun from 19th century Japan and how her life interweaves with Hojin’s Buddhist path, art practice and teaching.

Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 12/15/24 - A poem by Zen monastic hermit Ryokan brings inspiration for this talk from Shoan Osho. Ryokan communicated Zen and Buddhist teachings through everyday encounters, directly expressing awakened nature, or Buddha nature. Shoan explores how this awakened nature, inseparable from the natural world, comes to life in taking care of what is around us and from taking care of ourselves and each other.

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 12/14/24 - This talk explores how the minimal instructions for Zen practice that have been handed down to us from Dogen Zenji encourage us to be with what is, as it arises, without fixing or adding extra. “Realizing the fundamental point, it is practice realization,” Dogen wrote. We are encouraged to “let go of all involvements,” take care of the body and mind and all that arises, and let the practice of zazen support our true self.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi ZMM - 12/08/24 - Having exhausted all the methods that were available at the time, Shakyamuni Buddha turned toward a new path, a simple seclusion and inward turning of mind. He received nourishment from Sujata and courageously defeated Mara on the path of liberation. This inspiring tale is retold by Shugen Roshi on the occasion of the annual Buddha’s Enlightenment Vigil.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/08/24 - Today is Bodhi Day, the commemoration of the enlightenment of Siddhartha; a day in which the possibility of not just spinning in confusion, reactivity and fathomless separation is celebrated. Hear about Siddhartha's resolve to discover the root of why we suffer and the nature of existence. Hear about the key figures who supported him at crucial moments on a path without which he most likely would not have made it to Buddhahood. Who has been significant in our journey? We are able to receive training and practice the Dharma today from what he realized. We all walk alone in one sense and together in every way.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/01/24 - From Master Wu-Men's Gateless Gate, Case 12 Jui-yen Calls "Master" - How does our sense of self come about? Does it happen automatically and, if so, is it illusory? The aim of zen practice is to cut through the illusion, see the self and other as an interdependent whole and therein recognize our true identity.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/01/24 - In Master Hongzhi's practice instruction, The Misunderstanding of Many Lifetimes, he points us in the direction of seeing the fusion-identification with our emotions, which is illusory. How do we understand our emotions, accept our situation and open to the spiritual energy which can transport us to realize our true identity, our buddha nature?