The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

By Zen Mountain MonasteryReligion & Spirituality Buddhism

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30th
on Buddhism
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Typical duration
42 min
per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast episodes

May 17 Calling and Responding
Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei - ZMM - 5/17/26 - What is your complete expression of Buddha Mind? Shoan Sensei takes up this question in exploring the koan of the National Teacher calling to their attendant. How do we each navigate the distractions and the self-centered mindset we all fall into? To end our suffering and the causes of suffering in the world, we practice. And practice guides us to respond from a generous heart, grounded in reality, to offer the Dharma medicine we all need. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 17 - The National Teacher Calls Three Times)
42 min
May 10 The Spring’s Knee-Deep Mud
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/10/26 - Who fears the spring row’s knee-deep mud? This line from Hongzhi’s poem underscores the challenge which all practitioners of the dharma face: to bring something good into the world, despite the challenges that we inevitably face. Our world is constantly in flux, complex and unpredictable, and those on the Path are called to both quiet reverence and to making real effort. With words and activity, mindfulness and the moral precepts, Shugen Roshi encourages us to inhabit this universe in all directions. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 79 - Changsha Advancing a Step)
44 min
May 03 The Sanctuary Is Built Here
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/3/26 - The middle way between indulgence and denial is not obvious for any of us beginning on our practice path. How could we know where the “middle” might be? We need to stumble and make mistakes to learn how to embrace a wholesome and sustainable balance, through practice. Building a sanctuary, a monastery, or a livable life takes effort, reflection, atonement and renewal. Our own enlightened nature is ready at any time to support what can be of benefit to all beings. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 4: The World Honored One Points to the Ground)
43 min
April 26 Dharma Encounter: Gathering Life Energy
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.)
1 hr 9 min
April 25 Grass Grows On The Path
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 4/25/26 - The words of a koan always point to our original mind—our unobstructed, liberated mind—but the path of seeking clarity is not always so direct. Aspirations help us along, and bodhicitta is essential, but we still must contend with the moment that is arising, in this body and mind, and not some past or future mind. This talk during Apple Blossom sesshin points the listener into the wild, vast acreage of mountain grass on the Path. - From the Book of Serenity, Case 89 - Dongshan's "No Grass".
43 min
April 25 Fusatsu: Energy For Awakening
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 4/24/26 - Resonance is a living reality, and when we turn toward resonance we can experience the energy and aliveness to help us be grounded in our practice. When we let go of grasping and really turn on our attention inward, we stop making a separation between our “self” and everything else. When we don’t let all our attention seep outward, we can find the energy for awakening which help dispel the doubts and distortions that create suffering.
29 min
April 22 Wonderous Jewel, Never Hidden
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 4/22/26 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 97 - Emperor Tongguang's Hat - Paying attention to how things unfold, we always benefit from skillfully navigating our reactions, our tendencies to mistrust and avoid. Skillfully, we can trust that our true nature is always present, clear and undivided. How do we teach ourselves to trust, to “know without knowing,” and relinquish the tendency of our powerful tendency to divide, separate, disconnect? “In clarity, wonder exists,” says Hongzhi, and Shugen Roshi encourages us to continuously turn toward that clarity.
40 min
April 19 Not To Be Hindered
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 4/19/26 - Living a simple life in the Buddhist tradition is a skillful means which supports the development of clarity and flexibility, so we are not weighted down by things, by situations, or by our own thoughts. Free of unnecessary complications, we can “respond appropriately” to all changes we encounter. This pivot moment, as Master Hongzhi taught, allows us to respond to all the things that come our way.
42 min
April 12 Jukai Ceremony at ZMM with Shugen Roshi – April 2026
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 4/12/26 - Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, three students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts, taking up these living teachings, living vows in the company of the sangha with family and friends: Jerry Kyosei Calvillo (Peaceful Mirror), Paul Yugen Burns (The Eye of Devotion/Courage), and Jacob Kyonen McGlaun (Mind Mirror).
1 hr 4 min
April 05 Fusatsu: Unsurpassable Giving
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/5/26 - The Buddha began with generosity—dāna pāramitā—as the ground of all practice and the basis of being truly teachable. The precepts live within this spirit, expressing how we give and share this life with others. What does it mean to give in the most complete, unsurpassable way?
32 min

About The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

From the publisher's feed

The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to…