The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Shugen Roshi is joined by Guo Gu Roshi (Dr. Jimmy Yu) for a lively discussion on the topic of the transmission of buddha dharma in America. As the dharma continues to take roots here, how do we sustain it? How do we skillfully institutionalize it? What do we adapt? What do we change? 

Guo Gu, a dharma heir of Master Sheng Yen, is the founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, Dharma Relief, and a professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Florida State University.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - From the True Dharma Eye, Case 16 - Changsha's "Returning to Mountains, Rivers, and the Great Earth" - This talk by Shugen Roshi was offered on the 13th year anniversary of Daido Roshi’s passing. Shugen shares some stories from back in the day and invokes Daidoshi's love for the wilderness, Dogen, and the "Mountains and Rivers Sutra."

How do we see and experience challenging relationships and obstructive situations in a skillful way? When faced with so much suffering, greed, and anger, how can we bring forth generosity, patience, loving kindness and compassion? Turning the things of the world  in order to solve the many problems doesn't get to the root. But when we instead turn this body/mind to meet the world just as it is, we discover a peace that reaches everywhere.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 10/09/2022 - Hojin Sensei explores the interconnectedness of buddha nature and mara nature. By envisioning Mara as a Bodhisattva, what can it teach us about the areas we wish to improve in ourselves?

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 10/02/2022 - Dharma Encounter at the conclusion of the Mountains & Rivers Sesshin - How do we practice self doubt? What needs to be understood about this aspect of self? What understanding will serve to free us? How do we understand this in terms of the Four Noble Truths?

Shugen Roshi brought up these questions for students to engage with him in Dharma Encounter.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 10/01/2022 - From the True Dharma Eye, Case 148 - Dongshan's "Teachings of the Insentient" - "When we don’t hear the teachings of the insentient the world beyond ourselves can seem dead, inert, and uninteresting. Maybe that’s why we have to keep turning up the volume. And having more and more. And now let’s create worlds that don’t even exist and live in them. What kind of dangerous is this?" - "When we don’t have such moments that reveal to us, that peel back the curtain a little bit and show us there is more right here right now in the most unexpected of places. Of course we expect it in the mountains and beautiful places, but as Donghan said, it’s ceaselessly expounded. Radiantly." - "And so we stop and turn the light around. And look deeply. And make contact. And make contact..."

Rima Vesely-Flad - Zen Mountain Monastery, via Zoom, 09/20/2022 - A seminar with author and teacher Rima Vesely-Flad exploring the themes and questions presented through her research on the distinctive practices of Black Buddhist teachers in multiple lineages as they address an oppressive social context in the U.S. Practices include healing of intergenerational trauma; honoring ancestors and the land; and turning towards the Black body as a vehicle for liberation. Rima also explores how Buddhist teachings and practices are congruent with the emphasis on psychological liberation in the Black Radical Tradition. - Hosted by ZMM and the MRO People of African Descent (PAD) group coordinators, Degna Chikei Levister and Robin Wells, and ZMM abbot Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi. - Rima Vesely-Flad’s most recent publication is Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation.

Danica Shoan Ankele, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday 09/30/2022 - Recognizing our afflictions, our kleshas (states of mind such as anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, desire, depression, etc...) Can we appreciate them? How can we use them? Can we get close up and allow ourselves to be vulnerable? Shoan reflects on this "Gate of Vulnerability." Without our own share of difficulty and pain, would we be embarking on a path of waking up? That's why the human realm is considered so auspicious, because if you're born in the god realm, life is so good you don't do anything to actually liberate yourself. As Thich Nhat Hanh said: "No mud, no lotus."

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Thursday Evening 09/29/2022 - Dharma Talk during the Mountains and Rivers Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony - Buddhism speaks of the "Bodies of the Buddha." For instance, Master Dogen, in his Fascicle The Moon, speaks of the Boundless Body and the Buddha Body. Shugen Roshi reflects on how the Fusatsu ceremony invokes these bodies, and how, when we are practicing the dharma, they begin to appear from within our own vows, out of our selflessness... "So we return to these vows, these precepts. We reflect, we invoke the names of the Buddha, the four vows, the three treasures... to remember again, and align ourselves with what is important... it is not a rule, it is not a creed, it's not even Buddhism, not at it's heart... but you could say it's you."

Ely Seiryu Rayek, Senior Lay Student - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 09/28/2022 - Seiryu offers his understanding of the dharma of everyday life, dependent co-origination; the practical reality of ceaseless becoming.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 09/25/2022 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 75 - Ruiyan's "Constant Principle" - We might normally think we understand that nothing lasts, everything is impermanent, yet we suffer from our misunderstanding of this all the time, for instance when something happens and we react thinking oh, this is forever, this is the way it's going to be from now on, I am this, I am that,.... This is why it's so important to deeply study our suffering; not just know that we suffer, but to deeply study the intricate details of how we suffer.