The Zen Studies Podcast

By Domyo Burk

Religion & Spirituality Buddhism

What's The Zen Studies Podcast about?

Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

233 – Spiritual Inquiry Par...

03.18.2023

An important part of Buddhist practice is spiritual inquiry. Buddhism teaches us that there are underlying reasons for every selfish and neurotic thing we do, and that we can discern what those reasons are and work on them. This karma ...

The Zen Studies Podcast episodes:

03.18.2023 233 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 3: Identifying our Karmic Issues An important part of Buddhist practice is spiritual inquiry. Buddhism teaches us that there are underlying reasons for every selfish and neurotic thing we do, and that we can discern what those reasons are and work on them. This karma ...
03.06.2023 232 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 2: Resistance to Questions and Karma Work Versus Awakening In this episode, my second in a short series on spiritual questions, I talk about various reasons for resistance to coming up with or asking spiritual questions. Then I discuss the relationship between karma work and awakening, because in my ...
02.27.2023 231 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 1: What Spiritual Questions Are and Why They Matter There are many aspects of Buddhism which suggest you ought to have deep spiritual questions – questions which are not merely intellectual, but which matter to you, personally, very much. Questions which bother you so much that you are driven ...
02.15.2023 230 – The Importance of Bodhi-Mind, or Way-Seeking Mind Buddhism is based on seeking – seeking freedom from suffering, greater wisdom and compassion, greater skillfulness in benefiting beings, and a more authentic, connected way of being. Our spiritual growth depends on arousing and sustaining “Bodhi-Mind,” or the “Way-Seeking Mind,” ...
01.31.2023 229 – One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 1: Emptiness Teachings like Emptiness, Buddha-Nature, Suchness, Absolute and Relative, and Mind-with-a-capital-M are challenging, and sometimes people wonder if they’re all just terms for the same thing, more or less, or whether they’re part of a long list of difficult-to-comprehend concepts we ...
01.19.2023 228 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 2: Clarity of Purpose and Patient Determination If we live without self-discipline – without clarifying aspirations, forming intentions, or training ourselves – our lives are unlikely to go in the direction we would like them to. Unfortunately, self-discipline is notoriously difficult! In the last episode I discussed ...
01.09.2023 227 – Skillful Self-Discipline Part 1: Balancing Discipline and Gentleness If we live without self-discipline – without clarifying aspirations, forming intentions, or training ourselves – our lives are unlikely to go in the direction we would like them to. Unfortunately, self-discipline is notoriously difficult! In this episode I will discuss ...
12.25.2022 226 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 2 In Part 1 I defined what I mean by “worldly pleasure,” and then discussed five drawbacks of such pleasure as described in Buddhist teachings, and in our own experience. In this episode I talk about how - if we can ...
12.25.2022 225 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 1 Traditionally, the ideal of Buddhism is the renunciate monastic who forgoes worldly pleasures because they are fleeting and distract us from practice. How should a serious practitioner relate to worldly pleasures if they’re not living a renunciate lifestyle? Is it ...
12.16.2022 224 – Human Nature: Why Aren't We Born Enlightened? Why aren't we just all born enlightened and avoid suffering? Or, we could ask: Why are human beings the way they are? Why did they evolve to cause so much suffering for themselves and others? If we all have Buddha-Nature, ...
12.01.2022 223 – Integrating Insights On the meditation seat and off, we may experience significant insights - realizations that shift our perceptions of ourselves and world, and help relieve suffering. Insights may be sudden or gradual, major or minor, but we naturally want to be ...
11.23.2022 222 – Confronting the Buddha’s Sexist Discourse – Part 2 I explore how - for some of us - explaining, dismissing, or justifying the story of the Buddha’s resistance to ordaining women (told in the Gotami Sutta) does not completely neutralize the discouraging effect of this story’s presence in the ...
11.16.2022 221 – Confronting the Buddha’s Sexist Discourse – Part 1 I introduce the text that describes the Buddha’s negative words and actions in response to the question of ordaining women into what was called the “homeless life” of his monastic community. Then I’ll talk about various ways we can explain, ...
10.29.2022 220 - Being the Only Buddhist in Your Family – Part 2 This is Part 2 of my discussion about being the only Buddhist in your family. I continue discussing ways to create more harmony between your spiritual practice and your family relationships, and then talk about the special case of being ...
10.21.2022 219 – Being the Only Buddhist in Your Family – Part 1 Many – if not most – English (or Spanish!)-speaking Buddhists are converts to Buddhism. Even if you were raised in a Buddhist family, chances are good that as an adult you are surrounded by non-Buddhists, or that as an active ...
10.15.2022 218 - The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 3: Entering Dharma Gates & Attaining Buddhahood I discuss the third and fourth vows of the Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow, about entering all Dharma Gates and embodying the unsurpassed Buddha Way. For some of us, these seem less accessible and relevant than the first two, about freeing all ...
09.30.2022 217 - The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 2: Ending All Delusions This is episode two in my series on the Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow (also called the Four Great Bodhisattva Vows). In the first episode of the series (216), I discussed the spirit of the bodhisattva vows in general, and then when ...
09.22.2022 216 - The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 1: Freeing All Beings In this episode I review the meaning of the Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow, and then explore the first of the vows in detail: Beings are numberless, I vow to free them. What does it mean to free beings, and what does ...
09.12.2022 215 - We Will Die Soon: Using Impermanence to Motivate Practice From the time of the Buddha, Buddhists have spent time contemplating impermanence - often by deliberately meditating on their own mortality and eventual death. This practice isn't for everyone, but it can help motivate us stay motivated to practice, focus ...
08.31.2022 214 - How Do You DO Zazen, Anyway? Offering you another episode on zazen risks me repeating myself, but I don’t think it hurts to offer a fresh new talk on zazen periodically. The practice – while profoundly simple – also can be frustratingly elusive. What are you ...
08.19.2022 213 – Deconstructing Self: Which Aspects Are Fine, and Which Cause Suffering? The core teaching of Zen is that understanding the true nature of self is of the utmost importance to living a life that is liberated, compassionate, generous, wise, and skillful. Mindful examination of a subject like the self classically involves ...
08.11.2022 212 - The Wisdom of Play When we play wholeheartedly, we engage the world with energy, joy, lightheartedness, and enthusiasm, welcoming challenge and enjoying our activity for its own sake. We rarely have the same attitude toward our work, responsibilities, difficulties, or even our Buddhist practice. ...
07.31.2022 211 - Book Review: Kosho Uchiyama's “Opening the Hand of Thought” Uchiyama Roshi's Opening the Hand of Thought is a great book for the beginner as well as the advanced practitioner of Zen. Uchiyama manages to balance philosophical discussion of the most challenging Zen topics - the nature of zazen, and ...
07.21.2022 210 - Book Review: Kyogen Carlson’s “You Are Still Here” This book is a treasure in that it collects in one place the essential subjects and themes of Kyogen Carlson’s teaching, which remains faithful to his Soto Zen lineage through Roshi Jiyu Kennett but reflects Kyogen’s ability to express the ...
07.11.2022 209 - Book Review: Issho Fujita's "Polishing a Tile" In this episode I review Issho Fujita's Polishing a Tile. This is far and away my favorite book on zazen of all time, and it covers other essential aspects of Zen practice as well. This book isn't available as a ...
06.30.2022 208 - Nine Benefits of Practice in Difficult Times How can practice help us deal with the strong negative emotions we experience in difficult times, such as anger, hatred, fear, or despair? Fortunately, Buddhist practice is a powerful way to decrease our pain, agitation, reactivity, and preoccupation no matter ...
06.25.2022 207 - Dirt Zendo, Cloud Zendo, One Sangha: Buddhist Community in the Digital Age In the last episode, I talked about the new phenomenon of a virtual space for practice, including its merits and benefits. In this episode, I talk about the merits of practicing in a "Dirt Zendo" - a physical practice space, ...
06.07.2022 206 - Dirt Zendo, Cloud Zendo, One Sangha: Buddhist Community in the Digital Age – Part 1 Since COVID lockdown, Buddhist communities have greatly expanded their online practice opportunities. Virtual spaces are surprisingly effective for practice and building a sense of Sangha. Many Buddhist and Zen centers are now facing the prospect of permanently including options for ...
05.28.2022 205 - Motivation for Practice: What Do You Love Most Deeply? In order to find motivation for diligent practice, it can help to identify and connect with what you love more than anything else in the whole world. What love makes your life worth living? Love for your children, grandchildren, animals, ...
05.21.2022 204 - Buddha-Nature: What the Heck is It and How Do We Realize It? Part 2 This is my second episode on one of the central teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, that all beings have Buddha-Nature (buddhata). I discuss more about what Buddha-Nature is and is not, how we can benefit from this teaching, and in what ...
05.13.2022 203 - Buddha-Nature: What the Heck is It and How Do We Realize It? Part 1 One of the central teachings of Mahayana Buddhism is that all beings have Buddha-Nature (buddhata). Awakening to this Buddha-Nature allows one to attain unsurpassed enlightenment, so it is clearly pure, good, and redemptive. But what is Buddha-Nature? Sometimes it is ...
04.28.2022 202 - Two Truths: Everything is Okay and Everything is NOT Okay at the Same Time Reality has two dimensions. Along the dependent dimension, our world is unequivocally full of greed, hate, delusion, and suffering, and any moral person should feel compelled to do something to make things better. Along the independent dimension, things are just ...
04.23.2022 201 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 5: Finding What I Was Looking For This episode is the fifth and final installment – at least for now – of the story of my spiritual journey. I share a few more of what I call "enlightenments" - pivotal and personal insights I experienced along the ...
04.15.2022 200 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 4: Enlightenments This episode is the story of my spiritual journey, part 4. I start sharing a series of what I’m calling “enlightenments” I experienced over the course of the first ten years or so of my monastic training. These “enlightenments” were ...
03.30.2022 199 - Is My Practice Languishing? If So, What Can I Do About It? It’s not unusual for our practice to languish at times. “Languish” means to be or become weak or feeble, to lose vigor or vitality, to be subjected to neglect or prolonged inactivity. How do we recognize when our practice is ...
03.22.2022 198 - Renunciation as an Act of Love Buddhism is a path of renunciation. Many people assume this means we aim to separate ourselves from the things and beings of the world and work ourselves into a state where we no longer care about them – at least ...
03.11.2022 197 – Neither Avoidance nor Identification: Being with the Reality of Painful Situations Sometimes there is no avoiding painful situations, whether the difficulty is arising in our own life or from witnessing suffering in the world around us. How can we respond to troubling conditions with generosity and compassion, but also without being ...
02.27.2022 196 - Death and the Emptiness of Self: What's the Meaning of Life If You've Got No Soul? Do we think there's life after death in Soto Zen? I discuss the Soto Zen perspective on consciousness and whether some kind of consciousness continues after our physical death, and where we find meaning if the self is empty of ...
02.21.2022 195 - Hongzhi’s “Wander into the Center of the Circle of Wonder” In this episode I explore a teaching from 12th-century Chan master Hongzhi, in which he instructs us to “wander into the center of the circle of wonder.” I propose that the whole of the Dharma can be found by exploring ...
02.15.2022 194 - Pain in Meditation 2: Adjustments to Posture and When to Tolerate Discomfort This is episode 2 in my discussion of physical discomfort in seated meditation. I discuss how to do it with a minimum of discomfort, including tips on spinal position and different kinds of meditation equipment. I try to call attention ...
01.28.2022 193 - Pain in Meditation 1: Why the Seated Posture? Most meditators experience some physical discomfort during seated meditation, ranging from restlessness to severe pain. In this episode I talk about why the seated meditation posture is so important, despite its tendency to cause some measure of discomfort. I also ...
01.22.2022 192 – The Eight Worldly Winds: Gain, Loss, Status, Disgrace, Praise, Censure, Pleasure, Pain According to one of the foundational Buddhist teachings, we are doomed to be “blown about” by Eight Worldly Winds unless we engage in spiritual practice: Gain and loss, success and failure, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Personally, I find ...
01.06.2022 191 – Contemplating the Future: The Middle Way Between Dread and Hope When we contemplate the future, it may seem like we have only two options: dread, or hope. If we can’t summon hope, we may avoid thinking about the future at all in order to escape dread. Fortunately, the Buddhist Middle ...
12.23.2021 190 – Leaping Beyond Fear of Rejection: Giving the Gift of Self The gift of self - such as our time, attention, energy, enthusiasm, perspective, sympathy, and creativity brightens the lives of everyone around us. Although the self is "empty" of inherent, enduring self-essence, it is all we have to offer the ...
12.17.2021 189 – Collecting the Heart-Mind: A Celebration of Sesshin – Part 1 Sesshin - a silent, residential, Zen meditation retreat involving a 24-hour communal schedule - is an extremely valuable way to deepen your Zen practice. I discuss why I strongly encourage you to participate in sesshin, but also why - if ...
12.01.2021 188 - What Does Practice Look Like When Your Country Is Broken? When our country - or global community - is broken, how do we practice? Faced with incomprehensible violence, injustice, lies, greed, and destruction, how do we cope, let alone respond in accord with our bodhisattva vows? Our first responses are ...
11.20.2021 187 - Lotus Sutra 5: Step Right Up to Get YOUR Prediction of Buddhahood In the Lotus Sutra, thousands of the Buddha's disciples line up, each requesting their own, personal prediction of buddhahood. What is this about? Shouldn't advanced practitioners of the Buddha way be beyond any concern about themselves? I share the stories ...
11.12.2021 186 - Making Peace with Ghosts: Unresolved Karma and the Sejiki (Segaki) Festival The annual Buddhist ceremony of “feeding the hungry ghosts,” or Sejiki, offers rich mythological imagery as a teaching. Metaphorically, a “ghost” is anything painful or difficult which continues to haunt the present although its causes lie in the past. Sejiki ...
10.29.2021 185 – 14 Ways to Enliven Your Zazen – Part 2 I share nine more ways to enliven your zazen without employing methods that introduce dualism and struggle into your sitting. See Episode 184 for why this is important, and for my first five approaches.
10.22.2021 184 – 14 Ways to Enliven Your Zazen – Part 1 When we sit zazen, it can be difficult to remain wholehearted and attentive. Because of the momentum of habit energy, we get wrapped up in thoughts about the past and future, or we fall asleep, fantasize, or brood in worry ...

Older episodes