Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

Society & Culture Education Philosophy Religion & Spirituality Buddhism

What's Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast about?

A Santa Fe, NM Zen center and community with retreats, daily meditation, weekly Dharma talks on Buddhist teachings

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LAST EPISODE

Kathie Fischer: Reflecting ...

10.14.2019

What does “no-self” really mean? Sensei Sokaku Kathie Fischer offers a beautiful talk on what it means to be in “this moment, this body, this place, and this time of no time.” She uses an account of recent pictures which ...

Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast episodes:

10.14.2019 Kathie Fischer: Reflecting on the Diamond Sutra What does “no-self” really mean? Sensei Sokaku Kathie Fischer offers a beautiful talk on what it means to be in “this moment, this body, this place, and this time of no time.” She uses an account of recent pictures which ...
10.13.2019 Shinzan Palma & Kathie Fischer: Zazenkai: The Buddha’s raft to this very moment! Sensei Jose Shinzan Palma and Sokaku Kathie Fischer continue their discussion of the Diamond Sutra. This time Sensei Shinzan talks about the sixth passage of the text, which is about the true faith of belief. A pivotal sentence from the ...
10.07.2019 Shinzan Palma: Subuthi: How Should a Bodhisattva Walk the Path? Sensei Jose Shinzan Palma discusses the second chapter of The Diamond Sutra, a dialogue between Buddha and Subuthi, and the importance of an inquiring mind. “When Roshi Bernie Glassman used to come here to teach,” says Shinzan,” he said, ‘It’s ...
10.06.2019 Shinzan Palma & Matthew Kozan Palevsky: Zazenkai: Inside the Buddha’s Body What does the Diamond Sutra teach? In this Zazenkai talk, Sensei Jose Shinzan Palma and Matthew Kozan Palevsky begin to explore the Diamond Sutra, one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia. The Sutra features a dialogue between ...
09.30.2019 Shinzan Palma: The Diamond that Cuts Through the Ice Sensei Shinzan Palma leads this talk on the Diamond Sutra, one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia that expounds emptiness, compassion, and skillful means. Shinzan says, “the Diamond Sutra’s beautiful teachings are not easy to understand. It ...
09.23.2019 Matthew Kozan Palevsky: The Dharma Gate of Ease and Joy Are you joyful? What is the difference between joy and happiness? Matthew Kozan Palevsky asks such questions in his exploration of the role of joy in dharma. Laughingly, Kozan explains, “I’ve been reading the sutras very carefully about joy and ...
09.16.2019 Wendy Johnson: Meeting Challenge with a Full Heart What does it mean to love a city? Wendy Johnson speaks of heartbreak and connection on the 18th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Speaking of a visit to the World Trade Center Memorial site, Wendy describes her love for New ...
09.09.2019 Kigaku Noah Rossetter: The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease: Exploring the Many Faces of Dukkha Kigaku Noah Rossetter introduces the theme of his talk with a quote from Buddha, “I have taught one thing and one thing only, dukkha and the cessation of dukkha.” So, what is dukkha? Noah explores the many facets of dukkha ...
09.02.2019 Joan Halifax: Transforming Suffering Today: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Attitude Roshi Joan Halifax has deeply explored the notion of hope. She began her talk reminding us that the young environmental activist Greta Thurberg has just arrived in the United States, and pointed out that people like her, Malala, and the ...
08.26.2019 Monshin Nannette Overley: Utmost Respect What exactly is the role of respect in our life? Monshin Nannette Overley delves deeply into this often-used word, and infuses new feeling and meaning into an attitude which is too frequently bereft of its sacred manifestation. Her talk looks ...
08.19.2019 Dekila Chungyalpa: Restoring Resilience: In Nature, Community, and Ourselves Episode Description: In this inspiring talk, Dekila Chungyalpa encourages us to “think of climate work as an act of love; it is giving back to the earth.” Dekila tells the story of how she came to create two faith based ...
08.14.2019 Hozan Alan Senauke & Petra Zenryū Hubbeling: SESSHIN: Instructions to the Cook (Part 4 of 4) Episode Description: Sensei Hozan Alan Senauke and Petra Zenryū Hubbeling introduce the fourth course of the Supreme Meal, social action. Zenryū explains the relationship between social action and the third of the three tenets of the Zen Peacemaker Order, compassionate ...
08.13.2019 Hozan Alan Senauke & Petra Zenryū Hubbeling: SESSHIN: Instructions to the Cook (Part 3 of 4) Episode Description: In this talk, Sensei Hozan Alan Senauke and Petra Zenryū Hubbeling discuss right livelihood, the third course of the Supreme Meal. Right livelihood is the spiritual attitude to a life of exchange. Zen Master Dogen maintained that “even ...
08.12.2019 Hozan Alan Senauke & Petra Zenryū Hubbeling: Recipes for Community Episode Description: What are the vital ingredients for a thriving community? Sensei Hozan Alan Senauke and Petra Zenryū Hubbeling continue a theme from the recent Sesshin, “Instructions to the Cook,” in which they discuss five main courses of a Zen ...
08.12.2019 Hozan Alan Senauke & Petra Zenryū Hubbeling: SESSHIN: Instructions to the Cook (Part 2 of 4) Episode Description: Sensei Hozan Alan Senauke and Petra Zenryū Hubbeling talk about the second course, knowledge or study. This course represents the “how” of living or the “how” to cook your life. Quoting Zen Master Dogen, Sensei Alan says, “You ...
08.11.2019 Hozan Alan Senauke & Petra Zenryū Hubbeling: SESSHIN: Instructions to the Cook (Part 1 of 4) Series Description: Zen Master Dogen wrote these classic instructions —at once highly practical and deeply spiritual —as he was establishing his treasured monastery Eiheiji nearly eight hundred years ago. This series explores Dogen’s teachings, as well as their contemporary application ...
08.05.2019 Zenju Earthlyn Manuel: Embracing the Fullness of Emptiness “Screaming is sane in a world dying from its own inventions,” reads Sensei Zenju Earthlyn Manuel from a poem she composed during our recent program on Hanshan. Zenju asks, “How are we living and dying from our own inventions?” Her ...
07.29.2019 Petra Zenryū Hubbeling: How to Live this Year as if It Were Your Last Petra Zenryū Hubbeling chose to live this year as if it were her last…. again. In this honest and practical talk, Petra describes five common regrets people have on their death bed, the focus of each month of the year-long ...
07.22.2019 Kaz Tanahashi: Peace or War Between an intimate poetry retreat with Sensei Peter Levitt and the upcoming calligraphy retreat, Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi discusses his work as a peace activist to address the connected issues of our times: a potential U.S. attack on North Korea, climate ...
07.15.2019 Peter Levitt: Hanshan: A Poet’s Heart and Mind As a prelude to the “Poetry of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan” retreat, Sensei Peter Levitt shares many of the poems he and Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi translated to English. Shulin Bergman treats us to some of Hanshan’s poems in the original ...
07.08.2019 Joan Halifax: Exploring Moral Suffering from a Dharma Perspective On the heels of the meaningful Sakhyadita International Conference on Buddhist Women, Roshi Joan Halifax explores integrity, and when integrity is violated, how we suffer. With examples from the lives of Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr., and the ...
07.01.2019 Monshin Nannette Overley & Upaya Residents: Open Heart, Open Mind This week’s podcast had some recording difficulties; please adjust your volume as necessary. Thank you! Monshin Nannette Overley and Elissa Kaufman describe the parts of their own life stories which have led them to Zen Buddhism. For Elissa, a challenging ...
06.25.2019 Richard Davidson & Al Kaszniak & John Dunne & Adam Frank & Amy Cohen Varela & Perla Kaliman & Joan Halifax: Upaya Podcast Series: Varela Symposium 2019: The Science of Connection, Complexity, an Reality is Boundless: Interdependence in Zen and Science, Wednesday May 15 As a prelude to this year’s Varela Symposium, Sensei Al Kaszniak discusses interrelated themes from science, Buddhism, complexity, boundlessness, and reality. Do our sense organs actually represent reality as ...
06.24.2019 Matthew Kozan Palevsky & Upaya Residents : Way Seeking Minds Matthew Kozan Palevsky hosts Shoryu Eddy Eusepi and Kotan René Barownick, long-term Upaya residents who speak about what drives their practice and how it has enriched their lives. Shoryu discusses how home for him has historically been associated with a ...
06.17.2019 Kigaku Noah Rossetter: Being Out of Time “If you’re a photon, what is time like for you? What would you see if you watched somebody fall into a black hole? What’s it like from their perspective?” asks Kigaku Noah Rossetter, taking us on a journey through space ...
06.10.2019 Wendy Johnson: The Honorable Harvest “How do we harvest the truth of this world respectfully and wholeheartedly —honorably—in dishonorable times?” asks Wendy Johnson. Encouraging us to “let the sorrows of the world ripen” in ourselves and to be open to the dishonor of our times, ...
06.04.2019 Richard Davidson & Al Kaszniak & John Dunne & Adam Frank & Amy Cohen Varela & Perla Kaliman & Joan Halifax: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 8 of 8) Sensei Al Kaszniak opens this discussion by summarizing the talks from Adam Frank and John Dunne earlier in the day. The panel is then opened to questions from participants in the audience as well as other faculty members. Questions from ...
06.03.2019 Matthew Kozan Palevsky: Living Out Absolute Life Quoting Zen Master Dogen, Matthew Kozan Palevsky reads, “To carry the self forward and illuminate myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening.” This dharma talk focuses on what is perhaps the most ...
06.02.2019 John Dunne: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 7 of 8) John Dunne fields questions from the audience which relate to the order of Buddha presence and compassion, the innateness of compassion, the nature of mind, the nature of awareness, and the differences between notions of emptiness and objectivity. John’s answers ...
06.01.2019 John Dunne: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 6 of 8) John Dunne delivers a very lively and informative talk on shunyata, which is sometimes translated from Sanskrit into English as “emptiness” or “boundlessness.” John explains that “shunya” means zero in Sanskrit, and that “ta” is a suffix meaning “ness.” He ...
05.31.2019 Richard Davidson & Al Kaszniak & John Dunne & Adam Frank & Amy Cohen Varela & Perla Kaliman & Joan Halifax: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 5 of 8) Adam Frank answers questions regarding the significance of networks to complexity theory. One such question relates to the relevance of density and topology of networks. Another has to do with the networked manifestations of emergent properties such as intelligence. He ...
05.30.2019 Adam Frank: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 4 of 8) Adam Frank’s presentation explores such questions as: what is the place of individual experience in the scientific narratives that we create; what is the relationship between scientific truths and the world itself; and, what is complexity? His talk weaves together ...
05.29.2019 Richard Davidson & Al Kaszniak & John Dunne & Adam Frank & Amy Cohen Varela & Perla Kaliman & Joan Halifax: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 3 of 8) Richard Davidson answers a question from the panel related to the connection between insight, compassion, and emptiness, and reads a Tibetan prayer called the Aspiration for Mahamudra which clarifies the connection between the three. He also answers questions about what ...
05.28.2019 Richard Davidson: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 2 of 8) Richard Davidson discusses his groundbreaking work in neuroscience. He divides his talk into what he calls “the four components of well-being:” awareness, connection, insight, and purpose. His work explores connections between meditation and its effects on the brain, especially as ...
05.27.2019 Robert Wilder: The Not-Know-It-All: The Struggle of Not-Knowing Robert Wilder discusses the challenges and blessings of a life lived in “not knowing.” What does such an attitude entail? How might it lead to a richer life? Robert tells the story of being raised to know things and feeling ...
05.26.2019 Amy Cohen Varela: VARELA SYMPOSIUM: The Science of Connection, Complexity, and Emptiness (Part 1 of 8) Series Description: Roshi Joan Halifax, Richard Davidson, Sensei Al Kaszniak, John Dunne, Adam Frank, Amy Cohen-Varela, and Perla Kaliman discuss a variety of topics ranging from epigenetics and neuroscience, to a philosophy of science which incorporates Buddhist notions of emptiness, ...
05.20.2019 Al Kaszniak: Reality is Boundless: Interdependence in Zen and Science As a prelude to this year’s Varela Symposium, Sensei Al Kaszniak discusses interrelated themes from science, Buddhism, complexity, boundlessness, and reality. Do our sense organs actually represent reality as it really is? What is the interaction between our mind and ...
05.13.2019 Cynda Hylton Rushton & Anthony Back: Transcending Burnout: New Narratives for Caregivers As a complement to the coincident professional training program for clinicians, Being With Dying, Cynda Hylton Rushton and Anthony Back discuss healthy narratives for caregivers. What is burnout and how is it increasingly affecting so many caregivers and by extension ...
05.06.2019 Seigen Chuck Overley: Showing Up for Your Life Seigen Chuck Overley discusses his journey through Zen Buddhist practice and emphasizes the importance of “just showing up” to whatever he’s engaged in. Chuck talks about how some of the large themes in his practice—his time in the military, his ...
04.29.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra Part IV Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell provide a very intimate talk on love, and the power of right speech. The talk is inspired by a parable from the Lotus Sutra called, “The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging.” The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging was ...
04.27.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: Sesshin: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra (Part 5 – Final) Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell discuss two different versions of the three vehicles, as well as the importance of spiritual friendship to our practice. Sensei Genzan explains that The Three Great Vehicles, the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana respectively emphasize ...
04.26.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: Sesshin: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra (Part 4) Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell talk about how important selflessness is to the Bodhisattva path. Sensei Joshin emphasizes the importance of not clinging to fame, profit, body, mind, or enlightenment. He tells a story of generosity from the Lotus ...
04.25.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: Sesshin: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra (Part 3) Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell continue the conversation around sound and dharma with some poems composed by Zen Master Dogen. Dogen explicitly refers to the Lotus Sutra in a poem, or, “Waka,” that he wrote about Dharma and sound. ...
04.24.2019 Joshin Byrnes: Sesshin: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra (Part 2) As an homage to the recent burning of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Sensei Joshin Byrnes talks about the role of beautiful architecture in lifting people out of the mundane, and the role of music and sound to the mystical ...
04.23.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: Sesshin: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra (Part 1) As a continuation of the “Dharma Rain” theme from the Dharma Talk on the preceding day, Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell begin with another passage from The Lotus Sutra. Genzan reads, “I bring fullness and satisfaction to the world, ...
04.22.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra Part III Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell explore some of the insights found in “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs,” also known as “Dharma Rain.” Sensei Joshin reads a passage which describes the infinite variety of plants, trees, thickets, groves, and ...
04.18.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: Zazenkai: The Parable of the Hidden Jewel Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell tell The Parable of the Hidden Jewel, and discuss its insights by relating them to their own personal stories. The parable is the story of a poor man who discovers that a wealthy friend ...
04.15.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra Part II Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell relay the stories of Devadatta and the Dragon Girl, two stories which both make the inclusive point that everyone will become a Buddha someday. Devadatta is the story of a disciple who attains Buddhahood ...
04.11.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: Zazenkai: The Parable of the Burning House In acknowledgment of global warming, Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell briefly describe a “world on fire.” Genzan uses this description to relate a different story, the Parable of the Burning House, to our current lives. The story has to ...
04.08.2019 Joshin Byrnes & Genzan Quennell: The Continuing Stories of the Lotus Sutra Part I As a welcome and introduction to Spring Practice Period, Senseis Joshin Byrnes and Genzan Quennell invite practitioners to step out of the hustle and bustle of everyday, conventional life and to practice deepening their spiritual practice by being together in ...

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