In this talk Musho looks into Palm Sunday, describes the duties of senior students at the Village Zendo, tells a story of a night at a bar and relates that to his own quest for stability. He ends with a short commentary of the last verse of “The Ten Ox Herding Pictures.” Recorded Sunday March […]

In this talk Jiryu takes up case 32 of the Blue Cliff Record “Standing There.” He interprets the monk Jo’s question “What is the great meaning of Buddha’s teaching?” as “How do I understand what I am?” Jiryu looks into his own desire for enlightenment while on a year long Zen residency many years ago. […]

It this talk Soten investigates case 1 from the Book of Serenity: “The World Honored One Ascends the Seat.” How much expression required? “Behold the Dharma of the King of the Dharma!” The shuttle and loom of creation: back and forth, back and forth… Ascending/descending, breathing in/breathing out, the foot before and the foot behind in walking, […]

In this talk Bokushu asks why do we separate ourselves from death and pretend death is far away? What does it mean to stop separating and stop pretending? As Bokushu experiences the approaching death of his mother in an assisted living facility, he faces death in a very visceral way. Recorded February 25th 2018.   […]

In this talk KanShō investigates mortality, song lyrics by The Smiths, The Second Law of Thermodynamics, Dogen’s “Expression,” Stoicism, poetry by Keats, insights by Louis CK, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and remembering an old flame. Recorded February 18th 2018.   If you enjoyed this talk, why not support the Village Zendo with a donation?

In this talk Ryoshin states that Zen practice encourages us to cultivate a mind of “not knowing.” Yet, our tendency is to want to control the situation, to want things to be the way we think they are. What is it like to face a situation when we really don’t know? How do we practice then? […]

In this talk Soshin compares her experience of treating her own noticeable hearing loss with a Zen story from Dogen’s essay “Expressions”. She takes up the story of  “Xuefeng and the Hermit” and looks carefully at our feelings and reactions that different situations present. In each moment Soshin sees a desire for intimacy that we […]

Musho comments on our study text “Dotoku” by Dogen Zenji. Musho relates his life long experience of True Expression as a visual artist and discusses the Zen koan, “Zuigan Calls Master.”

On her birthday Jisei gives her first regular Dharma talk at the Village Zendo. She begins by investigating her own fears, in particular the fear of giving a Dharma talk. With the help of a supportive Sangha, she feels a healing energy that allows her to go towards her fear and overcome it, right in […]

In this talk Seizan looks into the koan “Nan Ch’uan’s Circle” case 69 from the Blue Cliff Record.  Seizan relates the story of the three monks in the koan, to an incident that occurred at a Village Zendo summer retreat. Seizan describes a beautiful moment of friendship, happiness, and a step forward onto the path of […]