While Zenki Roshi is teaching the Fall Practice Course 'Developing Embodiment' at the Boulder Zen Center, we are re-airing three dharma talks that address fundamental topics and practices related to embodiment.

The second one is "No Inside, No Outside" which was originally published on September 27, 2023. This talk explores how to make use of the turning phrase "No inside, no outside." A turning phrase is a verbal expression that can transform our sense of self and being in the world. The phrase is held in mind as an antidote to culturally or personally ingrained views. When we investigate common sense distinctions such as internal/external and self/other, we come face to face with our tendency to objectify what is perceived to be outside and the resulting sense of alienation. The talk provides embodied practices for entering a space of intimacy so that sight and sounds as well as thoughts and feelings can be perceived as appearing in the same undivided space.

Welcome to Zen Mind! 

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Become a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

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Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

While Zenki Roshi is teaching the Fall Practice Course 'Developing Embodiment' at the Boulder Zen Center, we are re-airing three dharma talks that address fundamental topics and practices related to embodiment.

The first one is "Pause for the Pause" which was originally published on June 27, 2024. This talk was given as part of a Weekend Sitting. It highlights the distinction between the contents of mind and the field of mind. Dogen encouraged his students "to be continuously intimate with the field of mind." The talk presents two attentional practices to discover and establish oneself in the field of mind: (1) "To pause for the particular," a version of mindfulness practice that emphasizes the creation of a dharmic pulse within one's perceptual process, and (2) "to pause for the pause," which invites the stillness of the field to come to the foreground. Perceiving sensorial contents within the context of the field trains the mind in non-attachment and non-identification. Based on these practices, the talk suggests to view Zen rituals as a succession of still points and action, ultimately fostering an embodied integration of stillness and activity.

Welcome to Zen Mind! 

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Become a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This talk kicked off the new live Practice Course ‘Developing Embodiment’ that just began at the Boulder Zen Center. The talk first defines the ultimate fruition of the Zen path as ‘embodying buddha.’ It’s not enough to understand what liberation from suffering as well as wisdom and compassion mean, our intention needs to be to demonstrate these qualities in each unique situation with our embodied presence, our whole being. The talk then presents the general unfolding of the Zen path, the role of embodiment on that path, and the interaction between the yogic and psychological dimensions of embodiment. It ends with an overview of the curriculum of the live Practice Course, which is open for enrollment until October 24th and which will be available as a self-paced course after the live teachings end on November 22, 2025.

Welcome to Zen Mind! 

Zenki Roshi's new practice course, "Developing Embodiment," is live! Over the course of six weeks, he will give practice instructions on how to develop an embodied presence in the Zendo and in daily life. Learn more and register here: https://www.boulderzen.org/developing-embodiment

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Become a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This talk was given as part of a One-Day Sitting at the Boulder Zen Center. It reflects on embodiment practice as the gate to the present and the present as the gate to our true nature. The talk begins with the question, "What is missing in your life?" Happiness, money, love, security? Where does our mind go with this question? Usually to some thought pattern. What happens if, instead, we go to the embodied presence of this moment - allowing our experience to be exactly what it is? What happens if, in addition, we realize that each here-now moment requires our participation - a wholehearted yes to our experience becoming what it needs to become? We might realize that nothing is missing and that the unfolding present is our true home.

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Become a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

We are excited to announce that Zenki Roshi's live practice course, "Developing Embodiment", will begin on October 18th! This live course will explore the importance of embodiment on the path of practice and awakening. We will go over practices that allow us to develop and deepen embodied presence, and we will examine how embodiment supports our journey toward a life of freedom from suffering, wisdom, and compassion. Learn more and register here: https://www.boulderzen.org/developing-embodiment

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This talk continues and concludes the mini-series on exploring space and spaciousness. This time the emphasis is on mental space. While the two previous talks emphasized practices with visual objects, body, and breath, this talk makes suggestions for how to investigate and work with thoughts. (1) What is there between thoughts; what kind of space do you find there? (2) Where do thoughts come from, and where do they go? Do thoughts have a source? (3) Are thoughts fundamentally different from the space in which they appear? As a result of these investigations, we might find that it is more helpful to view the mind as a space that ‘allows thoughts’ rather than a self-agency that ‘does thinking.’ Suzuki Roshi spoke of Big Mind and small mind. The narrow setting of the small, self-centered mind can be understood as an expression of the wide, spacious setting of Big Mind, in which no self can be found. So even that dualism can be accommodated by space.

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Consider becoming a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This talk continues the mini-series on exploring space and spaciousness. It presents a variety of practices with gaze, body, and breath that can help us verify in our own experience that the separation of mind from object and self from other is only an afterthought that distorts the original undividedness of space. The experience of undivided spaciousness can help soften conflict, ease trauma, and increase the freedom with which we respond to changing circumstances. We can even relax our sense of self-directed agency. We might then take the view that we are not located in space but that we are what space is doing in this location. Space appears to be the agent. But rather than turning this into a notion of God, we can simply rest in the realization that moment by moment, spaciousness resolves into function. Life unfolds without clinging.

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Consider becoming a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This is the first talk in a mini-series on practicing with the experience of space and spaciousness. The exploration starts with a fundamental shift in view… from “space separates” to “space connects.” We are culturally trained to see space as being between things and separating our self from the world, thus reinforcing opposition and alienation. But what if space is connecting and bonding—and beyond that enveloping, penetrating, and accommodating everything as it is? Such a shift can have profound implications for how we live—with less opposition and judgment and more acceptance and intimacy. To embody this, we need to make our minds spacious, open, and accommodating, thus freeing others and ourselves to be as we are. This can serve as a foundation for liberation from suffering, wisdom, and compassion.

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Consider becoming a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This talk was given as an opening talk to a workshop on “Breath Practice.” It explores breath as our most vital form of nourishment. Breath practice has two intertwined dimensions: supporting health and well-being, and serving as a path of spiritual awakening. The first part of the talk looks at the foundations of healthy breathing, drawing on both science and direct experience. From there, it turns to the Buddhist tradition, highlighting four core principles found in key mindfulness sutras: 1) Go to a quiet place—not just externally but inwardly, 2) Invite the spine into uprightness, 3) Notice the sensations of breathing at the front of the body (nostrils and abdomen), and 4) Breathe through the whole body. As part of a spiritual path, the aim of breath practice isn’t to perfect the breath, but to discover—through the subtle, whole-body experience of breathing—a deeper sense of who we are.

The talk draws from these three books:

• ​​​​​​​Will Johnson; Breathing through the Whole Body: The Buddha's Instructions on Integrating Mind, Body, and Breath
  
  
• James Nestor; Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
  
  
• Patrick McKeown; The Oxygen Advantage: Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques to Help You Become Healthier, Slimmer, Faster and Fitter―Improve Your Health and Fitness with Efficient Breathing Techniques

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Consider becoming a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

This talk was given as part of a One-Day Sitting at the Boulder Zen Center. It reflects on moments when we are touched by life. Nothing special, just ordinary moments -- washing the dishes, looking at your child, seeing the grasses outside your window swayed by the wind. To be touched by life is maybe our deepest longing. However, the human mind has the tendency to replace the intimacy of direct experience with concepts, stories, and identities, thus alienating itself from what is most fulfilling. Our practice is not to stop all our thinking and make some special experience called awakening happen. It is to free attention from being captured by the narrowness of thought, and instead shift it to breath, body, and phenomena. Breathing, feeling, and sensing are doors to the present, and the present is the door to a spacious and timeless field of awareness. Experiencing our human form located within this wider field then functions as a continuous invitation to be touched by life.

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Become a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.

We human beings tend to generate stress—and sometimes even burnout— by perceiving situations and ourselves as not enough. This talk starts out with the question "When is there enough?" and tries on the view that "Just now is already enough." By recognizing that we are always already significantly supported by breath, food, shelter, and our society (however crazy it might appear), we can learn to rest in a basic satisfaction and inner peace. From a Buddhist point of view, this depends on letting go of grasping and resisting, releasing ourselves into the field of "undivided activity," and realizing that we are an expression of that field. The talk elucidates how we can use the classic understanding of the middle path between self-indulgence and self-mortification as a way to develop an "Art of Enough." This art doesn't deny the need for improvement and doesn't shut down engagement with personal and societal problems. However, it does emphasize that a basic sense of enoughness needs to come first if we want to avoid being captured by a race to more and more that can easily lead to emotional and energetic burnouts.

Welcome to Zen Mind!

Love the dharma talks and want to hear more? Become a Premium Podcast subscriber for only $9/month. Dive deeper into the topics through Q&A sessions related to each of the talks. You can even ask questions of your own through the 'Ask Me Anything' platform and gain access to previously unpublished talks from intensives. Learn more here: https://zenmind.supercast.com/

We have a NEW, self-paced course, "Undivided Activity", now available! In this course, Zenki Roshi offers a complete commentary and experiential translation in a series of talks on Dogen's essay 'Undivided Activity'. Learn more and purchase the course here: https://www.boulderzen.org/undivided-activity

See all events and join our mailing list at www.boulderzen.org. Email us at [email protected].

If you're enjoying these talks, please subscribe and leave us a rating or review!

Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.