Zencare Podcast

Fear can lead us to do regretful, hateful, and even violent things. Lion’s Roar & NYZC’s new online course Medicine for Fear is inspired by Zen teacher Eihei Dogen’s essential instructions for awakening. The course, featuring Sensei Koshin and Sensei Chodo, as well as Mushim Ikeda, Pamela Ayo Yetunde, Kodo Nishimura, and Mirabai Bush, offers […]

The post Fear and Knowing How to Be Satisfied | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“To devote ourselves to everything we encounter and throw our life force into doing just that is quite different from simply exhausting our energies playing with toys.” —Kōshō Uchiyama Rōshi   In celebration of the Shakyamuni Buddha’s birthday, the NYZC sangha gathered on April 10th, whether in person or virtually, to chant, bathe the baby […]

The post Happily Putting Down Our Habits | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“How are you cultivating that space of no separation in each moment?”   Koshin Paley Ellison delivers a talk on the importance of commitment in relationship, whether it be commitment in how you show up for others in your community or the steadiness you display in a teacher–student engagement. He discusses the Zen ancestor Guishan […]

The post The Glowing Ember of Sangha | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

What are the ingredients that go into your decisions today?   Sensei Chodo delivers a vulnerable dharma talk on a koan in which you find yourself trapped in an impossible situation and asks: “How can you get out?” Though koan practice is unusual in the Sōtō Zen sect, they are practiced and taught in the […]

The post The Stone Grave You Find Yourself In | Chodo Robert Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Big mind, then, is not a matter of meditation on some vast floating spatial dimension. It is the practice of entirely devoting your life to each and everything that you encounter, no matter what it might be.” As the New York Zen Center continues in its 90 day ango (practice period), Sensei Chodo Robert Campbell […]

The post How Do We Embody Big Mind? | Chodo Robert Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

For more than a decade, NYZC’s Foundations in Contemplative Care has transformed the lives of individuals from across the country and around the world by supporting the integration of spiritual practice and caregiving. In this info session (recorded on February 28th, 2022), guiding teachers, Koshin Paley Ellison and Chodo Robert Campbell, as well as staff […]

The post Answering Your Questions about Foundations in Contemplative Care | February 2022 appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“How can you embody being settled into the Way?”   In this dharma talk, Koshin Paley Ellison cites our Zen ancestor, Dōgen Zenji, who, in his various guides explains that those who hold positions within sanghas are monks “settled in the Way”. Koshin sensei examines what it means to be settled as such and how […]

The post Showing Up For Your Life | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“It is not valid to equate a fact, as real as it may seem to be, with the truth. It is just self deception. We deceive ourselves by believing a fact that exists in our mind is an absolute truth” —Kōshō Uchiyama   In this dharma talk, Koshin Paley Ellison draws from lessons learned during […]

The post In Harmony With The Three Treasures | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“What I would encourage you to do is to reflect on: how you how you’ve deceived yourself this past year, how you’ve made excuses, and how can you take responsibility.”   On the eve of the new year, Koshin Paley Ellison and Chodo Robert Campbell deliver dharma talks on self-deception, taking responsibility, and setting intentions. Chodo […]

The post How Will You Be In Time? | New Year’s Eve Dharma Talks & 108 Bell Ringing appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“If you just surrender your life to the dharma, then you no longer have to worry what the future will bring. You will bring forth the future out of your surrender. Just drink tea and the dharma will come to you. You don’t have to chase it. It is chasing you.” —Sandra Jishu Holmes Roshi […]

The post Stop Chasing! Our Cultural Belief in Choice | Dai En Friedman appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.