“This sangha, here and on Zoom, represents 88 generations of practitioners—how incredible to be part of this living lineage.”

Our upcoming Commit to Sit is starting this week and so we share one final dharma talk from last summer’s Commit to Sit with you.

In this moving talk, Chodo Sensei weaves personal stories with timeless Zen teachings, reflecting on the profound simplicity of zazen and its capacity to transform even the most challenging moments.

From the resilience of daffodils breaking through asphalt to the unexpected beauty of aging, Chodo inspires us to embrace the present moment and commit to the path, breath by breath.

Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or new to Zen, this talk will encourage you to remember the strength found in sincerity and community.

Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets. 

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“The world will always need compassion and wisdom. In our lifetime and after our lifetime.” – Koshin

The interconnectedness of everything is not an idea or a belief. No separation is a truth to experience. How can we allow the thorough, inherent relatedness of all things to inform how we think, feel, and act today? Openness and receptivity is a place a practice.  

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei encourages us to widen our perspective and move beyond the usual preoccupations with our ‘small’ concerns. How can we courageously allow a view of the whole to come alive through us in everyday moments? This is the meaningful shift from relative to absolute bodhichitta that the awakening way calls us to practice together.  As Koshin teaches, the exceedingly spacious view – which is all of reality – “…is the container within which our practice can actually be free.” Continuing with his series of reflections on Keizan Jokin Zenji’s “Zazen-Yojinki,” Koshin takes time in this talk to focus on the next few lines of this text. Listen to how Keizan Zenji speaks to the expansive view of the whole. “Without peak of depths, its brilliance is unthinkable, its shows itself silently. Between sky and earth, only this whole body is seen.”  How can we open ourselves up to see this whole body? How can this enliven our practice and ground our service in the world? For Koshin, the qualities of equanimity, compassion, and wisdom are key. In our lifetime, how can we embody these qualities in our relationships? Can all of our heart-minds manifest equanimity, compassion, and wisdom as medicine for a world perpetually struggling with fires, floods, and violence? May our clear and loving actions, in this moment, reverberate outward for the sake of all beings who will be here long after we are gone.   

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“Taking refuge in sangha is taking refuge in diversity—diversity inside and diversity in the world.”

We share this profound and tender opening dharma talk from our recent Summer Commit to Sit in honor of our upcoming Commit to Sit starting January 22nd.

In it, Koshin Sensei opens the 90-day practice period by weaving timeless teachings from Buddha’s era into the challenges and opportunities of modern life. From the joy of shared meditation to reflections on suffering, impermanence, and interconnectedness, this talk is both deeply moving and lighthearted—featuring everything from Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” to a humorous nod to Schitt’s Creek.

He also explores how to “take refuge” in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, inviting us to embrace both our fears and joys, our personal stories, and the vastness of the universe.

With reflections on love, death, and the enduring power of community, we are invited to live fully, practice deeply, and fold everything—suffering, diversity, and awe—into the richness of life.

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“There is not a moment when you can’t practice.” – Koshin

The busyness of life often pulls us away from presence.

In this powerful dharma talk, Koshin Sensei invites us to pause, to soften, and to return to the stillpoint at the heart of movement.

Opening with a moving ritual of gratitude for his teacher, Koshin continues his reflections on Keizan Jokin Zenji’s Zazen-Yojinki. He reads: “Do nothing at all. The six senses produce nothing.” Through this lens, we explore how zazen can help us stop habitually following the sights, sounds, and sensations that shape our self-made world.

What opens when we stop grasping for identity or perfection?

Keizan Zenji writes: “Trying to think of it, the thought vanishes. Trying to speak of it, words die.” In this talk, we are reminded that true aspiration is not about achieving something, but about allowing boundlessness to arise.

Drawing on the mythic figure of Baba Yaga, Koshin invites us to show up fully and foolishly—to live in truth rather than fear, and to meet life as it is, not as we wish it to be.

This is the heart of our practice: setting down the demand for perfection, and opening to the spaciousness available in every moment.

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ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

MUSIC

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji – Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“What do you need to set aside?”

How often do we get stuck on ‘rightness’ and ‘wrongness’?  These judgements separate us from actually experiencing our lives moment by moment. Keizan Jokin invites us to free ourselves from such considerations and rest comfortably in our true nature for the sake of all beings. In this new year, what entanglements will you set down to enliven your practice, your life? 

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei continues his series of talks on Keizan Jokin’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. A line-by-line study of these “points to keep in mind when practicing zazen” allows the clarity of Keizan’s teachings to impact how we function in the world. Koshin begins this talk with a tender look at the perfectly imperfect rituals and forms of zen practice. As with our lives and relationships, we are encouraged to invite everything in. Can we give dignity to what is worn out and make way for new things to emerge? When we get tangled up in our preferences, get enamored by our ideas and feelings about everything; when we are certain that we are ‘right’ and they are ‘wrong’, Keizan reminds us to “…put aside all affairs, and let go of all associations.” The new year presents an opportunity for all of us to align our values and actions. May our aspirations guide us into the full, messy, beauty of life.    

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“Zazen is an attitude for how you live.”

For many of us, showing others who we really are is rare. But why? What causes and conditions; stories and identities do you drape around yourself? Keizan Jokin says that the practice of sitting zazen is like coming home. How can we set down what is hiding and separating us from one another to be truly at home within ourselves and of service to others? 

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei offers the second in a series of talks on Keizan Jokin’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. Keizan is the dharma grandson of Dogen Zenji and, like Dogen, was committed to making this practice available and accessible to all people. With this aspiration, Keizan is notable for many things, including the creation of communal rituals and ceremonies honoring loss and recognizing other rites of passage. In this classic text, “Zazen-Yojinki,” translated as “Points to keep in mind when practicing zazen,” we are encouraged to set down our preoccupations with the small self and allow ourselves and others to become who we truly are. In this talk Koshin focuses on the second sentence as it expands on Keizan’s opening line. What dwelling “comfortably in your actual nature” looks like in practice and in life is “revealing yourself manifesting the original ground.” That is, when we come home to ourselves in our practice, through our relationships, “both body and mind drop off. Zazen is far beyond the form of sitting or lying down.” The forms of practice and the roles we play in life can become a barrier to meeting reality just as it is. Can we allow the small body and mind to drop off so that we may experience what else is true? We all have specific roles and identities that are important to how we function in the world. And any one of them can become a problem. It depends on how we hold these identities. Can we practice setting our smaller selves down? When our true nature is uncovered, “revealing ourselves manifesting the mind-ground,” we can come home to ourselves and be of service to others. 

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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Artwork by Contemplative Medicine Fellow, Prash Gunasekera

Like a plum blossom blooming in the winter, possibilities can emerge even when new life seems inconceivable. Koshin Sensei encourages us to stop indulging our deadening habits and to work with our minds to get clear moment by moment. Can we walk down the street, meet other humans, and get curious about our life together?

In this dharma talk during Rohatsu, Koshin turns our attention to Dogen Zenji’s writings from this day eight hundred and twenty three years ago. He writes, “The two wheels of practice and dharma are intimately connected and constantly turning. Under the bodhi tree the flower of awakening shines bright though and incalculable expanse encompassing tens of thousands of realms. Bliss permeates all beings and their environments.” During this commemoration of Shakyamuni Buddha’s commitment to remaining steadfast in practice, we are given another reminder to ask ourselves: what is zazen for? Is it about just getting through another period of sitting? What are we doing with our minds, our lives? Dogen’s words strike a sweet and nudging tone when he writes that practice, in every moment, can lead to “…feeling a sense of joy as if for the first time.” This talk concludes with a wonderful description of the rituals of Rohatsu.   

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“It turns out that we don’t really change until we completely commit, especially when things are hard.” 

We all can feel lonely and isolated sometimes. And, at the very same time, we are often reluctant to participate and engage with what is all around us. Koshin Sensei encourages us not to hold back. Perhaps, when we commit to being fully in our lives, we can come home to ourselves and truly meet others along the way. 

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei offers the first in a series of teachings on Keizan Jokin’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. Keizan, the dharma grandson of Dogen Zenji, is the recognized co-founder of Soto Zen Buddhism and the title of this text is translated as “Points to keep in mind when practicing zazen.” The opening sentence is striking. “Zazen means to clarify the mind-ground and dwell comfortably in your actual nature.” Koshin focuses on this line and encourages us to fully inhabit our lives.

When Keizan says that “zazen is like returning home and sitting in peace,” Koshin asks: why remain outside the gate? “Other activities and distractions are like being outside the gate. When we are not focused, we leave ourselves outside the gate.” The commitment to practice is about clarifying and dwelling, about being in your true nature and coming home.

The auspicious occasion of this talk is the morning directly after our sangha’s Rohatsu celebration, a sitting meditation practice that goes deep into the middle of the night to honor Shakyamuni Buddha’s steadfast sitting under the bodhi tree until he saw the morning star.  Rohatsu reconnects us to the urgency of practice and recognizes that we are here because of the dedication of myriad practitioners of the awakening way. Come in. Do not stay outside the gate. Join life.  

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“We are caught in unawareness, in delusion, when our minds grasp after what isn’t really here and right in front of us.” – Chodo

Our minds are constantly grasping after shiny objects – names, concepts, ideas, stories. There is a long history in Buddhism of referring to this cognitive tendency as our monkey mind. Chodo Sensei encourages us to pay close attention to this grasping. Can we see how our minds chase after the mere reflections of things, rather than aspiring to connect with what is really here? 

In this dharma talk, Chodo begins by drawing our attention to what is around him. The flowers, like all aspect of reality, become our teacher. We also hear about a recent trip Chodo took to the Japan Society to view paintings and calligraphy by Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768). Chodo focuses on one particular scroll depicting a monkey reaching down into a pool of water to grab the moon. This relatively famous image is revealing, a playful portrayal of a central teaching about the kinds of minds we all have. In our delusion, the mind’s reach is often misplaced. Chodo turns to the wisdom of Zen Master Raven to teach us more about delusion. Can we seek after what is real and practice doing what is true?  Ethical precepts, we are reminded by this talk, are always intimately related to the minds we cultivate. This talk concludes with Chodo’s reading and exploration of Thich Nhat Hahn’s perspective on the moon and the moonviewer.  

ZENTALK NOTES

Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets. 

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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“Why are you seeking liberation outside of yourself?” – Jianzhi 

We all can feel bound up sometimes. And for good reason, depending on the life circumstances we find ourselves in. Over time and with practice, Koshin Sensei encourages us, we can learn to avail ourselves of the freedom and clarity that are always available to us. Within a supportive community, invite yourself to “Set down what you are worried about and just show up in each moment.”

In this dharma talk, Koshin begins with a moving reflection on the value of tears. “Moments of weeping help to clarify what is most important to us.” His talk continues with an exploration of an ongoing study of Soto Zen’s Chinese ancestors. We learn how Daoxin, who lived during the 7th Century, is not so different from us today. Caught up in his own stuff and clamoring to find someone to give him all the answers, Daoxin is tenderly and pointedly questioned by his teacher, Jianzhi. Their intimate exchange as teacher and student is another example of how this practice is about community and relationship. In one moment, we are bound up and in the next we are clear. We lose our way only to find it again in the next breath. This awakening way, Koshin reminds us, must be practiced with great tenderness toward ourselves and with one another. Near the end of this talk, Koshin reads Keizan’s poetic tribute to the exchange between Daoxin and Jianzhi.

“Mind is empty, and our knowing contains no right or wrong.
In this, what is there to be bound or liberated?”  

ZENTALK NOTES

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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