Ocean Mind Sangha

Understanding what it is that we take refuge in.

Where do you go to be seen and to be seen through? Facing reality, facing yourself, that is what’s needed here and now. From the spacious and bare zazen practice of the Zen Sōtō priest Kosho Uchiyama and the new movement of Secular Buddhism to Yuval Noah Harari’s 21st Lesson for the 21st Century, his book on pressing global issues like the consequences of rapid changes in pervasive technology, Zui...

A reflection on what it means to know all of ourselves and each other as treasure—if we really knew this, how would it affect the way in which we live our lives?

This talk on a koan about the love between parent and child (teacher and student), lays bare the uniqueness of this relationship and the unconditional trust and love that it’s based on—a love grounded in the aspiration for liberation, for awakening…

This talk, part of the study session series on Thich Nhat Hanh’s Understanding Our Mind, deals with perception and experience. “What conditions do we need to be truly happy?” Thich Nhat Hanh asks. It’s another way of asking, Do we understand how the seeds of our experiences shape the way we perceive our lives? This text on the Fifty Verses shows us that it’s not what happens to us that determines...

Without you, I cannot be me. Who am I? In this talk Zuisei reflects on how we see ourselves and one another verses the reality of what is, who is. How could you be one unchanging self? Why do we often hold each other and ourselves to a familiar idea of who we are, and what happens when individuals and communities do not?

I can’t. I won’t. This is the sound of fear in the lead. And a sign to look closer. In this talk Zuisei returns to the three steps or ways to enter our zazen—failing, falling, and feeling—and studies the fear that often holds us back from fully realizing them. How does practice enable us to stay with our fear—to be both fearful and fearless? Zuisei reminds us that when we realize that we’re like t...

Acknowledging that practice does not always come easily, in this talk Zuisei skillfully guides us back to the art of shikantaza, “the gate of ease and joy,” as Dogen called it. But what is shikantaza? How do we practice it, when we have to let go of doing and striving? Zuisei describes three steps: failing, falling, and feeling—ways to enter our zazen and also our day-to-day lives.

It’s never been more important to cultivate an attitude of care and reverence for this world and for one another. How can we use the teachings and our practice to remind us of the sacredness inherent in all things?

Why prostrate yourself, when Buddhism doesn’t include belief in God or a higher power? With insights from Eihei Dogen, Judy Lief, and Reggie Ray, Zuisei looks at the power of the sacred and of bowing, as well as the importance of prostration in the cultivation of devotion—an attitude of respect and reverence so needed in this world today.

“When we practice mindfulness we are not practicing for ourselves alone, but also for the countless generations to follow.” –Thich Nhat Hanh In this session, Zuisei and the sangha take up this teaching as they continue their study of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Understanding Our Mind. The session opens with a “student entering ceremony,” recognizing sangha members Marguerite Battaglia, Adam Green, Brian Pon...

When our path seems unclear and reality precarious, where do we turn? In this talk Zuisei and the sangha take this question to heart. Zuisei reminds us, as the famous Machado song says, that “the path is made by walking.” Whether it seems laid bare for miles ahead or the view appears obscured, we can ever only take one step at a time.

In this talk Zuisei dives into the center of the eighth realization—the awareness that the fire of birth and death is raging, causing endless suffering everywhere. Even in difficult moments there is a soft spaciousness, perfect and complete, where we are whole and things are as they are. How do we remember this in the very real and present stress of our day to day lives?

The Seventh Realization of Great Beings teaches us to live simply, follow the precepts, and treat all beings equally and with compassion. Through the poetry of Hafiz and the stories of the Zen teacher and Sixth Ancestor Huineng, Zuisei cuts to the heart of living simply so that we might apply this sense of simplicity and openness to our lives outside of the monastery, in the reality of our everyda...

In this mondo Zuisei introduces the Sixth Realization of Great Beings through the sangha’s reflections on their lived experiences of the past year. This realization turns to equanimity and generosity in the midst of poverty—poverty of mind and spirit that creates our sense of lack During the pandemic, have you experienced a feeling of listlessness, Zuisei asks. Or something else? What have you tur...

What happens when you deeply listen? The commentary to the fifth of the Eight Realizations of Great Beings says that bodhisattvas listen deeply to others in order to ease their suffering and bring them joy. Delving into the practice of listening and the parallel tracks of growing up and waking up, Zuisei inspires us to listen deeply so that we can become fully human buddhas.

Bring back that lovin’ feelin’Whoa that lovin feelin’When your enthusiasm for practice slows or seems to come to halt, does it “still count?” And anyways, how do you spark it up again? In this threaded talk, Zuisei introduces the fourth realization, indolence, aka find your enthusiasm. The sangha takes this up, each sharing their personal experiences of “failure” and “laziness,” and the awesome re...

Are you aware of a mind that searches outside of itself and never feels fulfilled? In this talk Zuisei and Brian each explore different aspects of this awareness—the Third Realization. Drawing on different sources from the experience of addiction to the Vimalakurti Sutra, this talk asks us to reflect on how this searching mind show up in our own lives and how might we might work with it.

In this talk, drawing from Dogen’s teachings, the Lojong slogans and more, Zuisei dives into the very human experience of desire. How do the teachings on desire relate to satisfaction and sensuousness? How can we hold that desire is the root of suffering and still realize its affirming and joyful side?

“I want to be like water. I want to slip through fingers but hold up a ship.” In this talk Zuisei returns to the reality of impermanence, from the Buddha’s last talk just before his death—the Nirvana Sutra, to the wish above taken from an interview with Michelle Williams. How might impermanence inspire you?

How do you experience impermanence? In this first threaded talk, Zuisei introduces the realization of impermanence and asks the group gathered to take it from there. As each person speaks up and follows the thread, we explore how we can and do work with this awareness.

In this talk Zuisei delves into what it is to experience the vast spaciousness of our ordinary, day-to-day lives. From engaging with our ancestors—whether mythical, spiritual, or flesh and blood—to reflecting on our present and ever-changing paths, how many ways are there to acknowledge the infinite stream of space and time in which we flow? How might this nurture our practice, our kindness, our c...

Do you ever pause in the midst of your life and ask yourself, what is my role in all of this? What is my agency? In this talk Zuisei addresses the need to train the body, mind, spirit and heart, the need to learn endurance, flexibility, and kindness, the need to be here now. In the spiritual path, all action is rooted in the clarity and wisdom that arise out of stillness and silence. And out of th...

The world is on fire. What do each of us have to offer to meet that fire? Reflecting on the teachings of Dogen’s Mountains and River Sutra, Zuisei looks into what it means to take care and the urgent need for that care. From practicing zazen to the learning about and dismantling the worlds we’ve co-created around racism and climate change, how do we show up for ourselves and one another?

Do you find yourself silently commenting on and critiquing this life as it happens? There’s a Buddhist term for the seemingly endless chatter in our minds—papañca or proliferation. Zuisei brings to life the teachings on papañca contained in the sutra “The Ball of Honey,” exploring how this proliferation comes to be and how we might relate to it skillfully.