Prairie Mountain Zen Center Dharma Talks

Send us Fan Mail This series of talks was recorded in 2025. After each talk, the sangha engaged in lively discussion, which was not recorded. The talks were an examination of the Statement of Recognition and Repentance from the Soto Zen Buddhist conference of 2018.  https://www.szba.org/szba-statement-on-recognition-and-repentance

Send us Fan Mail This series of talks was recorded in 2025. After each talk, the sangha engaged in lively discussion, which was not recorded. The talks were an examination of the Statement of Recognition and Repentance from the Soto Zen Buddhist conference of 2018.  https://www.szba.org/szba-statement-on-recognition-and-repentance

Send us Fan Mail Shin-E Kieran Rhysling begins a series of facilitated discussions that we're calling Dharma Jams from Dainin Katagiri Roshi’s book, You Have to Say Something. If the next Buddha is the Sangha, as Thich Nhat Hanh proposed, then maybe the next dharma talk should be something more collaborative and interactive, like a musicians jam session. In this episode, we start playing with...

Send us Fan Mail Guest speaker Kyosho Valorie Beer shares a Dharma talk, entitled "Stop", that offers us a different way to approach the New Year. 

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin gives a talk on the Shobogenzo Chapter: "King Wants the Saindhava".

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Chikyo Ewan Magie gives a dharma talk entitled, "Unlocking the Door".

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Daitoku Rick Vosper gives a talk entitled, "An Appropriate Response".

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin gives a talk on chapter 77  from Dogen's Shobogenzo, entitled Space.

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin gives a talk on Dogen's chapter on all-inclusive study from the Shobogenzo.

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Isabelle Andre gives a talk on Buddhist perspectives on death and dying, drawing from numerous sources including Thich Nhat Hanh and the Tibetan traditions.

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Rev. Tetsudo Judy Putnam speaks on the Buddha's answer to Subhuti from the Diamond Sutra. Subhuti asks the Buddha how one should walk the path of the Bodhisattva and receives an interesting answer.

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Shin-E Kieran Rhysling gives a brief overview of The Five Remembrances from the Upajjhatthana Sutta. The sutta recommends  that The Five Remembrances of old age, sickness, death, change, and karma be reflected upon often by all.  The talk was a short introduction to a longer discussion by the sangha that was not recorded. 

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Chikyo Ewan Magie gives a talk entitled, " Zen and the Metta Sutta: Waking Up with Loving-Kindness".

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin gives a talk on Dogen's commentary on The Eight Awakenings of Great Beings from the Shobogenzo. 

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Shin-E Kieran Rhysling gives the final talk in the series based on Diane Eshin Rizzetto's book, Deep Hope: Zen Guidance for Staying Steadfast When the World Seems Hopeless. The subject is prajna, the paramita of wisdom or seeing clearly. 

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Steve Lindly gives a talk titled “Does Enlightenment Lead to Helping Others?”.

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin will give a talk based on the Ten Directions Chapter of Dogen's Shobogenzo. 

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Daitoku Rick Vosper will give a talk entitled "Why We Sit: The Brother-In-Law Question". 

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Nendo David Pavlacky gives a talk entitled "Diving Into the Sea of Suchness".

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Paula Scarborough will give a talk entitled "Aging and Illness as Practice". Paula has been doing holistic elder care for fifteen years and her talk will draw on this wealth of experience.

Send us Fan Mail PMZC's Guiding Teacher Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin gives a talk on the Four Immeasurables of the Theravadan tradition: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Shin-E Kieran Rhysling gives a talk on using Roshi Joan Halifax's GRACE process as a framework for having conversations with people we disagree with.

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member and sewing teacher Tetsudo Judy Putnam gives a talk on Komyozo Zanmai, a fascicle attributed to Dogen's dharma heir Koun Ejo zenji.

Send us Fan Mail In recognition of Pride Month, sangha member Shin-E Kieran Rhysling gives a talk on gender identity and Buddhism, with special focus on transgender issues.

Send us Fan Mail Sangha member Rev. Judy Tetsudo Putnam gives a talk on Jijuyu Zanmai.