Rochester Zen Center Teisho (Zen Talks)

July 2023 Sesshin , Day 2 A commentary on Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui. (translated by J.C. Cleary). Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.   Automated Transcript The post Ta Hui and “Swampland Flowers” #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

July 2023 Sesshin , Day 1 Roshi Kjolhede begins this teisho with biographical highlights of Zen Master Ta Hui, based on Andy Ferguson’s Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Master’s and Their Teachings.   He then continues with a commentary on Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui. (translated by J.C. Cleary). Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.   Automated Transcript The post Ta Hu...

When we let go of all the ways we discriminate between self and other, we open up to the suffering of all beings, and to the transformative power of love. Sources: Anthony De Mello, The Way to Love, Image Books, 1995. bell hooks, “Contemplation and Transformation,” Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the... Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Beyond...

Coming to the Path Talk by Bill Lindenfelser.   Automated Transcript The post Coming to the Path Talk by Bill Lindenfelser appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

Our eagerness to cut short whatever feels tedious by chasing after distractions and excitement comes to diminish our lives. Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.   Automated Transcript The post Boredom appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

Comments about the Center’s Board of Trustees recent decision not to display the Black Lives Matter flag (or other non-Dharma-symbol flags) on the Arnold Park building. Talk by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.   Automated Transcript The post The Black Lives Matter Flag–To Hang Or Not to Hang? appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

June 2023 Sesshin , Day 6 Commentary on dialogues between Bankei and students (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #6 appeared first on Rochester...

June 2023 Sesshin , Day 5 Commentary on dialogues between Bankei and students (Part 1). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #5 appeared first on Rochester...

June 2023 Sesshin , Day 4 Commentary on Bankei’s public talk delivered during a training period at Ryumon-ji (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei...

June 2023 Sesshin , Day 3 Commentary on Bankei’s public talk delivered during a training period at Ryumon-ji (Part 1). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei...

June 2023 Sesshin , Day 2 Commentary on the life of 17th-century Japanese Zen Master Bankei Yotaku (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #2 appear...

June 2023 Sesshin , Day 1 Commentary on the life of 17th-century Japanese Zen Master Bankei Yotaku (Part 1). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #1 appeared first o...

Two of the four Brahma-viharas. Dharma Talk by Eryl Kubicka.   Automated Transcript The post Equanimity and Compassion appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

How do we embody the Precepts in our everyday lives? An overview of morality in Zen and the RZC’s Taking the Precepts Ceremony. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Taking the Precepts: An Introduction appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

Exploring the intersection between Zen practice and neuroscience on our capacity for experiencing awe in ordinary activities. Commentary on Dacher Keltner’s “The Quiet Profundity of Everyday Awe”, The Atlantic: January 13, 2023. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.   Automated Transcript The post Discovering Awe in Just This appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

May 2023 Sesshin , Day 2 Question:  Should I try or should I not try? Do I apply effort in practice or do I surrender? Ought there be discipline or should it come naturally? Answer: Yes! Sources: Awakening to Zen by Roshi Philip Kapleau; Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield. Dharma Talk by Ven. Jissai Prince-Cherry.   Automated Transcript The post Not...

May 2023 Sesshin , Day 1 How to make the most of chanting, talks, and personalized instruction during sesshin. Sharing the teachings of Roshi Philip Kapleau, founder of Rochester Zen Center, on the 19th anniversary of his death. Source: Zen: Merging of East and West by Roshi Philip Kapleau. Dharma Talk by Ven. Jissai Prince-Cherry.   Automated Transcript The post Making the Most of Each Moment of...

Bodhin-roshi’s comments on the controversy surrounding the February video of “the Dalai Lama and the boy.” (Correction: the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, not 1951 as was stated in the talk.) Talk by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.   Automated Transcript The post The Dalai Lama and the Boy appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

A look at Master Dogen’s treatise ‘Instructions to the Cook,’ with reflections on my own experiences as a cook, particularly at the Zen Center, as well as on work practice in general. Dharma Talk by Ven. Kanji Argetsinger.   Automated Transcript The post Instructions to the Cook appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

Longtime Board Trustee and active local member Rebecca Gilbert begins her “Coming to the Path” talk as follows: It’s been a long journey of recovery… 24 years have passed since I found my way to the Zen Center here…. And I thought it might be helpful for people to hear and understand a little bit... Coming to the Path Talk by Rebecca Gilbert.   Automated Transcript The post The Layering of Sufferi...

Further exploration of practice off the mat. (Continuing the theme of the teisho of February 19, 2023.) Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.   Automated Transcript The post Stop Fixing Yourself appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

March 2023 Sesshin , Day 6 Mumonkan #13, Tokusan Carries His Bowls. Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.   Automated Transcript The post Mumonkan #13, Tokusan Carries His Bowls appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

March 2023 Sesshin , Day 5 Illuminating Silence: Insights on the Path of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-Yen and John Crook. Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.   Automated Transcript The post Illuminating Silence #5 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

March 2023 Sesshin , Day 4 Illuminating Silence: Insights on the Path of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-Yen and John Crook. Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.   Automated Transcript The post Illuminating Silence #4 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .

March 2023 Sesshin , Day 3 Illuminating Silence: Insights on the Path of Chinese Zen by Master Sheng-Yen and John Crook. Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.   Automated Transcript The post Illuminating Silence #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center .