The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/28/26 – This teaching from ancient master Yunmen calls us not to ignore the strife around us, but to see it all through the eye of wisdom and compassion which does not get entangled by it. Even when the outer circumstances are not favorable—which is typical for samsara—we still have agency to affect things beyond our understanding when we t...

Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei – ZMM – 6/27/26 – Practicing zazen, seeing into our minds, is what makes it possible to loosen the grip and let our true self be known. We are called to actualize in our present bodies, in this life, the actual body and life of Buddha. On the path of awakening to the truth of this, we awaken to the truth of the “self-born wisdom deity” of the Buddha an...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/25/26 – Resistance to change often underlies our suffering and shows up in feelings such as anxiety, irritation, impatience and so on. As an essential teaching of the Buddha, impermanence calls on us to reflect and study this as the condition of all life, allowing us to loosen the tension, to accept what is true, and find ways to move in ac...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/21/26 – The sense of separation — from life, from happiness, from anything we feel apart from — lies at the root of what brings many of us to a spiritual path. The Buddha taught that suffering arises from the duality created by conceptual thinking. To truly end our troubles, and the troubles we create in the world, we must see into this dir...

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho – ZMM – 6/14/26 – What is already present is the authentic form of Buddha, not different than your own body and mind. We may think there is something broken that needs to be fixed about ourselves, or that we’re lacking in some way. Zazen is the authentic form of Buddha, and returning to yourself again and again is the contemplation of our own true self...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 6/7/26 – How Buddhism uses the term “attachments” is often misunderstood as being something bad, which should not happen, but our sense of self is made up of a series of attachments: to identity, position, and so on. When we see through these many ideas of who we are, we can eventually settle our minds and experience our true natu...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 5/31/26 – Mundane truth, enlightened truth, from the beginning are all together one. But there are snags that grab us, some of them repeatedly. Hongzhi describes our original mind this way: “from the beginning it is fundamentally all together complete, undefiled, clear down to the bottom.” In this Dharma Encounter with the sangha, Shugen Roshi asks: how...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 5/30/26 – Zen is filled with koan stories asking this question: do they see it or not? Do you see “it”? Shugen Roshi says that we see only as far as our penetrating vision can reach at any time. And yet that is plenty. Our present experience invites us to look further and not solidify our moment to moment experience. The Path is not linear in the usual s...

Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei – ZMM – 5/29/26 – The true self, what is that? It was the question put to Monk Ming by the sixth ancestor and opened for him the Way. This pivotal moment is something that makes Zen what it is, what can’t be planned, can’t be sought after, but still it’s the heart of our practice. Shoan Sensei asks us: what do you have faith in, and what do you still h...

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei – 5/28/26 – Going beyond our ancestors, going further than they could go, is the task of every student of the dharma. What is the ultimate truth? In other words, asks Hogen Sensei, who is this person asking the question? Going beyond conceptual thought, what is it? Here where you are, fully alive, what is it now? Close the gap, as Daido Roshi used to say, and yo...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/24/26 – Shugen Roshi asks: “When you’re thinking of the thinking mind, what do you find there? And where will you go from there?” At the heart of bodhicitta — the wish to bring suffering to an end — are the questions: What are we contributing? What kind of environment are we creating through our thoughts, words, and actions? Cultivating bod...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/21/26 – Are the words you are about to speak true? Verify them first through your own experience. Are they of benefit? Are they agreeable or disagreeable? Know your intentions and consider carefully before speaking. Drawing from the early teachings, Shugen Roshi offers the Buddha’s guidelines for practicing right speech in ways that bring a...

Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei – ZMM – 5/17/26 – What is your complete expression of Buddha Mind? Shoan Sensei takes up this question in exploring the koan of the National Teacher calling to their attendant. How do we each navigate the distractions and the self-centered mindset we all fall into? To end our suffering and the causes of suffering in the world, we practice. And practice...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/10/26 – Who fears the spring row’s knee-deep mud? This line from Hongzhi’s poem underscores the challenge which all practitioners of the dharma face: to bring something good into the world, despite the challenges that we inevitably face. Our world is constantly in flux, complex and unpredictable, and those on the Path are called to both qui...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/3/26 – The middle way between indulgence and denial is not obvious for any of us beginning on our practice path. How could we know where the “middle” might be? We need to stumble and make mistakes to learn how to embrace a wholesome and sustainable balance, through practice. Building a sanctuary, a monastery, or a livable life takes effort,...

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei – ZMM – 4/26/26 – The energy of our lives is something that we tend to take for granted, but in spiritual practice it is understood that we can deliberately cultivate the energy of clarity through zazen. We can study the ways that energy can “leak out” and diminish our clarity and focus. How do we practice those things that seem to limit us, which might du...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/25/26 – The words of a koan always point to our original mind—our unobstructed, liberated mind—but the path of seeking clarity is not always so direct. Aspirations help us along, and bodhicitta is essential, but we still must contend with the moment that is arising, in this body and mind, and not some past or future mind. This talk during A...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZMM – 4/24/26 – Resonance is a living reality, and when we turn toward resonance we can experience the energy and aliveness to help us be grounded in our practice. When we let go of grasping and really turn on our attention inward, we stop making a separation between our “self” and everything else. When we don’t let all our attention seep outward, we c...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/22/26 – From the Book of Serenity, Case 97 – Emperor Tongguang’s Hat – Paying attention to how things unfold, we always benefit from skillfully navigating our reactions, our tendencies to mistrust and avoid. Skillfully, we can trust that our true nature is always present, clear and undivided. How do we teach ourselves to t...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/19/26 – Living a simple life in the Buddhist tradition is a skillful means which supports the development of clarity and flexibility, so we are not weighted down by things, by situations, or by our own thoughts. Free of unnecessary complications, we can “respond appropriately” to all changes we encounter. This pivot moment, as Master Hongzh...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – 4/12/26 – Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, three students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts, taking up these living teachings, living vows in the company of the sangha with family and friends: Jerry Kyosei Calvillo (Peaceful Mirror), Paul Yugen Burns (The Eye of Devotion/Courage), and J...

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 4/5/26 – The Buddha began with generosity—dāna pāramitā—as the ground of all practice and the basis of being truly teachable. The precepts live within this spirit, expressing how we give and share this life with others. What does it mean to give in the most complete, unsurpassable way?

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 4/5/26 – From the Book of Serenity, Case 37 – Guishan’s “Active Consciousness” – Who is this “self,” the one we’ve taken ourselves to be all our lives? On the path, this question must be clarified intimately, so we can truly take responsibility for how we live. This requires seeing every arising of mind—even thos...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 3/29/26 – Prajna Paramita is the wisdom of the other shore, encompassing all of the paramitas and expressing the non-duality of wisdom and compassion. As the theme of this Dharma Encounter, Shugen Roshi invites sangha members to present their understanding and their questions about Prajna Paramita, as well as “turning words” which express the...

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 3/28/26 – The subtle healing energy of zazen is likened to an acupuncture needle by Hongzhi, and Shugen Roshi explores how this teaching functions in our own practice life. Within zazen, are we truly engaging what is right in front of us? The simple and direct nature of zazen brings us back again and again, and so we return and settle into th...