Rochester Zen Center Teisho (zen Talks)

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 4 A commentary on Zen Essence, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede. Automated Transcript The post “Zen Essence” #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 3 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” #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

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 Hui and “Swampland Flowers” #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

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 Duality appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

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: 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 Zen Center.

June 2023 Sesshin, Day 5 Commentary on dialogues between Bankei and students (Part 1). Source: 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 Zen Center.

June 2023 Sesshin, Day 4 Commentary on Bankei’s public talk delivered during a training period at Ryumon-ji (Part 2). Source: 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 #4 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2023 Sesshin, Day 3 Commentary on Bankei’s public talk delivered during a training period at Ryumon-ji (Part 1). Source: 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 #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2023 Sesshin, Day 2 Commentary on the life of 17th-century Japanese Zen Master Bankei Yotaku (Part 2). Source: 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 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2023 Sesshin, Day 1 Commentary on the life of 17th-century Japanese Zen Master Bankei Yotaku (Part 1). Source: 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 #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

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 not try? Should I apply effort in practice or should I surrender? Should 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 Too Hard, Not Too Soft: Finding the Sweet Spot in Practice appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

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 Sesshin appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Talk by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede. Automated Transcript The post The Dalai Lama and the Boy appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.