Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.
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How can you - personally - face the truth, stay strong, and take action in the midst of an ongoing climate and ecological emergency? Former wildlife biologist, Zen priest, and climate activist Domyo Burk offers weekly episodes to help you stay engaged with the climate crisis in an authentic and sustainable way.
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279 - Talking about Politics as a Buddhist - A Live Dharma Talk
25:20
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I am on sabbatical for the month of August, so this is a recent talk I gave at Bright Way Zen. This is, of course, a very timely topic with a major election coming up in the U.S. in just over two months. If politics is "the set of activities that associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such a…
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278 - Having a Zen Teacher - An Informal Discussion
40:53
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This episode is an informal (unprepared) talk I gave in response to a question someone: Is everything a Zen teacher does a "teaching"? How do you know? This led to discussion of other topics as well, related to having a formal relationship with a Zen teacher - What does it mean? What does it look like? Why would someone want this?…
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In this episode and the previous one, I do something radical and share my experience of a sesshin I recently attended, describing it day by day. There are many reasons not to do this, and I went into those reasons in the last episode (part one), where I also described my first two full days of retreat. In this episode I describe days 3-5 and make s…
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In this episode I’m going to do something radical and share with you my experience of the sesshin I attended last week, describing it day by day. There are many reasons not to do this, which I will go into. I certainly don’t intend to do it again. Still, despite my misgivings I thought it might be helpful for you to get an insight into what a sessh…
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275 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Five – Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment (3 of 3)
20:21
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This episode is the third installment of chapter five of my book-in-process, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. In the first episode, I described the central role of Precepts in Zen and covered the Three Refuges, Three Pure Precepts, and two of the Grave Precepts. In the last episode, I talked about the Grave (serious, or weighty) P…
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274 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Five – Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment (2 of 3)
25:33
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This episode is the second part of chapter five of my book-in-process, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. In the last episode, I described the central role of Precepts in Zen and covered the Three Refuges, Three Pure Precepts, and two of the Grave Precepts. In this episode, I talk about the Grave (serious, or weighty) Precepts three…
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273 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Five – Precepts: Transcending Self-Attachment (1 of 3)
27:28
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The fifth Field of Zen Practice is living according to moral Precepts. The Buddhist precepts guide our ethical conduct, ensuring we minimize the harm we do to self and others. Such conduct is a prerequisite for the peace of mind we need for spiritual practice. The precepts also serve as valuable tools for studying the self; when we are tempted to b…
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272 - Keizan's Denkoroku Chapter 3: Ananda and the Flagpole
32:05
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According to Zen master Keizan’s Denkoroku, Ananda spent 20 years at the Buddha’s side. He had a perfect memory, understood all the teachings, was an impeccable practitioner, and attained arhatship. Despite this, the Buddha made Kashyapa his Dharma heir, and Ananda spent another 20 years practicing with Kashyapa. Finally, Ananda asked Kashyapa, “Wh…
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271 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Four - Dharma Study: Wrestling with the Teachings (2 of 2)
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This episode and the last, “Dharma Study: Wrestling with the Teachings,” comprise chapter four of my book, The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners. In the last episode, Part 1, I talked about the value of Dharma Study and how best to approach it. Then I discussed how to go about deciding what you want to study. In this episode I …
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270 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Four - Dharma Study: Wrestling with the Teachings (1 of 2)
21:08
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The fourth Field of Zen practice is Dharma Study, or becoming familiar with and investigating Buddhist teachings. The texts and teachings in Buddhism include tools we can use for practice and inspirational guidance for our behavior, but the most critical part of Dharma Study is challenging the ideas and views we already hold, not acquiring new ones…
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269 - Making a Vow of Inner Nonviolence and Complete Acceptance
35:26
35:26
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We all have negative aspects of ourselves we want to fix, disown, or even expunge completely from our being, but even with practice some things are extremely hard to change. As we strive to break free of our less-than-helpful aspects of self, we typically employ violent means, ranging from subtle rejection to vicious and debilitating self-loathing …
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268 - Teisho, An Encouragement Talk During Zazen
29:52
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Last week I led a sesshin, or silent Zen retreat. Participants participated in a 24-hour schedule of zazen, chanting, silent work, formal meals, and rest. Once or twice a day, I offered a "teisho" during zazen. "Tei" means to offer or put forth, and "sho" means to recite or proclaim. Teisho are sometimes called "encouragement talks," and they are m…
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267 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Three - Mindfulness: Cultivating Awareness Every Moment
28:35
28:35
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The third Field of Zen practice is Mindfulness, which is cultivating clear awareness of what is happening, moment by moment, within you and around you. Mindfulness is absolutely fundamental to Zen practice, allowing you to practice within all the other Fields. Without awareness, you can’t live your life by choice instead of by karma.…
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266 - What Would the Buddha Say About the Suffering in the World?
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Recently, someone submitted a Dharma question for me to address: “I wonder what Buddha would say to us about the crises facing humanity, particularly the suffering of our own making?” I can't know, but I dare to put some words in the Buddha's mouth and then present follow-up questions.By Domyo Burk
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265 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Two - Zazen: Our Total Response to Life (3 of 3)
22:59
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This is the third episode of three comprising the “Zazen” chapter of my book, “The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners.” I start by offering what I should have put at the beginning of my chapter on Zazen: Basic instructions for Zazen. I then discuss how my “Five Efforts in Zazen” suggest Zazen is a neat and linear process, but in…
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264 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Two - Zazen: Our Total Response to Life (2 of 3)
31:30
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This is the second episode of three comprising the "Zazen" chapter of my book, "The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners.” I finish my discussion of the five efforts of Zazen, covering becoming intimate with Life, seeing the true nature of Life, and being one with Life.By Domyo Burk
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263 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field Two - Zazen: Our Total Response to Life (1 of 3)
37:29
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The second Field of Zen practice is Zazen. “Za” means seated, and “zen” means meditation. However, as 13th-century Zen master Dogen famously stated, “…Zazen is not meditation practice.” Superficially, our Zazen may look like the meditation done in other spiritual traditions, or even in secular settings. We even call Zazen “meditation” sometimes, fo…
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262 - The Value, Care, and Feeding of Dharma Friendships (2 of 2)
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The Buddha famously said “admirable friendship,” or what I’m calling Dharma friendship, is the entirety of the holy life. In the last episode, I discussed the value and nature of personal Dharma friendships. In this episode, I talk about what makes a good Dharma friendship and offer some practical ideas about how to find, form, and maintain such re…
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261 – The Value, Care, and Feeding of Dharma Friendships (1 of 2)
23:34
23:34
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The Buddha famously said the “admirable friendship,” or what I’m calling Dharma friendship, is the entirety of the holy life. In this episode, I discuss the value and nature of personal Dharma friendships. In Part 2, I will talk about what makes a good Dharma friendship and offer some practical ideas about how to find, form, and maintain such relat…
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260 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field One – Bodhicitta: Way-Seeking Mind
33:22
33:22
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This episode on Bodhicitta, or Way-Seeking Mind, is chapter two of my book The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners.” Bodhicitta is the first Field of practice because without it we never even begin practice, and, if we don’t nurture and sustain it, our practice will wither and die. I discuss the first arising of Bodhicitta, its f…
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259 – Ten Fields of Zen, Introduction – What Is Zen Practice?
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37:55
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In this introductory chapter to my book, “The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners," I discuss the nature of practice and "progress" on the path of practice. I then introduce the Ten Fields, and the rest of the book will consist of a chapter on each of the Fields.By Domyo Burk
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258 - One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 6: The Two Truths of Absolute and Relative 2
26:10
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The Two Truths teaching is another classic Chan/Zen description of Reality-with-a-Capital-R. Reality has two aspects, often called relative and absolute. I call them the “dependent dimension” and the “independent dimension.” I describe this teaching and discuss why it is so important to our practice.…
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257 - One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 5: The Two Truths of Absolute and Relative – Part 1
25:28
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The Two Truths teaching is another classic Chan/Zen description of Reality-with-a-Capital-R. Reality has two aspects, often called relative and absolute. I call them the "dependent dimension" and the "independent dimension." I describe this teaching and discuss why it is so important to our practice.…
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256 - Do Your Own Practice: Spiritual Translation Versus Transformation
31:18
31:18
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One way to frame our practice is to say it has a "translation" aspect and a "transformation" aspect. Translation means to apply Buddhist teachings and practice to our life to free self and other from suffering, and live with greater wisdom and compassion. Transformation means to seek transcendence of the self and all of its limited views through a …
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255 – The Medicine of Emptiness When Witnessing Suffering and Injustice
35:25
35:25
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When we witness - or experience - suffering or injustice, the medicine of emptiness can give us strength and equanimity. It should also increase our compassion, allowing us to be open, sensitive, and responsive without getting overwhelmed by anxiety, depression, fear, anger, or hatred. I talk about what the "medicine of emptiness" is - and isn't - …
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