The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ...
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Talks, Teishos, and Teachings by Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi, Chigan Roshi Roland Jaeckel, Hokuto Daniel Diffin Osho, senior students, and guest teachers of the Zen Studies Society. The Zen Studies Society is a Buddhist community dedicated to realizing and actualizing our true nature. Cultivating an atmosphere of respect, harmony, deep insight, and boundless compassion, we offer the simple yet profound teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism at our mountain monastery and our city temple u ...
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On a rocky outcropping off the northeastern coast of England, the monastery of Lindisfarne once stood as an outpost of religious, philosophic, and intellectual study against the “dark” times of early medieval Europe. Inspired by the foresight and dogged determination of these medieval monks, William Irwin Thompson founded the Lindisfarne Association in 1972 to gather together bold scientists, scholars, artists, and contemplatives to realize a new planetary culture in the face of the politica ...
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/23/24 - From The Record of the Transmission of the Light, Case 10 – Buddhamitra (or Fudamitta, the Ninth Zen Ancestor) - Our identity is built up with stories we learn to tell about ourselves, and many of these keep us in a state of suffering of which we’re barely aware. When a story we carry in our minds mee…
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 6/23/24 - From the Blue Cliff Record, Case 6 - Yunmen’s "Every Day is a Good Day” - “I’m filled with grief, good day? The world is on fire, good day? What is not dependent upon the circumstances and conditions of those days? How are these concepts of practice and enlightenment for real and functioning in our dail…
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 6/16/24 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 52 - Chao Chou’s Stone Bridge That Lets All Cross - Part of Zen training and practice is knowing there is no “end product”. Waking up continues endlessly. How do we see this essential stone bridge? How do we take the impasses that boils up in our lives with nothing kept …
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Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZMM - 6/16/24 - Looking at Bodhidharma’s teachings on two ways to enter practice—by principle and by practice—these teachings acknowledge that we’re all different and will enter practice in different ways, addressing what is most alive for us. In this talk Gokan explores the first of four p…
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What me Worry? The Fourth Hindrance – Restlessness and Worry
41:44
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 6/9/24 - The five hindrances are the obstacles that prevent us from settling into the precision and stillness of our bodymind. In this talk, Hojin explores the fourth hindrance—restlessness and worry—and examines the various ways that we can work with it primarily by paying close attention to what’s going on in o…
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Chimyo Simone Atkinson, Sensei - ZMM - 6/9/24 - Chimyo Sensei explores the essential practice of zazen, and our genuine capacity to realize Buddha Nature. This practice can challenge us to face our own barriers, tapping into our innate ability to yield, like a dragon taking to the water, and the courage to move freely, like a tiger entering the mou…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/2/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 19 - Yunmen's "Sumaru" - Koan practice guides us to something different than conceptual knowledge, a liberation of mind which is, as the Buddha said, subtle and difficult to understand. And yet, conceptual knowledge is an integral part of how we can realize the non-conce…
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Chikyuu Donohue, Lay Student Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 06/02/2024By Zen Mountain Monastery
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A Conversation with Butoh Teacher Vangeline
35:48
35:48
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In this podcast interview, Monastic Hokyu Aronson speaks with guest instructor Vangeline about embodied movement...By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/26/24 - At the conclusion of spring ango 2024, Shugen Roshi offered a teaching on the ango theme of Right Relationship, focusing on Identity Action, or non-difference, from Dogen’s The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance. Ango participants were invited to present questions or their understanding with Roshi…
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Noble Path Talk — Sandy Joshin Del Valle, May 2024
31:04
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Sandy Joshin Del Valle, Lay Student - ZCNYC - 5/26/24 - Joshin offers words of encouragement to take with us on our path, as she recounts her own stories of coming into Zen practice, and how developing constancy in this practice has transformed her life.By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/25/24 - From Master Hongzhi's verse: Guidepost of Silent Illumination - Both effortful and effortless... meditation flowing through all activity, on the cushion, off the cushion... Shugen Roshi continues his talk on the practice of Shikantaza and Master Hongzhi's poem.…
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Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 5/24/24 - We tell ourselves stories about who we are, what we can and cannot do. We often don’t recognize how limiting these views are, the suffering they perpetuate, and that only we can change them. In this exploration of Right View, Shoan Osho takes up verses of the elder nuns in the Therigata collection to eluc…
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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 5/23/24 - From The True Dharma Eye, Case 75 - Yantou's "Sit Still" - How do we respond to life’s complications? Sitting in stillness is the simple practice, but in itself can become a hiding place. The Three Worlds—form, formlessness and desire—all arrive together at once, so how do we practice stillness in the midst…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/22/24 - From Master Hongzhi's verse: Guidepost of Silent Illumination - Both effortful and effortless... How is it that meditation flows through all activity, on the cushion, off the cushion? Shugen Roshi comments on the practice of Shikantaza and Master Hongzhi's poem.…
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Four Methods of Guidance: Call and Creative Responses of Fire Lotus Sangha
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 5/12/24 - As part the MRO Ango Training period in studying right relationship, and in celebration of Mother's Day, Hojin Sensei takes up 'The Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance’ from 12th Century Zen teacher Dogen. She brings this teaching to life in call and creative response with the Fire Lotus Sangha.…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/19/24 - From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 78 - Sixteen Bodhisattvas Go In to Bathe - We can aspire to the bodhisattva ideal, but how do we turn it into a practical, down to earth response in each moment?By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Patrick Yunen Kelly, Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 5/19/24 - Yunen explores the many forms found in Zen practice, especially as taught by Zen Master Dogen in the Soto Zen lineage. Why is any of it important, and how do we take it up?By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 05/17/2024 - In the practical sense, our activity within and amongst the constant, continuing small moments are what are forming our habits and creating our karma and the collective karma. So pay attention to all of it, be patient with yourself and practice with your vows in mind.…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/12/24 - Shugen Roshi recounts the origins of the present form of Mother's Day, which was all about a mother's call for peace! During his lifetime, the Buddha made this same appeal in many sutras with instructions on living peacefully. What better way to honour our mothers than to recommit to this? Shugen Rosh…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 5/5/24 - From the Book of Serenity, Case 93 - Luzu's Not Understanding - What do we have to do to realize our own perfection? And what does it actually mean in the sense in which it is spoken of in the Buddhist sutras? And our appreciation of relationship; with ourselves and with others... Do we know how it com…
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 5/5/24 - Hojin Sensei explores the archetype of the shapeshifter through the arts, stories of the Buddha, and Zen Master Bankai's teachings of the Unborn—that “all of these comings and goings are just pulses in the pattern.”By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Dharma Encounter: On the Courage to Listen
1:18:51
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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/28/24 - A foundational aspect of relationship: listening in all it's myriad forms... How do we practice it? How do we understand it in terms of the Precepts, or the Four Noble Truths, with Vow? What's missing when we're not listening? Hogen Sensei engages the Sangha with this theme, presenting a koan from the Book …
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Linda Shinji Hoffman, Senior Lay Student - ZCNYC - 4/28/24 - How can we practice meeting physical pain and discomfort of all kinds? In this talk, senior student Shinji Hoffman invites us to consider dancing with these challenges. Through poetry, reflection on her experience, and Buddhist teachings, she weaves together many offerings to support us i…
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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/27/24 - From the Book of Equanimity, Case 67 - The Wisdom of the Flower Garland Sutra - The base of our practice is to realize our own true nature. Hogen Sensei exhorts us to not defile it by clinging to our deluded opinions; we are all fundamentally endowed with the virtues of the Buddha.…
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 04/26/24 - Dharma Talk during the Apple Blossom Sesshin 2024 Fusatsu Ceremony - Hojin Sensei encourages us to strive to be in harmony with each and every aspect of our life.By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Senior Lay Student - ZMM - 4/25/24 - Yosha introduces us to lay woman Fazhen (12th Century) with the story of her awakening.By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 4/24/24 - Can we genuinely be ourselves if we are not free of the idea of "ourself"? Shoan Osho talks about our evanescent nature and grounding ourselves in that.By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 4/21/24 - Inspired by Master Dogen’s poem “Snow”, Hogen Sensei asks us what makes us whole? What can we rely on to face what is before us with clear intention?By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Jukai at Fire Lotus Temple – April 2024
1:18:22
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/21/24 - With Hojin Sensei officiating, 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. - Lou Baisei ("Cultivating the Morning Star") Procaccino, Holly Bukei ("Dancing Lightly") Mensching, and Ajay …
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei ZMM - 4/14/24 - A tea shop proprietor serves traveling monks a koan to accompany their tea. “Let those of you with miraculous powers drink tea.” Then she says to the stunned monks, “Watch this old, decrepit woman show her miraculous powers.” Then, she simply walks out. Hojin Sensei reflects on this story from "The Hidden L…
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Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder - ZCNYC - 4/14/24 - Sharing a teaching from Bodhidharma, Gokan speaks about the importance in the Zen tradition of directly realized experience, over our conceptual understanding. How is it when you truly let go? Trust yourself!By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Entangling Vines Case 68: Nansen's Fried Dumplings – Teisho by Chigan Roshi, 2024.4.12
57:27
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2024.4.12 – Dai Bosatsu Holy Days SesshinTeisho by Chigan RoshiEntangling Vines Case 68: Nansen's Fried DumplingsSubscribe:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheZenStudiesSociety?sub_confirmation=1For more information, or to make a donation, please visit:https://zenstudies.org/donateBy Zen Studies Society
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Rinzai Eisho Gigen Zenji Dai Osho Memorial Teisho by Chigan Roshi, 2024.4.10
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2024.4.10 - Dai Bosatsu Zendo Holy Days SesshinRinzai Eisho Gigen Zenji Dai Osho Memorial Teisho by Chigan RoshiSubscribe:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheZenStudiesSociety?sub_confirmation=1For more information, or to make a donation, please visit:https://zenstudies.org/donateBy Zen Studies Society
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Entangling Vines Case 67: Shoryo is Not Yet Finished – Teisho by Chigan Roshi, 2024.4.9
55:15
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2024.4.9 Dai Bosatsu Holy Days SesshinTeisho by Chigan Roshi:Entangling Vines Case 67: Shoryo is Not Yet FinishedSubscribe:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheZenStudiesSociety?sub_confirmation=1For more information, or to make a donation, please visit:https://zenstudies.org/donateBy Zen Studies Society
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 4/7/2024 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 5 - "Hsiang-yen: Person Up a Tree" - How do we discriminate in a way that liberates and doesn't entangle us in the quandaries of duality? Shugen Roshi uses a koan from the Gateless Gate to highlight this question; how can non-duality be the nature of all thing…
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Satsujo Weeps: Total Eclipse of the Heart
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/7/24 - From The Hidden Lamp: Collection of Stories of Twenty Five Centuries of Awakened Women - What is grief? Can we respect it? Not fear it? Really let it work us in and through our embodiment allowing its raw ingredients to scour our beautiful hearts into release into the impermanence that is the Buddha Way.…
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Entangling Vines Case 66: Daibai's Plum Pit – Teisho by Chigan Roshi, 2024.4.7
51:53
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2024.4.7 - Dai Bosatsu Zendo Holy Days SesshinTeisho by Chigan Roshi: Entangling Vines Case 66: Daibai's Plum PitNote: now live video available for this Teisho.Subscribe:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheZenStudiesSociety?sub_confirmation=1For more information, or to make a donation, please visit:https://zenstudies.org/donate…
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Right Essentials: Great Trust, Great Inquiry, Great Commitment
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 4/6/24 - Awakening From Illusion... Is that what we call the practice of the way? For awakening is not a one-time thing, a one-time event. But a continual awareness that needs to be continually maintained. Such maintenance as we well know may be difficult. It’s what we call practice. What supports do we have in o…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/31/24 - Shugen Roshi presents the Buddha's teaching on the Five Remembrances (impermanence, aging, illness, death, and karma) and invites his students to offer their own experience, thoughts, questions.... How do we act on and connect to these, both inside ourselves and in our relationships?…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/30/24 - From the Koans of the Way of Reality - Xinyang's Sweet Melons - Being on the eve of the funeral of the monastery's beloved gardener, Senior monastic Choke Yukon, Abbot Shugen Roshi presents us, fittingly, with this koan from a collection compiled by the late John Daido Loori the founder of Zen Mountai…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/29/24 - Teisho during the March Fusatsu at ZMM during Spring Ango 2024 - In the context of our practice of the precepts, the 5th grave precept "Proceed Clearly", Shugen Roshi talks about the kleshas - mental states that cloud the mind- and how we can work with them. (We apologize; the first several minutes of…
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 3/28/24 - From "The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women" - Hojin Sensei presents a koan of Lingzhao and her father, falling together. How do we fall with someone? How do we accept somebody’s support? And do we ever know that we are helping?…
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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 3/27/24 - From The Record of the Transmission of the Light, Case 1 - Shakyamuni Buddha - Hogen Sensei reminds us that we are all inherently buddhas and have the ability to realize ourselves in our lifetime.By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZCNYC - 3/24/24 - Shugen Roshi offers a teaching on how we come into contact with and into relationship with the world. How do we meet each other? And what can make this so difficult?By Zen Mountain Monastery
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Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 3/24/24 - Shoan Osho unfurls wide the themes of the Spring Ango -- Right Relationship, Gratitude, Interdependence -- by offering a cornucopia of teachings; from the verses of Mahapajapati, Buddha's aunt who raised him, to the 9th century Chinese master Xuefeng, bringing in her own teachers' words, along with Ross G…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - 3/17/24 - From The True Dharma Eye, Case 148 - Dongshan's 'Teachings of the Insentient" - What does it mean to realize the true nature of mind? If we say that we must "realize it ourselves" then what is it that we can share and communicate with each other? And what's the difference between us and the insentient when …
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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 3/17/24 - Hojin Sensei examines a prevalent feature of our lives: distraction. We call it “monkey mind;” in Sanskrit it’s vikshepa, which means “mental wandering”, being drawn to objects that cause us to lose our ability to remain one-pointedly focused on virtue. She encourages us to be patient with ourselves and…
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Entangling Vines Case 61: The Sail Has Yet To Be Hoisted – Teisho by Chigan Roshi, 2023.11.11
57:35
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2023.11.11 Daibosatsu Zendo Harvest SesshinTeisho by Chigan Roshi:Entangling Vines Case 61: The Sail Has Yet To Be HoistedFor more information, or to make a donation, please visit:https://zenstudies.org/donateSee more teachings and videos on on youtube:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheZenStudiesSociety?sub_confirmation=1…
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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 3/10/24 - From Master Wu-men's Gateless Gate, Case 15 - "Tung-shan's Sixty Blows" - What is there to learn directly from our questions, settling into and being with them, without complicating them, without hastily hunting for, or picking and choosing and clinging to, answers?…
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