Rochester Zen Center Teisho (Zen Talks)

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 #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: 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 #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: 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 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: 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 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 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 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.

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.