Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

Kaz Tanahashi, a renowned Japanese-American calligrapher and Zen teacher, shares profound insights on Rohatsu, celebrating the Buddha's birth, awakening, and passing. He emphasizes the non-division of all things, illustrating emptiness as the 'zero of divisions.' Kaz and Roshi Joan Halifax discuss the Bodhisattva ideal and how everyday acts can embody compassion. They explore the Avatamsaka Sutra's themes of interconnectedness and how recognizing our oneness can transform ethical practices. The conversation reflects on the urgency of service and the relational nature of our vows.

In this session of Awareness in Action, spiritual teacher, psychologist, and author Tara Brach begins by acknowledging the profound pressures in our society and the importance of building solidarity in these times. She frames her exploration around the question of what it means to “keep choosing love.” Drawing on Father Gregory Boyle’s work with LA gangs, Tara highlights two unwavering principles… Source

This is the 2nd half of the closing session of the Awakened Action series begins with Christiana Figueres joining from Costa Rica, fresh from COP30 in Berlin. She shares her striking observation of “three realities” at the climate conference: the scientific urgency, governmental paralysis, and 50,000 activists accelerating change. Christiana emphasizes the fundamental importance of choice—between… Source

This is the 1st half of the closing session of the Awakened Action series begins with Christiana Figueres joining from Costa Rica, fresh from COP30 in Berlin. She shares her striking observation of “three realities” at the climate conference: the scientific urgency, governmental paralysis, and 50,000 activists accelerating change. Christiana emphasizes the fundamental importance of choice—between… Source

In the sixth session of Awareness in Action, Christiana Figueres discusses Brazil’s Climate Conference, reflecting on our collective anxiety about present conditions and future uncertainties. She emphasizes that “the future is not waiting for us. The future is being shaped right now, every day, in the choices we make.” Drawing on Buddhist teachings of impermanence and interbeing… Source

In the fifth talk of the Awakened Action series, Rebecca Solnit invites participants to name acts of moral beauty—from tribal leaders honoring Japanese American internment survivors to the Rainbow Defense Coalition protecting LGBTQ+ events. Rebecca reflects on falling into depression amid political darkness, emphasizing that the long view of history offers an antidote to despair. Source

In the fourth session of the Awakened Action series, Terry Tempest Williams shares the quiet, touching story she “could never write”—the killing of Harvard Divinity School’s beloved 200-year-old red oak in 2019. Sleeping beside the tree the night before its death, she received its transmission: “My absence will be my presence…this is transformation.” Witnessing its four-hour dismantling while… Source

In part three of the Awakened Action series, Roshi Joan Halifax invites participants to imagine the world in 20 years, revealing how we’re often “living in dread” rather than envisioning liberating possibilities. She distinguishes between liberating imagination—”the capacity to be with what is possible, even inside seeming impossibility, and to respond in an unprescribed way”—and toxic imagination… Source

In this second session of Awakened Action, Valerie Brown explores where we encounter the charnel grounds—a Buddhist metaphor for places where deep suffering is present, including in our own minds. Valerie shares her own charnel ground: the dismantling of civil rights in America and invites participants to name their own charnel grounds within and outside themselves. She weaves together teachings… Source

The opening session of Awakened Action lead by Roshi Joan, Rebecca Solnit, Valerie Brown, and Terry Tempest Williams, participants are invited to explore how futures are shaped through attention, relationship, and imagination. The teachers emphasized that “place is so important,” grounding the gathering in the land, labor, and layered histories that make the present moment possible. Source