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PODCAST

The Zen Studies Podcast

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.

religion & spirituality buddhism

All Episodes

28:54

212 - The Wisdom of Play

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/08/11

When we play wholeheartedly, we engage the world with energy, joy, lightheartedness, and enthusiasm, welcoming challenge and enjoying our activity for its own sake. We rarely have the same attitude toward our work, responsibilities, difficulties, or even our Buddhist practice. What if we did? Chan Master Hongzhi suggests a playful attitude might actually be an enlightened one.

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22:00

211 - Book Review: Kosho Uchiyama's “Opening the Hand...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/07/31

Uchiyama Roshi's Opening the Hand of Thought is a great book for the beginner as well as the advanced practitioner of Zen. Uchiyama manages to balance philosophical discussion of the most challenging Zen topics - the nature of zazen, and awakening to universal self - with a compassionate, down-to-earth, creative (and sometimes humorous) style that makes you think, "I just might get it this time!"

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18:37

210 - Book Review: Kyogen Carlson’s “You Are Still Here”

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/07/21

This book is a treasure in that it collects in one place the essential subjects and themes of Kyogen Carlson’s teaching, which remains faithful to his Soto Zen lineage through Roshi Jiyu Kennett but reflects Kyogen’s ability to express the Dharma in a down-to-earth, inviting, but nonetheless challenging way.

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24:42

209 - Book Review: Issho Fujita's "Polishing a Tile"

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/07/11

In this episode I review Issho Fujita's Polishing a Tile. This is far and away my favorite book on zazen of all time, and it covers other essential aspects of Zen practice as well. This book isn't available as a hard copy, although I wish it was! However, you can access a pdf online in a number of places.

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28:56

208 - Nine Benefits of Practice in Difficult Times

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/06/30

How can practice help us deal with the strong negative emotions we experience in difficult times, such as anger, hatred, fear, or despair? Fortunately, Buddhist practice is a powerful way to decrease our pain, agitation, reactivity, and preoccupation no matter what difficulties we’re facing, whether the challenges are in our personal lives or out in the world. I talk about nine benefits of Buddhist practice that are especially helpful when you’re facing difficult times.

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25:07

207 - Dirt Zendo, Cloud Zendo, One Sangha: Buddhist...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/06/25

In the last episode, I talked about the new phenomenon of a virtual space for practice, including its merits and benefits. In this episode, I talk about the merits of practicing in a "Dirt Zendo" - a physical practice space, in-the-flesh. I then describe, at Bright Way Zen, we are attempting to create a sense of Term Details"> Sangha that connects and includes anyone who practices with us, regardless of whether they participate in-the-flesh, online (in our Cloud Zendo), or both.

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23:20

206 - Dirt Zendo, Cloud Zendo, One Sangha: Buddhist...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/06/07

Since COVID lockdown, Buddhist communities have greatly expanded their online practice opportunities. Virtual spaces are surprisingly effective for practice and building a sense of Sangha. Many Buddhist and Zen centers are now facing the prospect of permanently including options for virtual participation, which brings many opportunities but also many challenges. I discuss how the virtual and physical practice spaces look at my Zen center, and how we structure hybrid meetings. Then I talk about the

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23:55

205 - Motivation for Practice: What Do You Love Most...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/05/28

In order to find motivation for diligent practice, it can help to identify and connect with what you love more than anything else in the whole world. What love makes your life worth living? Love for your children, grandchildren, animals, nature, music, beauty, justice, knowledge? What or who arouses an unconditional sense of affinity and inspiration in the core of your being? Then practice for the subject of your love, because practice makes you better able to access, express, and manifest your

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30:33

204 - Buddha-Nature: What the Heck is It and How Do...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/05/21

This is my second episode on one of the central teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, that all beings have Buddha-Nature (buddhata). I discuss more about what Buddha-Nature is and is not, how we can benefit from this teaching, and in what sense having Buddha-Nature is a good thing even before you awaken to it.

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31:31

203 - Buddha-Nature: What the Heck is It and How Do...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/05/13

One of the central teachings of Mahayana Buddhism is that all beings have Buddha-Nature (buddhata). Awakening to this Buddha-Nature allows one to attain unsurpassed enlightenment, so it is clearly pure, good, and redemptive. But what is Buddha-Nature? Sometimes it is presented as our potential for awakening. Sometimes it is associated with our bodhi-mind – that which causes us to seek the Buddha Way. Not surprisingly, the teaching of buddhata is difficult to grasp. Even so, we can have a sense of

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29:26

202 - Two Truths: Everything is Okay and Everything...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/04/28

Reality has two dimensions. Along the dependent dimension, our world is unequivocally full of greed, hate, delusion, and suffering, and any moral person should feel compelled to do something to make things better. Along the independent dimension, things are just as they are, and when we don’t impose our expectations and preconceived notions on the world, it’s a miracle anything exists at all. The two dimensions do not conflict with one another but are simultaneously true. The challenge is to be

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25:37

201 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 5: Finding...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/04/23

This episode is the fifth and final installment – at least for now – of the story of my spiritual journey. I share a few more of what I call "enlightenments" - pivotal and personal insights I experienced along the path of practice that ultimately helped me find what I was looking for from the beginning.

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26:30

200 – Story of My Spiritual Journey Part 4:...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/04/15

This episode is the story of my spiritual journey, part 4. I start sharing a series of what I’m calling “enlightenments” I experienced over the course of the first ten years or so of my monastic training. These “enlightenments” were transformational insights that allowed me, slowly but surely, to find the happiness and peace of mind I was searching for.

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26:03

199 - Is My Practice Languishing? If So, What Can I...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/03/30

It’s not unusual for our practice to languish at times. “Languish” means to be or become weak or feeble, to lose vigor or vitality, to be subjected to neglect or prolonged inactivity. How do we recognize when our practice is languishing and revitalize it, without falling into the dualistic trap of striving? How do we avoid the trap of striving without then falling into the opposite trap of complacency?

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41:52

198 - Renunciation as an Act of Love

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/03/22

Buddhism is a path of renunciation. Many people assume this means we aim to separate ourselves from the things and beings of the world and work ourselves into a state where we no longer care about them – at least not to the point where it might hurt or upset us. Fortunately, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Renunciation leaves us much more capable of sincere and open-handed love.

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27:27

197 – Neither Avoidance nor Identification: Being...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/03/11

Sometimes there is no avoiding painful situations, whether the difficulty is arising in our own life or from witnessing suffering in the world around us. How can we respond to troubling conditions with generosity and compassion, but also without being overwhelmed? I discuss the Zen approach of being with the reality of situations – neither avoiding the pain, nor identifying with it.

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28:55

196 - Death and the Emptiness of Self: What's the...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/02/27

Do we think there's life after death in Soto Zen? I discuss the Soto Zen perspective on consciousness and whether some kind of consciousness continues after our physical death, and where we find meaning if the self is empty of any inherent essence.

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31:31

195 - Hongzhi’s “Wander into the Center of the Circle...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/02/21

In this episode I explore a teaching from 12th-century Chan master Hongzhi, in which he instructs us to “wander into the center of the circle of wonder.” I propose that the whole of the Dharma can be found by exploring the nature of wonder, and what it is that obstructs wonder.

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40:43

194 - Pain in Meditation 2: Adjustments to Posture...

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/02/15

This is episode 2 in my discussion of physical discomfort in seated meditation. I discuss how to do it with a minimum of discomfort, including tips on spinal position and different kinds of meditation equipment. I try to call attention to specific practices that lead to discomfort or pain, and what the alternatives are. Because it’s rare to be able to meditate entirely without pain, I talk about when to tolerate pain, and when to adjust your meditation posture instead. Finally, I’ll share some

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26:30

193 - Pain in Meditation 1: Why the Seated Posture?

The Zen Studies Podcast ·

2022/01/28

Most meditators experience some physical discomfort during seated meditation, ranging from restlessness to severe pain. In this episode I talk about why the seated meditation posture is so important, despite its tendency to cause some measure of discomfort. I also discuss the idea that mind and body are not separate, and in what way our discomfort always has both a physical and a psychological component. In the next episode I'll cover ways to address discomfort physically.

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340 results

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