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PODCAST

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee

I & A Publishing

This is a series of newly digitized talks by spiritual teacher, Lola McDowell Lee, spanning two decades—from the early Seventies through the Nineties.Lola was a Zen Roshi whose Rinzai lineage included Doctor Henry Platov and renowned Zen master, Shigetsu Sasaki. Lola was a religious scholar as well as an ordained Christian minister.While the talks are focused mainly on Zen and Buddhism, Lola drew on many spiritual traditions—including those of Jesus, Plato, Lao-Tzu, the Hindu Vedas, Meister Eckhart

education self-improvement

All Episodes

60:08

Meditate for one hour daily, and truly concentrate,...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/04/21

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, continues her examination of Lao Tsu’s Tao Te Ching, now in Chapter 17."The great rulers - the people do not notice their existence;The lesser ones - they attach to and praise them; The still lesser ones - they fear them;The still lesser ones - they despise them;For where faith is lacking,It cannot be met by faith.Now how much importance must be attached to words!"- Translated by Ch'u Ta-KaoIn today’s America, Lola’s exploration of Lao Tsu’s words are more relevant than

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56:15

The One-finger Zen of 9th Century Chinese Master...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/04/13

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, goes into considerable detail early and late in the talk about meditation to help prepare students for a sesshin.Lola talks about how the subject and object become one. One sitting.Master Gutei and his One-finger Zen.Lola discusses various teachings involving the monastery’s Tenzo, or cook. And why this is a very advanced position within the system.She recounts the tale of Dogen Zenji and the cook, and why the cook couldn’t continue his conversation with the master and

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52:13

To meditate no action is required—simply a shift in...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/04/06

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, continues a discussion of Lao Tsu’s Tao Te Ching. Today, Chapter 16 (Suzuki translation) By attaining the height of abstraction we gain fulness of rest. All the ten thousand things arise And I see them return. Now they bloom in bloom But each one homeward returneth to its root. Returning to the root means rest. It signifies the return according to destiny. Return according to destiny means the eternal. Knowing the eternal means

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60:30

How do we cross an icy stream? Exploring the Tao Te...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/04/02

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, continues her exploration of the Tao Te Ching. Today, Chapter 15: The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive. The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable. Because it is unfathomable, All we can do is describe their appearance. Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream. Alert, like men aware of danger. Courteous, like visiting guests. Yielding, like ice about to melt. Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.

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54:31

A detailed exploration of Chapter 14 of Lao Tzu’s Tao...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/03/28

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, provides a detailed exploration of Chapter 14 of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, “Praising The Mysterious.” In it Lao Tzu calls Reason the form of the formless. Reason’s clue.But if we can’t touch it or see it, how are we to understand it? Don’t to endow it with qualities. Don’t describe it. It may appear bright, but it is simply reflecting our brightness. But that is only what we perceive. It is, itself, not bright. Our perception is limited. We perceive in twos. But the Tao

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51:42

Lao Tzu on two fundamental types of meditation. May...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/03/23

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, gives a detailed explanation of Lao Tzu’s notion that there are two basic types of meditation one should practice. One of emptiness only, and one of concentration.Sitting with pure, empty mind:The first he described as meditating without desire. Chuang-Tzu called it “just sitting and forgetting” meditation. During this practice, we empty the mind of all impediments and sit with only pure mind. Easier said than done. Most of us sit, and only once in a while do e

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57:58

More Bible parables that can help you practice Zen....

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/03/14

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, who is also an ordained Christian minister, continues her exploration of Christian parables and how they might apply for Zen practitioners.Jesus spoke, in the book of Luke 5:36-39:“And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.”Your life can be life-denying or life-affirming.You can be religious without being part of

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62:27

Bible parables that can help you practice Zen. Dec 9,...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/03/02

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, who is also an ordained Christian minister, discusses parables from the Bible and how they can help Zen practitioners.Understanding Jesus’ parables is like puzzling with Zen koans. We reach a point with the puzzles and allows them, like a diamond cutter, to work on us. And eventually, in a new state, we begin to understand.We are free. Yet we have no freedom. It’s a paradox. The freedom within, unforced, allows us to mature. But we can choose to ignore the within. We

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51:05

Zen is not a belief system. Zen disturbs the dreaming...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/02/25

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains that enlightenment is not a goal. “A goal is like the horizon. You can never reach it.” The immediate is the ultimate. You have to be aware and wake up to this moment. This moment is eternity.Human beings do a lot of unconscious abstracting. Lola explains.The teacher asks, “Do I have a staff or do I not have a staff?” The monk tries to answer in different ways. Finally he is so frustrated he gives up and leaves. He wanders for 12 years and finally returns to

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51:02

When you learn to accept that you are alone, truly...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/02/21

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains that when you sit properly in meditation, your world is gone. You are alone. Absolutely alone. And when you learn to accept this alone, it builds a great strength. Find that alone—and accept it.She asks: you know all about your history, your friends, your work… but do you know you?Without that light within you—that forgotten light—there would be no you. It is the reason you exist. Many of us—at 40, or 50, or 60—hold the same image of God that we developed at

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49:49

Who are you really? Your name is not you. Your photo...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/02/10

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, asks how someone like Hitler could come to power. He was loud, and brash, and gave a secure feeling of strength to those who were insecure.Lola recounts the tale of the Turkish teacher who travels to foreign lands and gathers quite a following. Until some Turks happen onto him and hear the nonsense he speaks. This, she says, is often how we talk to ourselves. We can deceive ourselves for years.She also presents portions of an Ikkyu poem: “The crescent moonBecomes full,

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50:27

We are looking for nothing. Which doesn’t give you...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/02/04

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, reads from renowned Zen teacher, Ikkyu: “If it rain, let it rain; If it rain not, let it not rain; But even should it not rain, You must travel with wet sleeves.”What is religion? It is an inquiry into yourself.The German theologian, Meister Eckhart, once wrote, “There is an agent in the soul, untouched by time. . . God Himself is that agent.Keep looking inside a seed, you’ll find nothing. Because its essence is invisible. It is there, however, that Truth abides.We are

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63:05

Lao Tzu: Existence renders actual. Non-existence...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/01/29

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, relates the tale of the monk who questions Chuang Tzu. He begins:Monk: "Much of what you talk about is that which is not of use to us."Chuang-Tzu: "Most of the earth is no use to you."Yin and Yang. Two archetypical poles of Nature. Male and female.Yin is quiet, intuitive. Yang is strong, creative, active. We must come to know the other to be in balance.We constantly swing between Yin and Yang. Aristotle said that we mostly ignore the middle.What does a house consist of

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42:07

How can Truth be expressed without speaking—and...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/01/20

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, tells of the puzzled monk who visits Master Fuketsu. He asks, "How can Truth be expressed without speaking—and without being silent?"Lao Tzu said, he who speaks does not know. And he who knows does not speak.Then there is the Maha Mudra, or the great gesture.When you hear a word from a master, there is a silence in the word. A portion of the great poem by Sri Aurobindo: The Hour Before The Gods AwakeIt was the hour before the Gods awake. Across the path of the divine

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53:13

Is Zen difficult? Also, an in-depth examination of...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/01/13

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, recounts the story of the family where every member was enlightened. A visitor asked the father, “Is Zen difficult?” The father answered, “Yes, very.” The visitor then asked the son the same question. “No, it’s not difficult at all,” the son said. Then he asked the daughter. She answered, “If you make it difficult, it is difficult. If you make it easy, it is easy.” Actions do not change your being. The periphery does not change the center. The truth is found in the

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53:03

The story of the centipede, convinced by a fox to...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2025/01/07

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, interprets passages of Chuang Tzu, the great Taoist master. The greatest man is nobody. The man of Tao does not cultivate his manner. Nor does he try not to.Our mind moves in one direction—then swings the opposite way. The most difficult thing to do is to keep the mind in the middle. Non-discrimination.Even from waking state to sleeping state, we cross the middle.If there is no motion, then time disappears. Eternity is here and now, not some endless amount of time.Lola

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54:35

Don’t run to—and don’t run away. Aug 7, 1988

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/12/29

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains how nature wants balance. If conditions swing one way, they eventually swing the other way.Human nature is the same. If you strive in one direction about something, then the other direction eventually swings back at you.For example, those who strive to be 100% moral often succumb to immorality. We see this often.As is human nature, we swing in a swirl of thoughts and emotions, crossing the middle, or zero. That is the spot that is great to discover. In each of

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49:42

“In what state of mind should I seek Truth?” Doko...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/12/23

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains how when you first meditate, thoughts of your day may fill your mind. But eventually, you will experience a silence. God isn’t going to talk to you in words. He has no mouth.Junaid, a Sufi Master, seemed an ordinary laborer. And one of his young apprentices often wanted to display his great knowledge of things. Junaid says, “I am not so young as to know so much.”When you know that you do not know, that is when you are most receptive to wisdom.Mencius said that

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49:28

Without a word, without a thought, who are you? Aug...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/12/21

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, tells the story of when Master Hyakujo offered a test to his monks. The winner will be the abbot of the new monastery. He sets out a water jug and says, “Without using its name, what do you call it?”Without a word, without a thought, answer this question: Who are you? Without using a word, show what reality is. You can’t use a word or concept without using your mind. Philosophy is of the mind. Religion is of action. Thoughts are just a small part of you. Between n all

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47:45

Words can’t teach how to practice. Like swimming, we...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/12/06

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, discusses how words can’t teach how to practice or how to wake up. Just like the wheelwright can’t teach how to make a wheel. Too much force and it weakens. Too little and it weakens. But how does he teach that? One has to do it. Like swimming. To learn it you need to do it. Zen practice is the same way. Chuang Tzu, the master of the absurd’s mysterious tale of putting seven holes in Chaos, and then it disappeared.The tale of the talking horse, who was the ghost of a

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