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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

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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53:59

Lola recounts the surprising tale of the Sufi mystic...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/11/18

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains how if we are ruled from without, we are slaves. If we are ruled from within, we are still enslaved.Short review of recent sesshin.Lola shares the amusing tale of the teacher's visit to an archery target practice.When you’re always doing, disciplining yourself, there is a conflict. Beyond discipline is stillness.We receive teachings at the level we need them. Consciousness has the body. Not the other way around.Lola recounts the tale of the Sufi mystic who is

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43:32

The Paramitas - 1. Giving 2. Observing precepts 3....

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/11/08

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, suggests you look at your life as a story. Is there anything you would change? Though this life is not perfect, you’re probably reasonably comfortable living on this shore. Change is scary.While many of us are part of a practice group, we really each travel alone on this path. The truth is inside of us. We can’t find it together outside somewhere.For your travel on this path you have provisions. In Buddhism, they are called the Paramitas, or perfections.Giving. This is

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52:40

Pranyaparamita, or “the perfection of transcendental...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/11/02

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explores the possible meanings of several Buddhist and Christian concepts:• Pranyaparamita, or “the perfection of transcendental wisdom.”• Sunyata, or the emptiness that emptiness constitutes ultimate reality. Not adding, but taking away.• Avataṃsaka Sūtra, which comprehensively describes the powers of meditation and emptiness.• Anapanasati - awareness of that before you, of your breath.• Or when Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,

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58:27

The similarities between Hassidic Judaism and...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/10/08

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, discusses the similarities between Hasidic Judaism and Buddhism.Many religions are more emotional. Zen practitioners are often intellectual. The similarities between Hasidic Judaism and Buddhism.Also, the tale of two men who travel during a dark night. Only one has a lantern. When their paths split, the man without the lantern must grope along in the darkness. That is not unlike being in life without the presence of your teaching. You must learn to be a light unto

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51:44

Make the smallest distinction and heaven and earth...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/09/29

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explores the notion of preferences. As the Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen put it: when love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinions for, or against, anything.That is the choice-less reality, true stability. When you make a distinction, you are divided within yourself. The real does not change—only what you

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53:07

A monk asked his teacher, "I am pecking from inside...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/09/23

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains that when most of us listen to a teacher talk, what we hear is determined by our conditioning. When one talks to God in his thoughts, he is not talking to God. To truly practice, one must be wholly sincere and not deceive oneself.A monk came to a Zen Master and asked, ”What if you meet up with someone who is deaf, dumb, and blind?” Also, if the aim of a Zen master is to save innumerable beings, how does one explain the behavior of a hermit master?A monk asked

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52:52

First is learning, called hearing. Then approaching....

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/09/19

During this talk, Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, has a bad cough, which she lightheartedly uses in her discussion about how to hear and how to listen. To listen like a tape recorder, without thinking. Lola walks us through a quick history of philosophical thinking, from the Ionians (Thales thought the basic entity was water) to Pythagoras to Aristotle and beyond. To discipline oneself in learning is called hearing. Once you’re full of learning, you begin what is called approaching. Then beyond both

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51:07

As illusions drop, as attitudes drop, how relaxing it...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/09/12

You are born into pleasure and pain, and eventually emotions develop. Then centuries of conditioning. From your parents, from your culture. How many personalities and faces do you have? All creating contradictions in you. But if you dig down, there is unity—an undivided, centered individual. Most important: do not deceive yourself. Sit. Look into yourself and the truth will reveal itself to you. As illusions drop, as attitudes drop, how relaxing it is to be at ease with yourself. What could be more

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48:52

The depth in saying “I don’t know.” Mystica...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/09/03

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, discusses Mystica Theologica by St Dionysias. He said religious experience can’t be described. Like music: as much as you might name notes, no description is adequate to explain what music really is. So it is with religious experience. Dionysias called it “agnosia” or unknowing. There is a depth in saying “I don’t know.” Even Socrates said the only thing he knows is that he knows nothing. The atheist who says he knows there is no God… does not speak from experience. He

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54:44

Zen masters never tell the truth. July 15, 1985

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/08/26

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, recounts the tale of Zen Master Hogen who studied with Keishin Zenji. Once Keishin Zenji asked him, 'Joza, where do you go?' “Hogen answered, 'I am making pilgrimage aimlessly." Lola also shares the story of the non-believer who falls off a cliff and dangles by a small twig. He begs God to help him. "But I thought you didn’t believe in me,” says God. The non-believer says, “Okay, I do now. Please save me." So God answers, “Okay, let go of the twig and I will save you.”

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59:57

"The mind dwells in the cave of the heart. He who...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/08/15

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explains how you can ask questions about the meaning of life all day long. But who is the questioner? Usually we take the wrong approach to these questions. The questions and the answers are thoughts—or objects. They are not reality. If you have a deluded mind, how are you supposed to use it in meditation? You must set it aside. When silence is present, where are you? When you aren’t thinking, are you a man or a woman? Tall or short?The real question is “What is the

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39:25

The mightiest fighting rooster does not crow about...

Talks by Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee ·

2024/08/13

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, shares the teachings of Lao Tzu. He was not a brave man. Or a coward. Courage does not play a role in the sage. The mightiest fighting rooster does not crow about his might. True confidence does not brag. If you meet a sage on the road, how do you greet him? Meditation is like a coiled spring. You push, push, push it down… then release. Jun 24, 1984

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