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Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin

Roshi Rafe Martin

Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva.Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken

religion & spirituality buddhism

All Episodes

47:25

Zen Failure and Creativity

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/09/26

Recorded 9/26/2026. In this lively, enjoyable teisho, Roshi Martin edits on the fly from the final two short chapters of his book, A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas — “Zen Failure” and “Painting of a Rice Cake: Creative Imagination and the Way of the Bodhisattva.” From “Zen Failure:” “Quantum theory suggests that each moment arises out of a field of endless possibility and has, in turn, endless lines of possibility extending from it. All such possible lines collapse into the one line we call “reali...

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51:48

Are Trees Bodhisattvas?

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/09/12

Recorded September 12, 2026. In this latest teisho (Zen talk) Roshi Martin, reads, comments on, and edits on the fly Chapter 11 —“The Bodhisattva Saves the Realm as the Consciousness of a Tree” from his book, “A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas” (Sumeru, 2023). “You and the tree in your backyard come from a common ancestor. A billion and a half years ago, the two of you parted ways. But even now, after an immense journey in separate directions, that tree and you still share a quarter of your genes.”...

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54:33

Fugen, Tree Bodhisattvas, Creativity and Zen

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/08/08

Recorded on August 8, 2026. This teisho is a potpourri made up of 3 shorter sections from "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas" — namely a folktale of Fugen Bosatsu, a jataka tale of the Buddha in a past life when he was the consciousness of a tree, and a short piece on Zen, Creativity, and imagination all read aloud and commented on by their author, Roshi Rafe Jnan Martin. Tree painting by Rafe Martin Read Roshi Rafe Martin's latest book: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home To...

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54:11

The Buddha Makes a Mistake

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/08/01

Recorded 08/01/2026. What does it mean to be human? Does the form of having two feet, legs, eyes, and ears, a nose, brain, and heart sum it up? If so there are billions of us. But if by “human” we mean someone wise and compassionate, not driven by greed, anger, ignorance, or fear; someone who can be counted on when the going gets rough, then that number may be rather small. What does it take to be or become such a genuinely human, human being? The Buddha in a distant past life was on t...

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53:41

A Dream Within A Dream

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/07/25

Recorded July 25, 2026. Case no. 25, Gateless Barrier: “Yang-shan’s Sermon From the Third Seat” is as follows: Yang-shan dreamed he went to Maitreya’s realm and was led to the third seat. A senior monk struck the stand with a gavel and announced, “Today the monk in the third seat will preach.” Yang-shan rose, struck the stand with the gavel, and said, “The Dharma of the Mahayana is beyond the Four Propositions and transcends the Hundred Negations. Listen, listen.” Why does Master Wu-men, cre...

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34:56

Bodhisattva of Great Compassion

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/07/11

Recorded on July 11, 2026. Asked to write something about the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, Hakuin penned: “Even if the rivers and seas all receded and became dry land,/ Her vow to save all sentient beings still would never cease.” In other words even if the world turns upside down and seas become mountains and mountains seas, (which has actually happened), even if what is beyond imagining occurs, even, then, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion will not fall into thinking only of her self ...

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51:32

The Zen Buddhist Precepts and Living Our Zen

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/06/06

Recorded June 6, 2026. In preparation for the Jukai (receiving the precepts) on 6/20/2026, before leaving for the American Zen Teachers Association gathering, Roshi Martin read and commented on Aitken Roshi’s opening chapter of “The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics” — “The Nature of the Precepts.” Here’s that teisho, as presented at Endless Path Zendo on 6/06/2026. Books -- "The Mind of Clover" by Robert Aitken Photo of Aitken Roshi at Palolo Zen Center, Honolulu, HI.&nbs...

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42:40

Manjusri Fails!

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/05/30

Recorded 5/30/2026. Wu-men’s commentary to Case 42 of The Gateless Barrier, “Manjusri and the Young Woman in Samadhi” says “The comedy Old Shakya puts on the stage here is a great hodgepodge. Just tell me now; Manjusri is the teacher of the Seven Buddhas – why couldn’t he get the young woman out of her samadhi, when the Bodhisattva of Delusive Wisdom, a beginner, could? If you can firmly grasp this point, then for you this busy life of ignorance and discrimination will be the life of the Dra...

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44:34

Meeting Manjusri Bodhisattva of Wisdom Face-to Face

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/05/16

Recorded May 16, 2026. Roshi Rafe Martin reads and comments on Chapter 3 of "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas." “Manjushri’s Threes by Threes” — Case # 35 of the Blue Cliff Record — Manjusri asked Wu Cho, “Where have you just come from?” Wu Cho replied, “The south.” Manjusri said, “ How is southern Buddhism faring?” Wu Cho answered, “The monks of the latter days of the Law have little regard for the precepts.” Manjusri said, “Are there many or few?” Wu Cho said, “Here about 300, there ...

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53:07

Manjusri -- Bodhisattva of Wisdom

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/05/09

Recorded May 9, 2026. Rafe Martin reads and comments on Chapter 2 of "A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas." In Japan, the Buddha sits in the Buddha Hall, but Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, presides over the zendo where he’s often shown seated on a noble and courageous lion -- symbol of our own enlightened Original Nature. Holding a scroll of prajna wisdom or a lotus in one hand and a sword in the other, he may have the shaved head of a monk—showing himself free of all attachments and concerns—...

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63:45

Actualizing Our Gestural Imagination: Telling Stories...

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/05/07

Recorded May 7, 2026 Actualizing Our Gestural Imagination: Telling Stories that Live! A teaching session withaward-winning author and storyteller, Rafe Martin 5/7/2026 Boulder Valley Spell Binders of Boulder, CO. Photo of Rafe Martin, storytelling 1984 -- by Lawson Sachter. Books by Roshi Rafe MartinTalks on YouTubeMore information at endlesspathzen.org

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50:56

Roshi Philip Kapleau Memorial

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/05/02

Recorded May 2, 2026. Twenty-two years ago on March 6th , (it has gone by in the blink of an eye) 2004 my old Zen teacher, Roshi Philip Kapleau ,passed from this life to the next. I had just flown back home to Rochester from where I'd been speaking at a literary conference in Reno, Nevada and was picked up at the airport by an old Dharma friend who told me that Roshi had just died. We drove to where he was still seated in his wheelchair beneath a tree in the backyard of the Zen Center, surrou...

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57:30

Are Bodhisattvas Real?

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/04/25

Recorded April 25, 2026. In this first series of teishos from his book, “A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas,” Roshi Martin explores the nature of Bodhisattvas — the “wisdom beings” so central to the wise and compassionate vision of Mahayana Buddhism, which includes Zen. He also makes it clear that, in Zen tradition, to know who or what bodhisattvas are, we need to know who or what we ourselves truly are. Then again, are bodhisattvas — beings like Manjsuri and Avalokitesvara, Maitreya and Samantbhadra...

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58:13

Impossible Situations: A Buffalo Passes Through the...

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/04/18

Recorded April 18, 2026. Today’s teisho is on "Gateless Barrier" Case 38 — “A Buffalo Passes Through the Window.” Wu-tsu said, “It is like a buffalo that passes through a window. Its head, horns, and four legs all pass through. Why can’t its tail pass through as well?” Hakuin comments: "Hard for even the most clear- sighted Zen monks to crack, A Buffalo Passing Through the Window trips them all up. " In this life we'll all face situations, places, events, times that seem . . . beyond us,...

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34:24

Finding Your Buddha Smile (Final Chapter) - Part 11:...

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/04/11

Recorded April 11, 2026 Hooray! Spring has come. Ice cracks and melts and rivers once again run free. Green grass and buds on trees magically appear. Blue Cliff Record case 36 presents it like this: One day Ch’ang-sha went for a walk in the hills. When he returned to the gate of the monastery the head monk said, “Master, where have you been?” Ch’ang-sha said, “I have come from strolling about in the hills.” The head monk said, “Where did you go?” “First I went pursuing the fragrant grasses, ...

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54:01

The Birth of The Buddha -- What's it all about?

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/04/04

Recorded April 4, 2026. What does the birth of a Buddha really mean? What bearing does it have on our own lives? Is it just ancient history? Is it simply literal — or what? Plus, what are we to make of the rather astonishing legend that, at birth, the newborn baby Buddha raised one hand toward the heavens and pointed the other down to the earth and proclaimed “Above the Heavens, below the heavens, I Alone the Honored One”? What is this getting at? Is myth just a form of untruth? Or is it some...

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40:29

Finding Your Buddha Smile- Part 10: Beautiful...

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/03/28

Recorded 3/28/2026. The greatest journeys find completion in ordinary things. The teacup, the comfortable old slippers, the wool jacket on the hook by the door. To quote Dorothy, there’s no place like home, where we’re so at ease, a glance at a morning star, a late-night chat with a friend, or a walk in the snow can open ... the Timeless. So — Blue Cliff Record case 42, “Layman P’ang’s Beautiful Snowflakes,” in which Layman P’ang takes a walk in the snow and says, “Beautiful snowflakes. They...

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32:58

Finding Your Buddha Smile Part 9 - What is the True Me?

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/03/21

Recorded March 21, 2026. Zen master Wu-tsu used a popular ghost tale, like a popular movie or novel of his time, to explore the intimate question of Identity: “Who am I?” We move through our days like leaves blown about by an un-known wind. But who is it happening to? Who is doing it? Who is the victim? Who’s in the driver’s seat? Shouldn’t we know? What could be more essential—or practical—than being able to say who we are? Who hears sounds with the ears, sees colors with the eyes, eats and ...

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51:42

Finding Your Buddha Smile - Part 8: How Do I Find...

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/03/07

Recorded March 7, 2026. This teisho opens with a brief recounting of the legend of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion and issues of failure, despair, and compassion in our own times. Then Roshi Martin moves on to the essence of Zen — realizing peace of mind. In the koan of “Bodhidharma and Peace of Mind,” (Gateless Barrier #41) Hui-k’o, climbs up to Bodhidharma’s cave on the mountain seeking peace of mind. Bodhidharma doesn’t make it easy, but insists on making it real. “Bring forth your tr...

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40:47

Finding Your Buddha Smile - Part 7: The Highest...

Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin ·

2026/02/28

Recorded February 28, 2026 Wisdom, which helps us make reasonably good life choices, enabling us to live reasonably good lives, can’t be secret or esoteric. It must reside in what is common and ordinary; otherwise, what hope would any of us have of living well? It would be beyond us— special, hidden away, reserved for the few. No. The last word can’t be far off. And, indeed, Zen teachers in ancient China used folk songs, stories, and colloquial language, taking up whatever was handy, to open...

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