Zen Community of Oregon Dharma Talks

This episode explores how we can live from a place of love, even when we don’t feel like we’ve earned it. We talk about the pressure to be perfect, the feeling of not being enough, and how choosing l…

 In this talk Jomon dicusses the practice of metta, Loving-Kindness. She uses the analogy of metta being like the sun. This talk was given as the 4th talk of the 2025 Loving-Kindness Sesshin at Great…

In this talk Hogen continues his talks from Thich Naht Hanh's Art of Living book. In this talk, Hogen explores the Kalama Sutta and Thich Nhat Hanh’s reflections on how to cultivate true faith throug…

In this episode, Jogen explores the nature of karma as our participation in creating the world, moment by moment. Using vivid metaphors like sending postcards to our future selves, he illustrates how…

This is the third talk of the 2025 Metta Sesshin at GVZM.  In this talk, jogen explores the boundless nature of the heart and its deep entanglement with mind, body, and world. Through poetic reflecti…

This is the second talk of the 2025 Metta Sesshin at GVZM. In this talk Jomon discusses love and appreciation. What do these words really mean, and how to they relate to our lives, right here and now…

This talk was given during the 2025 Loving-Kindness Sesshin at GVZM. This is the first talk of the sesshin. In this talk Jogen discusses Loving-Kindness in general and how we can view metta through a…

In this talk Jogen replies to a number of questions from practitioners during the Heart of Wisdom Wednesday night program on June 4 2025. Some questions include: Why is consciousness not the self? Ho…

This is the fifth talk in a series on the Art of Living By Thich Naht Hanh. Hogen dicusses what he calls the physics of reality. He discusses impermanence and how it changes how we relate to our live…

This talk is the fourth talk in a series on Thich Naht Hanh's book The Art of Living. In this talk Hogen continues to discuss chapter 1 of the book. He talks about our assumptions of who we think we …

This talk was given by Bansho during Ancestors Sesshin 2025 on the fourth day. This talk is about "Yunmen's Light" Koan, and many other topics about practicing when deeper in sesshin. He discusses th…

How are we connected to the zen ancestors? To our biological ancestors? This practice is loving, and we are supported by all those who have come before us. This talk was given by Kisei on the last da…

This talk was given by Hogen on May 11 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. This is part three of a talk series on Thich Nhat Hahn's Art of Living Book. This talk is a discussion on the chapter titled…

This talk was the fourth talk of the 2025 Ancestors Sesshi on May 15 2025.. In this talk Kisei discusses the Koan "Yun Men's Light". What is this light that all of us have?

In this talk Bansho discusses the vows of our ancestors and their continuation in our daily lives. This talk was given by Bansho during the 2025 Light of Our Ancestors sesshin at Great Vow Zen Monast…

This talk is about the koan "Zuigan Calls His Own Master". Jogen discusses this koan and its implications and nuances including the mind's tendency to stay in habitual pathways, excuses we use to avo…

This talk was given as the opening talk of 2025 Ancestors Sesshin. In this talk Kisei discusses our practice of sesshin, our relationships to the zen ancestors, and the use of the phrase light in var…

Looking into what is real and exploring the dream-like nature of reality. Are you dreaming? How does this simple question open the heart of compassion? This talk was given by Kisei in April 2025 duri…

In this talk Hogen gives a recap/his version of the introduction of the book The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh. This talk was given by Hogen Roshi on May 4 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple.

We make a lot of assumptions about who we are and what is happening, the practice of regarding all dharmas as dreams awakens possibility, it invites us to question our assumptions and perhaps wake up…