Zen Mind

This talk asks what it means to be identified with thoughts, opinions, emotions, personal characteristics, roles, and positions. And then, what it means to dis-identify from those aspects. It explore…

This talk is plucked from the middle of the 6-week Practice Course 'Transforming Habits' which just concluded at the Boulder Zen Center. The talk provides a summary of some of the ground that has bee…

This episode is a conversation with meditation teacher and author Gaylon Ferguson about his new book "Welcoming Beginner's Mind." The conversation touches on the main themes of the book and their imp…

This talk was given in preparation for this year’s Lay Initiation Ceremony (Jukai). It explores the ethical dimension of Zen practice as expressed in the Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts. On the one hand…

This talk was given as part of a One-Day Intensive at Boulder Zen Center's new Mountain Zendo. It takes the following quote from Suzuki Roshi as its jumping-off point: "When you're sitting in the mid…

This talk was given as part of a Weekend Sitting. It explores the question of how we enact practice-enlightenment (Dogen's concept) in our daily activities. It talks about the importance of pace for …

This talk continues to explore bringing attention to how attention functions in our lives. The distinction between focused consciousness (contents of mind) and nonfocused awareness (field of mind) is…

This talk is about habit change from a Buddhist perspective. In one sense, it is a preview of BZC‘s upcoming Practice Course “Transforming Habits” (Oct 4-Nov 9, 2024). However, it also stands on its …

This talk continues the exploration of how to discover and develop a sense of community. It differentiates between intimacy as undividedness with all beings (the spiritual dimension of community) and…

This talk was given as part of a Weekend Sitting at the Boulder Zen Center. It highlights the distinction between the contents of mind and the field of mind and its importance for practice. Dogen enc…

This is a special conversational episode. Christian (Zenki Roshi) is interviewed by Dr. Greg Madison, a British psychologist and psychotherapist. More than usual, Christian connects the concepts and …

This talk explores the experience of loneliness and the practice and views we might want to adopt to foster a sense of community: (1) share space instead of expecting to share beliefs or interests, (…

This episode was first published in February 2022. We are republishing this episode because in it, Zenki Roshi addresses the most common questions asked by beginners and the issue of discomfort somet…

This talk was given as part of the closing ceremony of the 3-month Everyday Zen Practice Period. At the end of retreats and periods of intensified practice, many practitioners wonder how they can car…

This talk concludes the line-by-line commentary on the Genjo Koan. Dogen has given us a clear (and maybe disappointing) vision of practice. We are never done with our practice. It's not like we are p…

This talk is the eighth in the series on Dogen's Genjo Koan. Dogen views realization not as an experience of oneness or a discovery of the ground of being but as an endless and groundless path of eng…

This talk is the second in the series on Dogen's Genjo Koan. It is a close reading of the first four sentences. First, it provides an understanding of dharmas as momentary experiential units. Then it…