Rochester Zen Center Teisho (zen Talks)

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 5 Commentary on the teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck (Part 3). Source: Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck. Edited by Steve Smith. Harper Collins, 1989. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 4 Commentary on the teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck (Part 2). Source: Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck. Edited by Steve Smith. Harper Collins, 1989. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 3 Commentary on the teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck (Part 1). Source: Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck. Edited by Steve Smith. Harper Collins, 1989. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 2 Commentary on the teachings of Zen Master Foyan. Sources: Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Masters and their Teachings (Expanded Edition) by Andy Ferguson. Wisdom Publications, 2011. Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Teachings of Zen Master Foyan appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 1 Commentary on the teachings of Zen Master Yuanwu. Sources: Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Masters and their Teachings (Expanded Edition) by Andy Ferguson. Wisdom Publications, 2011. Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Teachings of Zen Master Yuanwu appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

How to engage your practice in the midst of activity, whether it involves manual work or intellectually-demanding tasks. Resources: Sweeping Changes: Discovering the Joy of Zen in Everyday Tasks by Gary Thorp (Walker Books, 2000).  “The Value of ‘Deep Work’ in an Age of Distraction,” Hidden Brain podcast featuring Cal Newport (July 25, 2017). Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal.  Transcript The post Work Practice appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 2 Reading from Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana. Dharma Talk by Ven. Trueman Taylor.  Automated Transcript The post Working With Obstructions in Our Zazen appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

September 2023 Sesshin, Day 1 Meditation: Why Bother? Developing the Right Attitude. Reading from Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana. Dharma Talk by Ven. Trueman Taylor.  Automated Transcript The post Meditation: Why Bother? appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

From October 1975 Sesshin, Day 1. A commentary on the koan and the teacher- student dynamic. Played on Founder’s Day – August 20, 2023. Teisho by Roshi Philip Kapleau.  Automated Transcript The post Teisho by Roshi Philip Kapleau: Mumonkan #38 “A Buffalo Goes Through a Window” appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 6 Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post Mumonkan #11, “Joshu and Two Hermits” appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 5 A commentary on Zen Essence, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post “Zen Essence” #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 4 A commentary on Zen Essence, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post “Zen Essence” #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 3 A commentary on Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui. (translated by J.C. Cleary). Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post Ta Hui and “Swampland Flowers” #3 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 2 A commentary on Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui. (translated by J.C. Cleary). Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post Ta Hui and “Swampland Flowers” #2 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

July 2023 Sesshin, Day 1 Roshi Kjolhede begins this teisho with biographical highlights of Zen Master Ta Hui, based on Andy Ferguson’s Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Master’s and Their Teachings.   He then continues with a commentary on Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui. (translated by J.C. Cleary). Teisho by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post Ta Hui and “Swampland Flowers” #1 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

When we let go of all the ways we discriminate between self and other, we open up to the suffering of all beings, and to the transformative power of love. Sources: Anthony De Mello, The Way to Love, Image Books, 1995. bell hooks, “Contemplation and Transformation,” Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the... Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Beyond Duality appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Coming to the Path Talk by Bill Lindenfelser.  Automated Transcript The post Coming to the Path Talk by Bill Lindenfelser appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Our eagerness to cut short whatever feels tedious by chasing after distractions and excitement comes to diminish our lives. Teisho by Sensei John Pulleyn.  Automated Transcript The post Boredom appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

Comments about the Center’s Board of Trustees recent decision not to display the Black Lives Matter flag (or other non-Dharma-symbol flags) on the Arnold Park building. Talk by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.  Automated Transcript The post The Black Lives Matter Flag–To Hang Or Not to Hang? appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.

June 2023 Sesshin, Day 6 Commentary on dialogues between Bankei and students (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal.  Automated Transcript The post Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #6 appeared first on Rochester Zen Center.