The SFZC Audio Archive

Serial: SF-10925 A history of Sejiki Cermony, feeding of the hungry ghost. An open-hearted wish to welcome all beings without discrimination. 10/30/2021, Doshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. The talk explores the Sejiki ceremony, its history, and its significance, focusing on its roots in the Ulambana Sutra. It highlights the ritual's emphasis on compassion, the transformation of suffering, and the engagement with...

Serial: SF-10998 Continuing the conversation on the harmony of absolute and relative truths, this talks suggests that we zazen is a good place to focus on the inconceivable reality, to discover, as Suzuki Roshi says, "who we are and what things... The talk explores the interplay between absolute and relative truths within Zen practice, employing the metaphor of riding on a sea turtle over an ocean to illustrate the harmony between the two. The discussion emphasizes the...

Serial: SF-11013 Abbot David shares some approaches for how we might view karma in relation to the concepts of choice, free will, and determinism from a Buddhist orientation. 10/20/2021, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. The talk explores the concepts of karma, free will, and determinism from a Buddhist perspective, contrasting them with Western philosophical ideas. It emphasizes the Buddha's teachings on karma, which include volition, body,...

Serial: SF-10907 A Dharma talk exploring the themes of karma, love, power and control and the Dharma practices of non-attaching or letting go. 10/16/2021, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. The talk addresses the concepts of love and power through the lens of letting go of control, exploring how these themes are embedded in Zen practice and understanding of karma and dharma. It discusses the difference between...

Serial: SF-10897 10/12/2021, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at Tassajara. The talk explores the concept of radical honesty in Zen practice and the balance with compassion. It delves into how admitting personal truths and vulnerabilities, exemplified by an anecdote involving Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi,...

Serial: SF-10938 What are reactivity and responsiveness? How do they work in terms of inner process, impact and relational practice? 10/10/2021, Korin Charlie Pokorny, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The main thesis of this talk addresses the contrast between reactivity and responsiveness from a Zen practice perspective, emphasizing the importance of cultivating responsiveness to achieve healing and liberation from...

Serial: SF-11145 10/09/2021, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at Tassajara. The talk explores the practice of zazen during Shashin, focusing on the nature of effort, intention, and awareness in meditation. The central thesis emphasizes that zazen involves an all-inclusive and non-goal-oriented engagement...

Serial: SF-11100 Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun Cutts reflects on a familiar yet upside-down way of understanding the practice of the precepts, and explores the teaching of Kanno Doko, Calling and Responding. 10/03/2021, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma... The talk explores the concept of Zen precepts, emphasizing their inherent connection to one's true nature rather than being external rules to follow for moral development. It challenges the traditional perspective that moral and...

Serial: SF-11069 In the talk, Abbot Ed Sattizahn uses the "Every Day is a Good Day" koan, and Suzuki's Roshi's teaching, to explore how it may be genuinely beneficial, to ourselves and others, to appreciate our life beyond the "good" and "bad" of... The talk centers on the theme of appreciating life and Zen practice amidst difficulties. It explores the non-dual nature of experiences, emphasizing daily practice as a means to appreciate life fully. A major focus is placed on...

Serial: SF-10978 A talk about our Zen’s Chinese ancestors based in Suzuki Roshi’s teaching on Sekito Kisen’s Harmony of Difference and Equality. 09/19/2021, Furyu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The talk explores the theme of "great doubt" in Zen practice, emphasizing its role as a catalyst for awakening and deepening understanding of the self and the world. Drawing on teachings from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Sekito Gisen...

Serial: SF-10940 The buddhas and Zen ancestors encourage us to become lucid dreamers - realizing that we are dreaming while remaining within the dream, where subject and object appear as separate but are really just manifestations of one mind. 09... The talk examines the dream metaphor in Buddhist and Zen teachings, focusing on Dogen's essay "Within a Dream, Expressing the Dream." It explores the concept that all experiences are akin to dreams, as discussed in the...

Serial: SF-10989 In this talk Eijun Roshi reflects on the path of relieving our suffering, highlighting the importance of being in relationship with everything in our life—from people to the smallest detail—and on the basic interconnection of... The talk explores how to skillfully navigate desires and suffering in challenging times, emphasizing the practice of generosity and wise utilization of resources as guided by the vows of the Medicine Buddha. It also discusses...

Serial: SF-10985 Teachings and practices connecting our fundamental and profound practices of gratitude and generosity. 08/29/2021, Zenshin Greg Fain, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The talk focuses on the themes of generosity and gratitude as essential components of the Bodhisattva path in Mahayana Buddhism. The discussion emphasizes the practice of the six paramitas, with particular attention to "dana" or...

Serial: SF-10900 Once when a student straightened a hanging picture in the temple, Suzuki Roshi went and made it crooked again - why did he do that, and what does this story show about our "fixing" mind versus Suzuki Roshi's path of "seeings... The talk primarily discusses the theme of "fixing" versus "letting things be", inspired by a story involving Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Richard Baker at Sokoji Temple. The narrative exemplifies a Zen principle focusing on...

Serial: SF-10980 Studying our attachment to our biography as a resource for our self undersanding and transformation. And the joy of renunciation and exploring the edges of freedom. 08/18/2021, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. The talk explores the complex interplay between renunciation and freedom within Buddhist practice, emphasizing how attachment to one's identity and biography can be both a resource for understanding and a barrier leading to...

Serial: SF-11082 If we hurry the important and urgent nature of studying the self we are likely to miss "this" - the entire truth of who we are. 08/14/2021, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. The talk explores the notion of Zen practice as both urgent and important, while stressing the significance of doing it correctly without haste. This is contextualized within the framework of the "four turnings of the Dharma...

Serial: SF-10959 In this talk, Abbot David weaves together personal stories regarding “seeing” with teachings by Vasubandhu, Shakyamuni Buddha, and Suzuki Roshi in an exploration of the nature of perception.The radical proposition at the heart of... The talk explores the concept of perception in Zen Buddhism, emphasizing how it shapes personal experience and the nature of suffering and happiness. It discusses the impact of karmic consciousness on perception and advocates for...

Serial: SF-10906 In this time of worldwide sickness, the teaching of Vimalakirti—the bodhisattva who manifests illness for the sake of teaching sentient beings— is brought up. Linda also offers a Jataka Tale about a baby quail to illustrate non-... The talk centers on the Vimalakirti Sutra and explores themes of illness, dualism, and compassion, using the Jataka tale of "The Baby Quail Who Could Not Fly Away" as an allegory for understanding truth, wholesomeness, and...

Serial: SF-11051 This Sunday Dharma talk was a special offering by Green Gulch Abbess Fu Schroeder and Rev. angel Kyodo williams, in conversation about the suffering caused by racism, and how our Buddhist communities can begin the work of healing... The talk at Green Gulch Farm addresses the intersection of Zen practice and racial conditioning, emphasizing how racial dynamics are deeply embedded within social and spiritual communities. It explores the concept of Radical...

Serial: SF-10919 In this talk, Sr. Dharma Teacher, Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts, brings forth the spirit of the Mahayana Buddhist Vimalakirti Sutra and the second turning of the wheel teachings. She suggests that the reconciliation of the truth of... The talk focuses on the exploration of the Vimalakirti Sutra as a pivotal component of the Mahayana tradition, known as the second turning of the wheel. Emphasis is placed on understanding themes of emptiness and interdependence...

Serial: SF-10979 Turning the light of attention in order to contact our true nature through an exploration of the practice instructions of Dogen Zenji's Fukanzazengi. 07/21/2021, Zesho Susan O’Connell, dharma talk at City Center. This talk centers on the theme of balance within Zen practice as a response to the pandemic, and explores the teachings of Dogen, specifically the "Fukanzazengi," to deepen one's understanding of the Dharma. The speaker...

Serial: SF-11036 By practicing zazen again and again we create space to receive stillness right in the midst of our many stories and imaginations about the world, and in this way begin to see a path to live our life as a blessing for this world... The talk examines the intersection of stillness and the power of uncertainty within Zen practice, highlighting the keystone role of Zazen and the impermanence of thoughts and stories. It emphasizes returning to stillness amidst...

Serial: SF-11147 This talk centers on the two truths about our one world…the human world and Buddha’s world…with 5 easy steps on how to bring those worlds together again. 07/11/2021, Fu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The talk discusses Zen practices and teachings focusing on simplicity, presence, and community responsibility. It highlights five steps for improving the world, emphasizing sitting in meditation, identifying one's purpose,...

Serial: SF-11113 What is it to take up the call of a Bodhisattva? This question is explored in this Dharma talk with Ashanti Branch of the Everforward Club and City Center Tanto, Nancy Petrin, exploring Ashanti's decision leave a successful job... The talk explores the intersection of Zen practice and the personal journey of facilitating emotional and educational support for young men, focusing on Ashanti Branch's work with the Ever Forward Club and the Million Mask...