Shows
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldConversations in a DreamAre you dreaming? How is your experience, like a dream?In one sense, the words you are reading, the sounds you are hearing, the thoughts racing through your mind and the ones seeming to linger in the background, the worries, and any other emotion that you might be experiencing, including experience itself—all are un-pin-down-able, you can not grasp them, you can not even find a single unchanging sensation that you can call yourself.All appearance is as ephemeral as a dream.In Zen practice we are encouraged to inquire into th...2025-05-0114 min
Zen Community of Oregon Dharma TalksRyonen Scars Her Face: Sacrifice on the Spiritual Path - Amy Kisei, SenseiThis talk was given by Kisei, Sensei during her weekly online program in March of 2025. Spiritual practice involves sacrifice, we must give up all habits of separation to realize true intimacy with what is. In this talk we explore the many dimensions of sacrifice and letting go that occur on the spiritual path.
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2025-04-2940 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldDream as Medicine, Dream as LoveDream as Analogy for RealityThis world is psychoactive. So much so that we don’t even realize how are fundamental beliefs and unquestioned assumptions shape our sense of who we are and what the world is.One of those assumptions is the referent to this simple, and often thought/spoken phrase I am.Its innocuous, we think it constantly. I am hungry, I am tired, I am sad, I am lonely, I am scared, etc.When we say “I am” —this thought or sensation goes unquestioned, and so we build...2025-04-2036 min
Zen Community of Oregon Dharma Talks8 Practices for Times of Crisis - Amy Kisei SenseiThis talk was given by Amy Kisei Sensei in March 2025. "We live in a crazy time, yet the teachings say samsara has always been this way. Here are the 8 practices I turn towards in moments of crisis. " - Amy Kisei
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2025-04-1941 min
Zen Community of Oregon Dharma TalksDasui's Aeonic Fire - Amy Kisei, SenseiThis podcast was given by Amy Kisei Sensei in March of 2025. Exploring Zen's teachings for the end times, this dharma talk reminds us that courage is a practice with heart.
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2025-04-1227 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWhat's Real?What is real? What is true?These questions are fundamental to the spiritual path, to the path of awakening.There is much confusion in our world right now. Blatant lies or mis-truths are being thrown around about immigrants rights, dei, trans and queer people, how the economy works, science, climate change, you name it…The question of what is real in a spiritual sense invites us to look into the basic assumptions we make about the nature of reality. This is relevant in our considerations of the real and the true....2025-04-1139 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldRyonen Scars Her FaceHello Friends,Happy April 1st! Here we are, its Aries Season, it’s Spring, Mercury and Venus have both been retrograde for a while now (which can give a certain feeling of friction or underworld journey to our days), there is much happening in our geo-political world that I (we) wish wasn’t happening. And still the magnolias are blooming, the songbirds are back, tulips are pushing through the mulch in our front yard, the sun is rising earlier and setting later.Aries season reminds us that our life force is resi...2025-04-0140 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWill it be destroyed?Book of Serenity #30: Dasui's Aeonic FireA monk asked Dasui: When the fire at the end of an aeon rages through and the whole universe is destroyed, is this destroyed or not?Dasui said: Destroyed.The monk said: Then it goes along with that?Dasui said: It goes along with that.A monk asked Longji: When the fire ending the aeon rages through and the whole universe is destroyed, is this destroyed or not?Longji said: Not destroyed.The monk said: Why is it...2025-03-2227 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldDharma Practice in times of UncertaintyGreetings friends~As we be together in this political moment, I wanted to offer some of the dharma teachings and practices that I have been leaning into. One of which is sharing poetry, so first a poem.For When People Ask by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerI want a word that meansokay and not okay,more than that: a word that meansdevastated and stunned with joy.I want the word that saysI feel it all all...2025-03-0340 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldPrajna Paramita's Great NO!As we began 2025, I returned to the teachings of the Heart of Great Perfection Wisdom Sutra. In times of chaos, something in me turns toward what is most true. The Heart Sutra is one such text that invites this kind of turning.Moving through the Heart Sutra we arrive at a set of stanzas that read as a series of negations.Therefore, given emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no sight, no sound, no...2025-02-2133 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the Worldcoming home to ourselvesGreetings Friends,I remember when I first entered a space dedicated to dharma practice, after sitting in the zendo that first night my body felt like I was home.Which was strange because the building and atmosphere was so foreign to me, the spicey smell of incense, the monotone chanting, the long black robes that the monks wore, being told to sit still and face a wall. None of these things were reminiscent of any kind of home that I was familiar with and yet, I felt at home.The homecoming wasn’t ab...2025-01-2637 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Hands and Eyes of Great CompassionGreetings Friends,As we begin this new year, I want to spend sometime with the Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra. This chant is one that is chanted across Mahayana Buddhist traditions, within our own Zen school, it is chanted daily in most monasteries and regularly in many practice communities.It’s a pithy teaching that cuts to the heart of our practice. And it starts with the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion (the archetype of compassion) practicing Prajna Paramita (which translates as wisdom beyond wisdom). Right here, in the first line of this ch...2025-01-1935 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldOur Dream of The WorldA monk asked Hongzhi, “What about the ones who have gone?”Hongzhi said, “White clouds rise to the top of the valleys, blue peakslean into the empty sky.”The monk asked, “What about the ones who return?”Hongzhi said, “Heads covered in white hair, they leave the cliffs andvalleys. In the dead of night they descend through the clouds to themarket stalls.”“What about the ones who neither come nor go?”“The stone woman calls them back from their dream of th...2024-12-3130 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Dark Side of EnlightenmentWhen we enter the path of practice, two paths open up simultaneously—first we have the path of what we think we are doing. This is the practice method, the conceptual framework, the spoken vow that we turn towards, that we make effort at, that we can talk about more or less.The other path is the path of what is actually happening. It is darker, more mysterious, often below the level of consciousness, embodied in our soma. This path is before words, before concepts and identification, its a path that is more like an open field, wi...2024-12-2137 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldEight Realizations of Great BeingsAs the calendar year comes to an end, I offer this poem as a re-write of a text that one of my Sanghas has been studying. The text is called The Eight Realizations of Great Beings, one story says it was one of the last teachings given by the Buddha before passing into PariNirvana.I re-wrote the teaching as a way of distilling and remembering the practices we did together during our Autumn Ango. The teaching is about liberation and the profound realization of our interconnected life. I offer it as a capping phrase to this Autumn...2024-12-1528 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldLet's Awaken TogetherWhile sitting under the bodhi tree through the night, Shakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star, was enlightened and said:I, together with the great earth and all sentient beings, simultaneously attain the way.In the Zen tradition today is Bodhi day. The day that we commemorate the Buddha’s awakening and celebrate our buddha nature. Last night, locally, people from the Zen Columbus Sangha, Mud Lotus Sangha and Grove City Zen held a meditation vigil and sat into the dark of the night at the Pragmatic Buddhist Center. It was moving to...2024-12-0834 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldA Sensuous SolidarityWhat do you want?What do you really want?The cyber Monday sales have been flashing items, workshops, experiences that we could possibly want, that we should want, that we somehow need.In one of my Sanghas we are exploring a text called The Eight Realizations of Great Beings. This past week we have been exploring the nature of desire.The invitation to explore is part of what I love about the Zen Buddhist tradition. What is it like to bring a non-judgmental attention to the ordinary...2024-12-0345 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWhat Haunts You?Greetings Friends! In these last few weeks I have been reflecting a lot on the story of Matchig Labdron and the roots of a practice known as Chod, a practice that works directly with fear through generosity. I want to share some of these reflections about fear, generosity and the awakened feminine. I also want to share that Jogen and I are facilitating our next session of Sky+Rose on Sunday Dec. 1. Sky+Rose is an emergent practice community blending soul + spirit work. More information is at the bottom of this post.2024-11-2237 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldFierce HopeIt’s beautiful to be taking refuge together in all the various places we find ourselves.Ah. Here we are. Survivors of the election. Spiritual warriors attempting to live a vow-fueled life. Hearts turned towards love larger then fear. Even if fear is rattling in your gut, or anger is raging strong in your body or numbness has you hiding out.Whatever you are feeling is welcome.Whatever you are feeling is wisdom.Its your body telling you something—That something might be: This isn’t ok. NO! I...2024-11-1527 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldHidden in the ShadowsA couple weeks ago I heard a sound near our back screendoor, as if an animal were wrestling with a large bag of cat food. I assumed my cat Sasha was trying to break into her bag of treats, and noted the sound but didn’t respond right away.A few minutes later, the sound long faded, I went to check on Sasha to see how far she got with trying to claw her way into her treat bag. As I approached the backdoor I did not find Sasha, nor a clawed open bag of treats. Our sc...2024-10-3141 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldRealizing ImpermanenceAs part of Autumn Ango with the Zen Community of Oregon, we are contemplating a text called the Eight Realizations of a Great Being. A text that some sources say is the last teaching that the Buddha gave. We are working with an interpretation by Thich Nhat Hanh edited by Hogen Bays, Roshi.I want to start this reflection with a poem that was read to me by another Zen Teacher, Daniel Terrango during a sesshin he led here in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. I felt fortunate to get to sit sesshin with him, and...2024-10-2041 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Play of Light and ShadowSince leaving the monastery a few years ago, I have become interested in how the ancient Zen teachers talked about the spiritual path. Language about the realizations that compose awakening are nested in the Zen chants that I would chant daily as a monastic, but we were so immersed in the continuous-ness of practice, that rarely would we stop and try to map out the territory. We were living it, who needed the borrowed words of those long dead to put a conceptual overlay onto something so fleeting as experience?My teacher Chozen was fond o...2024-10-1331 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Harmony of Difference and SamenessI am just returning from my first in-person Zen sesshin here in Ohio. It was wonderful to practice the familiar rhythm of a silent, Zen-style meditation retreat so close to the place I currently call home. We practiced as the winds and rain from Hurricane Helene blew through South Western Ohio felling tree branches and power lines on the property of the Jesuit Spiritual Center where we were sitting our retreat. Despite a days long power outage on the property, we continued to practice and deepen into our shared vows and sense of interconnection. Our prayers a...2024-10-0737 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldBeing One and ManyA thousand times at least I asked my Guru to give Nothingness a name. Then I gave up. What name can you give to the source from which all names have sprung? –Lal DedLanguage has a trickster quality. At one moment it limits. We find ourselves hard pressed to find the word that captures a feeling, mind state or emotion. Other times, a single word can invoke so many meanings and associations that we are left with a number of mind tangents or in a conversation with people who have very different images in their hearts....2024-09-1534 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Deeply Secret MindWe are emerging from the monthly return of the moon’s dark face—where from earth’s perspective the sun and moon appear to kiss, an aspect that astrologers refer to as a conjunction. In the Zen tradition, the moon cycles served as markers for the calendar year—with the new and full moons being opportunities for ritual and ceremony around atonement and renewal of vows.In my own life and practice, I have been contemplating the mystery of being, what is often unseen or unacknowledged in the ways we normally move through space and relate to others a...2024-09-0337 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldEncounters with the Golden Haired LionBlue Cliff Record Case 39: The Golden Haired LionA student asked Yunmen, “What is the pure and everlasting body of reality?”Yunmen said, “A fence of flowers and healing herbs.”The student asked, “What’s it like when I reach there?”Yunmen said, “A golden-haired lion!”I am landing back in Ohio after about two weeks visiting my old homes in Oregon, Great Vow Zen Monastery and Portland. I was at Great Vow for a weeklong sesshin that we call Grasses, Trees and the Great Earth—a...2024-08-2734 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWhat Are You Devoted To?For whom do you bathe and make yourself beautiful?The cry of the cuckoo is calling you home;hundreds of flowers fall, yet her voice isn’t stilled;even deep in jumbled mountains, it’s calling clearly. —DongshanOne way of appreciating this experience we call life is to see it through the eyes of devotion. Whether we are conscious of it or not our lives are woven together through simple, ordinary acts of devotion. We are moved by our love, our sense of duty, our responsibilities and our p...2024-07-2825 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWithin there is a JewelOur attention is a precious resource. We use it all the time, and so, might forget what a resource it is. Contemplative traditions throughout the ages recognized the preciousness of attention. And also recognized that if we don’t put in the effort to train our attention, our attention may get hijacked, scattered, frittered away by the thieves of time or thoughts of worry, disappointment, greed and hatred.With the election news blaring right now. It might feel easier then ever for attention to get hijacked in doom-scrolling, anxieties about the future, worries and fear. It...2024-07-1929 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldLooking into the SourceWith this and that I tried to keep the bucket together, and then the bottom fell out.Where the water does not collect, the moon does not dwell.—ChiyonoThis is the awakening poem of Chiyono, a Japanese Zen practitioner in the early 17th Century. The poem comes after a much longer story about this person’s path of practice. In the story, Chiyono has a sincere aspiration to practice the dharma, but isn’t able to spend a lot of time in formal meditation practice because of her work responsibilities.S...2024-07-1135 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldBodhisattva VisionBetween aspiration, practice, enlightenment and nirvana there is not a moment’s gap. Continuous Practice is the Circle of the Way. —Dogen ZenjiIn Dharma practice we are invited to reflect on our view—the beliefs that rest at the root of our hearts and influence how we perceive, make sense of and respond to our lives.For what we think and believe has a deep effect on what we see and perceive. Our thoughts have power. As anyone who has observed or studied conflict may know—so much of the violence in the worl...2024-06-2825 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldEngaged Buddhism: The World WoundThis talk is part of a series of talks exploring the Engaged Buddhist Precepts of Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing. In this talk we explore how to practice with the suffering we encounter in ourselves, others and the world—recognizing that our suffering isn’t separate from the world’s suffering.The concept of the World Wound comes from Joan Halifax Roshi’s book A Fruitful Darkness, quoted below.As the environmental aspects of our alienation from the ground of life become increasingly apparent, the social, physical, mental, and spiritual correlates rise int...2024-05-0141 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldEngaged Buddhism: Turning Towards SufferingIn the Buddhist tradition we are invited to look into the nature of suffering. To do this we have to be willing to turn towards it. While this may seem obvious—we all have habits + behaviors for avoiding what is right in front of us, especially if what is right in front of us is painful, unpleasant or uncomfortable. For even a single-celled organism moves away from a painful stimulus.And yet, what teachers and practitioners throughout the tradition have found is that this moving away, fighting, resisting what is happening actually causes more suffering!To...2024-04-3038 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldAn Engaged BuddhismThe path of Zen meditation is a path grounded in love and the deep realization of our shared being, we often call these two aspects of the path—wisdom and compassion.During this Podcast Episode we meditate on the koan from Yunmen.What is Zen?An Appropriate Response.This question and response runs deep. An appropriate response isn’t something we find once and for all, and then live by it. It is an ongoing, alive inquiry that happens in the very situations of our lives, in our soma, our...2024-04-3033 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldSun Face Buddha; Moon Face BuddhaGreetings!I am sending this Podcast Dharma Talk that I recorded last Monday, after viewing the Total Solar Eclipse. Which was spectacular, really beyond words, eerie, beautiful, humbling, I was struck with a deep sense of awe and gratitude.Below is the written version of the Dharma Talk. The exploration inspired by the eclipse is an active contemplation of the koan, Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha. Sending blessings with this post for your own transformations, and transformation in our world. May we continue to see love and compassion....2024-04-1725 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWithin Darkness it is Most BrightWe are in the midst of eclipse season. And while it happens twice a year, many of us living in the US are living close to the zone of totality or traveling to a place that falls in the zone of totality. During this dharma talk I explore the Zen teachings of the dark/light. Included is exploration of practice of bowing or touching the earth, the Dark Night of the Soul and the Koan: Everyone has their own Light. Here’s an excerpt…Touching the earth, is a practice of humility, grace, rece...2024-04-0728 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldBeing Tamed by Our True NatureI always consider it quite a blessing to have found my way to the Spiritual Path. I didn’t always feel this way. I remember early on in practice wishing that I could just be satisfied with the flow of everyday life—tv, movies, music, entertainment, a regular job. As an 18 year old, I wished that the urgency of my spiritual angst wasn’t so pressing. That I could go back to normal.I’ve heard this sentiment echoed a lot since the beginning of the pandemic. A desire for normal. When is it going to go ba...2024-04-0233 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldCaught by our True NatureWe explore the confusion or doubt that can come in when we habits return after having a taste of awakening. We also talk about how the mind will often try to recreate the peak experience, and how to meet that inclination.The heart of this stage is a deepening of faith, an awakening of devotion for the path and perhaps even beginning to recognize that we can’t fall off the OX, we can’t possibly lose our true nature—for it has been here all along. We are never separate from it!This s...2024-02-1733 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldSeeing Our True NatureGreetings Friends,In the on-going exploration of the Ox-herding pictures, this podcast episode focuses on Kensho—the Japanese Zen Buddhist word for seeing into our true nature, which is the third of the ten ox-herding or bull-herding pictures. The image above is a bull painted in the Lascaux cave in France around 20k years ago. While maybe not as apparent to a modern person, the Ox and bull have a long relationship to human beings and in the history of religion and spirituality.When I first encountered the cave paintings of Lascaux, I wa...2024-02-0737 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldTraces of the SelfThe path of Awakening is sometimes referred to as the Great Unbinding and consists of un-learning our deeply conditioned habits of mind and perception in order to truly meet our Selves as we are—This is a recording from my free online Zen Meditation group that is hosted through the Zen Community of Oregon. All are welcome to join, we meet at 6P ET on Monday nights for a period of meditation followed by a Dharma Talk. We are exploring the 10 Ox-Herding Pictures, which is a metaphor for the path of Awakening. This talk reflects on...2024-02-0432 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWhat is your motivation?This is the first of a series of talks exploring the Ox-herding pictures, a set of teachings on the Zen path of Awakening. This first stage is foundational and is often called The Search, Arousing the Mind of Awakening or Awakening Bodhicitta.Each of the Ox-Herding pictures includes a stanza and a poem. The stanza reads as a teaching to accompany the image. What follows below is an excerpt of this Dharma Talk.The Ox has never really gone astray, so why search for it? Having turned his back on his True-nature, the man cannot...2024-01-2335 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldAwakening the OXI originally started this Substack as a clear way to share my weekly dharma talks. Every Monday at 6P PT / 9P ET I host an online Zen gathering through the Zen Community of Oregon where I am one of the teachers.The gathering begins with two twenty minute periods of meditation, followed by a Dharma Talk.Dharma Talks are ways of connecting to the voice of the ancestors, the path of awakening that has been opened up and walked by real human beings over the course of millennia. Because our habitual minds tend towards confusion...2024-01-0928 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldEveryone Has Their Own LightKOAN:Yun Men imparted some words saying, "Everyone has a light; when you look at it, you don't see it and it's dark and dim. What is everybody's light?" He himself answered on their behalf, "The kitchen pantry and the main gate." He also said, "A good thing isn't as good as nothing.”POEM: Spontaneously shining, bathed in solitary light It is an open secretFlowers fall, the tree has no shadowLook! Who does not see? Seeing, not seeingRide the O...2023-12-2229 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldPrajna Paramita: Mother of the BuddhasThe path of the paramitas leads to the shore of freedom, of liberation / love.OM ! Gate, gate, para gate, parasum gate, bodhi svahaGone, gone, gone beyond, gone to the other shore–Svaha! Oh what a realization!The zen buddhist path is a path of mystery as much as it is a path of awakening, when we speak of awakening, we usually invoke a sense of realization, understanding, wisdom, knowing—enlightenment.The path of mystery invokes the dark, unknowing, the hidden, the secretPrajna Paramita is translated as w...2023-12-1138 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldSave a GhostHow do we practice saving a ghost, when that ghost seems to be everywhere?In the zen buddhist tradition we have the archetype of the hungry ghost—a being who is often depicted as having a large belly and a teeny-tiny throat and a tongue of fire. The hungry ghost is always wanting, yet never, never satisfied.Sound familiar?We all host parts of ourselves that seem to be constantly wanting & never satisfied—often these parts come with shame and perhaps secrecy.During this dharma talk we explore the archetype of the...2023-11-2137 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldDana Paramita: Simple GenerositiesOffer flowers on a distant mountain to all beings —Dogen ZenjiIn this dharma talk we explore the beautiful practice of giving, generosity, on the three levels of experience, Inner, Outer and Secret.The invitation here is to open to the inherent generosity of life itself and explore ways we can cultivate and infuse generosity in our lives and practice.The talk opens with the poem below:simple generosities today I am appreciatingthe simple generositiesthe way things–in the act of beingJus...2023-11-0738 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldRight in the Middle of Our LongingTo follow one’s longing. Or even to listen to one’s longing–can be uncomfortable. It can be deeply inconvenient. Painful to feel this desire, this wanting, this longing for completion, wholeness, to love fully.We sense that to listen to such a longing can be destructive. Yes, mystical longing asks something from us. Sacrifice, surrender, giving up, letting go.We have this word in the Buddhist traditions–renunciation. And it’s an unpopular word. We want to believe we can have our awakening and our netflix, and our 60-hour a week job and our travel...2023-10-2329 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldLiving our VowsIn order to live our vows, or to live from our life purpose we will encounter challenges. During this talk we explore some common inner challenging voices or parts of us that may get activated as we endeavor to live our vows.These voices in voices dialogue parts work are often named the perfectionist, pusher and inner critic.As we conclude this series of talks on vow and purpose—we remember the mystic’s vow. The mystics vow, is a vow of immediacy. Right here–can you see the fulfillment? It invite...2023-10-2028 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldMaking Impossible VowsWe live our visions for ourselves and the world. If we see that world as a hopeless place, inevitably we will treat it as such.The Buddhas and Ancestors remind us, that this very land is the place of awakening, this very body, the body of awakening.This talk is an exploration in connecting with our biggest vision for ourselves and the world. As well as some practical magic for connecting with support from our human and more-than-human allies. This world is mysterious, if we allow ourselves to open to the unseen help available, we...2023-10-1040 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldLife Purpose as KoanThe Dharma empowers us to ask essential questions. This talk is an invitation to question, to really question and to live into these questions. Often when we think about our life purpose, we makes assumptions about ourselves and the world that stem from fixed beliefs or inherited perspectives. For example the dharma invites a very different view of ourselves and the world, then say neo-capitalism does. The dharma invites us to see ourselves as a network of inter-relations, our lives completely intertwined with the lives of the natural world, animals, plants, the great earth and...2023-10-0132 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Unconditioned VowThe question of life purpose is one that comes up throughout our lives. Maybe you are in a life transitionMaybe you started out pursuing one career because family or societal pressure and now want to do something that is more in alignment with your heartMaybe you are in a career change for another more unexpected reasonOr are feeling the heat of the climate crisis and fraying of culture–that you wonder–what can be done? What can I do?To be willing to ask the question What...2023-09-1932 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldWhat is Practice?A common phrase you may hear in Zen meditation groups is: What is your practice? In this talk I explore the thread that runs through all practice forms, as well as clarifying how our different meditation methods (concentration, embodiment, inquiry, loving kindness/compassion and open awareness) fit together. This is an exploration of the spiritual path in both the broad and specific ways it manifests in our lives. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe2023-09-1140 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldPracticing with Fear & AnxietyPart of being human is that we have big emotional responses or have emotional responses. There is nothing wrong with having emotional responses. What often happens is that we are afraid of feeling our emotions. We are afraid of our fear.Parts-work has one way of languaging this that I have found helpful, buddhism has another way which I also feel is helpful.In parts-work language: parts of us got the message when we were young that it wasn’t OK to be afraid, or sad, or needy, or ashamed. So the parts that feel th...2023-08-0232 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldOpening the SkiesSpaciousness/emptiness is considered the Ground of Being or the Mind-ground—the heart of who we are. Here spaciousness is love. But maybe not love in the traditional way that we think of love, which is often conditional. Often our loving has to do with–if you really loved me you would do…or say…or show it in some specific way that we feel like we need, or want, or must have in order to really feel or know love.Spaciousness is love unbounded, completely unconditional–a pure kind of love that is almost i...2023-07-2532 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldUnpacking EmptinessEmptiness is an often misunderstood concept in modern Buddhist practice, partially because it is not really a concept so much as a realization. Yet, without the concept we can’t really prepare for what opens up in this path of practice or we may miss the freedom that is part of this path. To talk about emptiness is of course, not the same as realizing emptiness.In this talk I unpack emptiness as well as exploring how it fits on the paths of practice--exploring the Buddhist path as a path of healing and liberation. Th...2023-07-1835 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Heat of Spiritual LongingExploring the Great Element Fire we are invited into the heat within our bodies. Fire illuminates the heat of our living and connects us to our passions. In this talk we are invited to feel the heat of life within and also to reflect on spiritual longing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe2023-06-2418 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Waters of CompassionIn the Mountains and Waters Sutra, we are invited to study water--to take it up as our body and mind? This level of intimacy is characteristic of the Zen school. Water is alive and life-giving. In Mahayana Buddhism the archetype of Compassion is depicted as the Goddess Kannon, transmuting her tears of grief for the suffering in the world, into Compassion.This Dharma Talk explores the teachings of the waters of compassion. Compassion can meet us in the places that feel unbearable. Compassion can help us open our hearts to our emotional challenges, vulnerabilities and pain. And...2023-06-0735 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldRivers of Experience; Ocean of AwarenessThe Water Element makes up around 65% of the human body. To attend to the element water we are invited to feel the gravity and flow of embodied experience. Contemplative practitioners throughout time use the images of bodies of water: ocean, lake, river -- to point to aspects of our nature. Flowing yet still, wavey and deep -- the invitation is one of all inclusive awareness, where wave and ocean, drop and lake are of one substance.Discover the playful joy and freedom of opening to the dimensions of your being. This is a public...2023-05-2630 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Wisdom of the Earth ElementThe first of a five series exploration into the teachings of the Five Great Elements. In this episode we explore the Great Element Earth through embodiment, presence, contemplations on interconnection and the practice of generosity.If we lose connection to the Earth, our lives are chaotic.—Zenju Earthlyn ManuelHow do you stay embodied? How do you practice presence? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe2023-05-1733 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldPracticing the Profound: Waking up to this Sacred LifeWhat we believe shapes how we perceive. If we think that we are separate from all the rest of life, we live an isolated life--ignoring the everyday magic of the earth, relationships and our human hearts and minds. In this episode we explore how view shapes our life, and what it's like to try on different views. Such as seeing our life as sacred. We also explore the practice of presence as a celebration of our unique beingness, and the freedom and creativity offered in the profound practice of presence. This is a public episode. If...2023-05-1025 min
PODS Entertainment Group6031 Amy Kisei-03 29 23-Spiritual Counselor-JamesListen to the Pods Entertainment Group on Onlineradiobox
https://onlineradiobox.com/search?q=pods+entertainment+group2023-04-0603 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldCount the Stars in the Night Sky: Zen Koans and the ImaginationThe miscellaneous koans of the Zen lineage are image rich, as is much of the teachings on awakening found in the Zen literature. In this talk we will open to the image of the koan Count the Stars in the Night Sky and discover within our own soma the wisdom and power of such a simple phrase.This is an invitation to enter both body and image as a way of utilizing the imagination as part of the awakening process. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other s...2022-03-2230 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldApproaching Emptiness through Koan PracticeOne of the great gifts of the Zen tradition is it's teachings on emptiness. Far from being nihilistic, the teachings and practices of emptiness remind us of the inherent spontaneity and creativity of the universe. This talk explores koan as a technology of awakening, and invites us into koan practice in an engaging way. Time is spent exploring the koan, Everyone Has Their Own Light by Zen Teacher Yunman, from the Blue Cliff Record. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei...2022-03-2126 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldEmptiness, Unknowing and the DarkIn this dharma talk Kisei explore's the phrase from Hongzhi in Silent Illumination:If serenity neglects illumination; murkiness leads to wasted dharma.This life is a play of emptiness and illumination, yin & yang. When the emptiness side (which also can be defined as silence, serenity, darkness, unknowing) gets off balance--what happens to our lives? our practice? our awakening?This talk is a deep exploration of the ins and outs of emptiness. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get a...2022-02-0724 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Qualities of IlluminationIn this talk we explore illumination as an aspect of our awakened nature, sometimes experienced as clarity, brightness, lucidity, alertness. We also look at what happens when illumination is overly emphasized in our spiritual practice and our culture. We are following the teachings of Zen Master Hongzhi from his poem on Silent Illumination, in this stanza he reminds us:If illumination neglects serenity, then aggressiveness appears. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit am...2022-01-2627 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldThe Dharma of FlowWe all have had experiences of being in the flow of life. What is this flow? How do we find it? What do learn from the times that we feel obstructed, and what do we learn from being in the flow?Inspired by Zen Master Hongzhi's poem Silent Illumination, this talk explores the flow of the natural world as well as the research on flow & the flow-state by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.c...2022-01-1828 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldInstructions for Befriending the DarknessInspired by the lines from Dogen Zenji's Being-Time: For the time-being stand on top of the highest peak.For the time-being proceed along the bottom of the deepest ocean. An exploration of the interplay of highs and lows, bright times and darkness. What is the wisdom of the night, and how can we open up to it? How do we practice un-knowing? How do we befriend the dark? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other su...2022-01-1024 min
Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the WorldRecognizing Completion: Celebrating the Fruits of Dharma PracticeIn this Dharma Talk the theme of completion is taken up, from the Zen and Non-dual perspective. How is this moment, this breath, this body, already + always complete?As we enter the New Year our attention can be drawn towards what we need to improve, change, fix, make better.In this talk, we are invited to step back from the inner critic and see the abundant fullness of our lives!What is working well? What do you want to celebrate? This is a public e...2022-01-0719 min