Best Shakyamuni Podcasts (2025)

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Ascending The Mountain Seat 44:20

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3h ago44:20

44:20

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/21/25 - In celebration of Hojin Sensei's formal installation as abbot of Zen Center of New York City and Fire Lotus Temple, Shugen Roshi takes up Master Wu-Men's Gateless Gate Case 22—Mahākāśyapa’s Flagpole—unfolding its historical resonance to illuminate the journey of women in Buddhism and their enduring p…

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Dana Paramita, Bodhisattva Practice 46:32

11d ago46:32

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 12/14/25 - In this season of giving, we naturally think of celebration, connection, and gratitude for the family, friends, and community that sustains us. Dana Paramita invites us to open our awareness and our hearts to those around us who may be struggling, alone, or lacking what we ourselves enjoy. So... thes…

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Path of Enlightenment: Stage 3 – Seeing the Ox 48:50

11d ago48:50

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/14/25 - “In spring the sun in the green willow strands— See its timeless form.” - In this talk Hojin Sensei takes us on the journey of the third stage on the Path of Enlightenment—Seeing the OX. This is where we actually catch a first direct glimpse of our vast, boundless, ungraspable true nature. Why is the O…

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Bodhi Day: The Source of Milk at the Shake Shack 43:06

18d ago43:06

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 12/07/25 - Celebrating Buddha’s Enlightenment, enjoy this talk of Hojin Sensei’s in looking at Buddha’s most important teaching —the story of his own journey to enlightenment. It is worth repeating as an essential guide for our own spiritual journey. In order to do this well we have to learn how to lean in. Rumi …

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Novice Ordination for Shindo Kisch 1:00:01

18d ago1:00:01

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ZMM - 12/07/25 - Shugen Roshi officiates the Novice Monastic Ordination ceremony for Rebecca Shindo Kisch; a joyful occasion - both a home-leaving and a homecoming - that Master Dogen described as "a day for turning cartwheels." Shindo is currently the Monastery's Gardener, and helps coordinate the National Buddhist Prison Sangha. She became a form…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 53 52:19

21d ago52:19

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MahaPariNirvana Part 53. On the Parable of the Moon. Like the Birds parable, here Shakyamuni uses the perception of the Moon from the vantage of humans on the Earth and our various labels and descriptions for waning and waxing phases of the Moon; all the while the Moon simply is and remains unchanged in orbit. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available i…

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Forget Government, Forget Anarchy 41:34

26d ago41:34

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/30/25 - This talk on a koan from an early Chan teacher is taken up by Shugen Roshi to look at the ubiquity of our dualistic habits of mind. Koans work with language to help us see our minds more clearly, to see where we cloud ourselves with judgements and bias and distract ourselves with endless arguments. J…

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Let’s Become Enlightened Together 38:45

26d ago38:45

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 11/30/25 - Into this season of gatherings with family, friends, communities, Hojin Sensei illuminates ways we might practice relationships on this noble path in taking up this koan and Dogen’s guiding practices on embracing the ways as a Bodhisattva. This practice of choosing the larger heart. - From The Hidden L…

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Ordinary Mind is the Way 44:27

1M ago44:27

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Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei - 11/23/25 - How do we know what is ultimately true? In this koan from the Mumonkan, Shoan Sensei delves into the ordinariness of profound truth that is everywhere, its depth and benefits within reach. And yet there is still practice and investigation that must be engaged to feel into the distinction. - From Master Wu-me…

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The Wind That Reaches Everywhere 42:28

1M ago42:28

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/22/25 - This final section of Shugen Roshi’s Genjokoan commentary looks at the dynamic tension between conceptual learning and the experience of insight. Insight brings clarity, but it is practice which allows the space to open, so that wisdom and compassion arise together. When we experience what reaches ev…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 52 48:49

1M ago48:49

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MahaPariNirvana Part 52. On the Parable of the Birds. Shakyamuni Buddha uses the parable of the Mandarin Duck and the duck’s inner insights in the personage of a Fanciful bird named the Kacalindikaka, to illustrate the difference between physical and conjured “realities”.. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spot…

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The Journey We are On 32:13

1M ago32:13

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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/20/25 - The moment when each person decides to step into the unknown, to an authentic life where our karma does not determine our choices, is a turning point. Hogen Sensei picks up the opening line from Genjokoan, ”When all dharmas are Buddhadharma…” as that moment when everything has the great potential to change…

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Faith Verified Extends Our Faith 40:32

1M ago40:32

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/19/25 - Our personal experience is what guides and corrects our steps on a dharma path, and this section of Genjokoan provides this reminder again of the deep conviction that arises only from experience, the verification that truly liberates, within our everyday lives. - Fall 2025 Ango - Genjokoan Series of …

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Shoan Sensei’s Dharma Transmission Vows and a Talk with Shugen Roshi and Shoan Sensei 30:28

1M ago30:28

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei - ZMM - 11/16/25 - After introducing Shoan Sensei, and after Shoan offers her Vows to the sangha, Shugen Roshi begins his discourse with the story of one of our great women ancestors, Moshan Liaoran Daiosho. It is a story pointing to the intimacy of the path itself, and to the question o…

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Maha Pari Nirvana Sutra - Part 51 40:21

1M ago40:21

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MahaPariNirvana Part 51. On the Parable of the Birds. Kashyapa continues to have trouble conceiving of the potential of energies and the expression of that potential as one and the same , but separate only by the deluded mind of identification (Samsara). “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoon…

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Air is Life, Water is Life 41:37

2M ago41:37

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 11/2/25 - Genjokoan presents Dōgen’s perspective that practice and realization are not two separate stages but one seamless activity. This unified, non-dual nature is what every thing in the world moves within, like a bird in the air or a fish in the water. How do we practice being within our human element, the…

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Dharma Encounter: Sustaining What is True 1:10:16

2M ago1:10:16

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/26/25 - Shugen Roshi explores how we and all beings strive to live in harmony with our environment, with our universe. With the capacity to choose, we also have a basic ethical sense of right and wrong arising within, from our true, non-dual nature. Skillful and unskillful actions are made by us continuously…

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Beyond Our View 40:22

2M ago40:22

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/25/25 - When we realize that we may not fully understand something, there is room to learn more. But if we think “I’ve got this,” we stop listening and there is very little room to learn anything. In order to access this profound dharma in a way that is transformative, we have to recognize when it's time to …

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Fusatsu: Encountering Our Own Completeness 35:30

2M ago35:30

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/24/25 - From Master Dogen’s Genjokoan, our environment is not separate from our basic nature, and all creatures move within their element. When we feel separate or create schisms, we are going to suffer until we can bring ourselves to practice in accord with reality as it is. In this talk given during a Rene…

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Come Closer 33:18

2M ago33:18

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Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/22/25 - Our biggest challenges often take form in how we create or perpetuate suffering, and these are likely to be in stark contrast to the peace and groundedness experienced in zazen. In zazen we experience our true nature up close, but it often doesn’t seem to be in alignment with our restless and uneasy mind. …

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LOVE - Part 2 53:41

2M ago53:41

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LOVE - Part 2. With these few terms we can define the Engine of Life, the experience of Buddhahood, and the Samsaric delusion that drives our physical desires. “Earthly desires” used to develop our Enlightenment, as Nichiren would encourage us, to discover the profound Love of Buddhist compassion 24/7. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TL…

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Gaining Enlightenment 44:30

2M ago44:30

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/19/25 - We may aspire to enlightenment, or we may simply have faith in this path that seems to be leading us in a good direction. Enlightenment can seem a far away concept from the daily struggles of being human, but that sense of distance comes from seeking something outside of ourselves. The bright, lumino…

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Atonement: Gate of Creation / Gate of Cessation 30:51

2M ago30:51

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 10/19/25 - Hojin Sensei reminds us of the power of our heart-minds to heal, and shares helpful words from Maezumi Roshi, who noted our important “response-ability” to meet the harm created by ourselves and others. In the atonement practice of Fusatsu, we create a new path forward to open our hearts, be at ease an…

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Patient Forbearance 37:38

2M ago37:38

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 10/18/25 - How do you become ‘rested and ready’ to meet those things you’d rather hurry by, or bring under control and fix? Hojin Sensei reminds us that a simple pause can skillfully hold this tension of opposites, which calls on a deeper intimacy with the self through practice. In this way our actions align with…

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LOVE - Part 1 41:07

2M ago41:07

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LOVE - Part 1. What is “love”? As a Buddhist, how should I understand love? Is love a useful emotion or something else? Is love just lust with some respect? “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoonBy Sylvain Chamberlain

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Tending the Lamp 45:41

2M ago45:41

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/12/25 - Passing this lamp that the Buddha lit, it falls to the next generation to tend that lamp for the next generation, and for generations to come. Building something new, whether a temple or a community as Daido Roshi and others from the Monastery’s early years have done, over time it’s the vow itself th…

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Firewood Does Not Become Ash 42:53

3M ago42:53

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/05/25 - The opportunity our lives offer is simply to live—not in the past, nor the future, but now—and this requires a measure of both faith and appreciation for all that is present, right now. Rather than living in memory and recollection, or in our hopes and fears, Dogen’s Genjokoan emphasizes that the dha…

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Genjokoan Dharma Encounter 1:21:33

3M ago1:21:33

1:21:33

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 9/28/25 - Manifesting absolute reality—awakened reality—in everyday life is Genjokoan. In this lively Dharma Encounter with Hogen Sensei, the awakened reality of everyday life is explored as our fundamental practice. Sensei says “true realization manifests as compassionate action in the world; that’s the bottom line,…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 50 - chapter 13, close 37:36

3M ago37:36

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MahaPariNirvana Part 50. Our effective practice and propagation is a result of great attention to our use of language in transmitting correctly the teachings of Shakyamuni and Nichiren. Is our attitude and intent pure, honest, true? “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoon…

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Not Separate From Yourself 45:20

3M ago45:20

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/27/25 - Zazen is a powerful practice for entering an intimate relationship with ourselves. Without adding anything extra, we have available at all times our true mind, our buddha nature, perfect and complete. But how to work with it skillfully? How to let go of all the suffering we carry, and re-create, momen…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 49 chapter 13 28:19

3M ago28:19

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MahaPariNirvana Part 49. How do we communicate the teachings and our experience of the practice? Is our attitude and intent pure, honest, true? “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoonBy Sylvain Chamberlain

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Fusatsu: Make Fresh 30:33

3M ago30:33

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 9/26/25 - Taking responsibility allows us to make fresh and new karma, to heal what needs to be healed. The vows of atonement or repentance are at the center of this ceremony of Fusatsu. Hojin Sensei explores what the words of our vows in this context mean, and how our intentions can turn the tides of harmful karma…

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To Study The Self, To Forget The Self 41:10

3M ago41:10

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/24/25 - Being devoted to the study of the self which Dogen outlines in Genjokoan is quite different than being self-centered. Rather, it means to take up wholeheartedly the practice of living into our true nature. Making this path real—bringing our understanding out of the realm of concept and abstraction—bec…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 48 - Chapter 12 closing 26:20

3M ago26:20

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How long does it take? How do we know? Shakyamuni breaks down the reality of human mind and practice; the way information is twisted and disseminated with false views; and finally realization. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoonBy Sylvain Chamberlain

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Intimate Understanding 47:21

3M ago47:21

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/21/25 - Awareness is an essential aspect of being alive, and quite essential for doing good actions to bring healing to our troubled world. In Genjokoan, however, Dogen says a buddha doesn’t need to be aware of being a buddha. What does this mean? Is it a lack of awareness, or something else? Our entire world…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 47 - chapter 12 38:20

3M ago38:20

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MahaPariNirvana Part 47. Shakyamuni digs into the difference of potential and the expression of potential. He uses the analogies of butter, milk, cream and ghee to illustrate potential within all beings and the need for a process to express the potential, Buddhahood. That potential already “exists” within the human being, but can only be expressed …

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A Reading of the Genjo Koan 37:30

3M ago37:30

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/14/25 - In this talk, Hojin Sensei offers a full recitation of the Genjo Koan by Zen Master Eihei Dogen—keeping his living relics warm within our hearts. Before beginning, she pauses to recall how Buddhism first flowed through oral tradition, carried mind to mind, committed to memory. She invites us to take up …

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 46 40:02

3M ago40:02

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The three treasures (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) are in fact, one. As the three bodies of Buddha are also but three aspects of the committed invocation of our 9th consciousness and the experience of the Engine of Life through the Tathagata-field. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoon How to use this stu…

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When All Dharmas Are Buddhadharma 47:10

4M ago47:10

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/7/25 - Becoming aware of our sense of self is central to understanding the True Self—the self of no-self. And with practice, we come to realize that the ten thousand things are none other than what we call “self.” In this talk, Shugen Roshi introduces Genjokoan, a fascicle of Dogen, which brings us face to fa…

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Every Day Life and Ancestral Streaming Currents 41:37

4M ago41:37

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Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/7/25 - “Buddhas and ancestors of old were as we, we in the future shall be Buddhas and ancestors.” This quote is from the 13th century Zen master Eihei Dogen in his Bodhisattva Vow to express gratitude for the ancestors continuous guidance in our practice for the benefit of all beings. Hojin Sensei shares this …

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 45 40:21

4M ago40:21

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The three treasures (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) are in fact, one. As the three bodies of Buddha are also but three aspects of the committed invocation of our 9th consciousness and the experience of the Engine of Life. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoon…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 44 - chapter 12 42:00

4M ago42:00

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Chapter 12 takes another straight stab at the differentiation of Tathagata-garbha or Tathagata-field (the potential of) versus the expression of energies as Buddha experience. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoonBy Sylvain Chamberlain

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Fall 2025 Ango Opening Talk – “The Way of Everyday Life: Genjokoan” – Shugen Roshi 50:19

4M ago50:19

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/31/25 - Shugen Roshi introduces the theme of the MRO 90-day Fall Ango 2025 training period, "The Way of Everyday Life: Genjokoan."By Zen Mountain Monastery

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What Limits Your Freedom? 37:12

4M ago37:12

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/30/25 - While many people search outside for the causes of feeling constrained and limited, the radical step toward transformation is to turn the light around. Coming close enough to see clearly our own constraining, deluded thinking—to see the truth in our own delusions— takes great courage and honesty. Befo…

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Turning Words: A Wood Buddha 48:36

4M ago48:36

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/24/25 - What is it to pass through something? Or to not pass through? In koan practice this image is utilized over and over again, and here a buddha made of wood cannot pass through a fire. To pass through or not presents a dilemma, the duality of good or bad, easy or difficult. How does the dharma help us to…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 43 36:52

4M ago36:52

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Chapter 11 takes the Four Inversions and dives into the Saha expression of the Tathagata Field in the experience of the Buddha Mind. That the two are one and not two. And the inversions are the result of misunderstanding the one as two. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoon How to use this study res…

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Turning Words: A Gold Buddha 50:49

4M ago50:49

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/23/25 - The discriminating function of our minds has many benefits, and at the same time we need to reveal how it can become weaponized against ourselves. The furnace of a gold buddha might be seen as the more difficult entanglements of our lives, and yet within these circumstances we are empowered to complet…

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Turning Words: A Mud Buddha 44:19

4M ago44:19

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/20/25 - In the language of koans, we are invited to step right into the embodied experience of the koan, which in this case is a Buddha made of mud which cannot pass through water. Can you immerse your mind in the muck and entanglement of a mud buddha? Is this mind trustworthy? To reveal our minds to ourselve…

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Rejoicing in Virtue 49:37

4M ago49:37

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Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 8/17/25 - Shugen Roshi reminds us that mind is the basis of all conflicted action, and so it is to mind that we direct our aspirations and intentions to bring goodness and ease into the world. Using mind to intentionally bring a joyful, generous state of being forward, as Shantideva’s verses encourage, can shif…

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MahaPariNirvana Sutra - Part 42 32:59

4M ago32:59

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Chapter 10 takes us back to the 4 Noble Truths. Yet, in this talk, these same teachings are given much more developed exploration into the truth of emancipation via the mind’s awakening of the Buddha consciousness. “Buddhism Reference” – Now Available in the TLK Bookstore; www.lulu.com/spotlight/kwoon How to use this study resource : https://www.yo…