Best Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot Podcasts (2025)

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Inner Sangha: Healing and Transformation with the Life and Teachings of Larry Ward 47:32

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3h ago47:32

47:32

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Valerie Brown honors the life and legacy of Dr. Larry Ward, a pioneering African-American Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition. Valerie recounts Larry’s journey from his Baptist roots to his work with Thich Nhat Hanh and his creation of the first BIPOC retreat in North America, and shares his teaching on…

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FPP2025 Sesshin Day 6: Returning Home 45:51

23h ago45:51

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On the closing day of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Kathy, Hoshi Senko, and Sensei Monshin offer an integrated reflection on continuing practice beyond the zendo. Sensei Kathy grounds us in the body, reminding us that awareness can arise anywhere—and that mind and mood are contingent, not fixed. She encourages returning to simple act…

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FPP2025 Sesshin Day 5: Effort Without Desire 35:07

24h ago35:07

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In this Day five talk during the Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Monshin weaves together stories of generosity, effort, and hummingbirds to explore “effort without desire”—the natural, uncalculated movement of life giving to life. Beginning with the question of “deserving” in the meal chant, she challenges the logic of worthiness and turns us …

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FPP2025 Sesshin Day 3: The Dragon Singing in a Withered Tree 47:18

24h ago47:18

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On Day three of the Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Hoshi Senko begins with Suzuki Roshi’s simple reminder: “Appreciate your life.” Senko describes sesshin as a means for this, saying sesshin is “a kind of resensitizing to our lives, a coming back into that kind of intimate contact with our lived experience.” Through the quiet repetition of meals, si…

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FPP2025 Sesshin Day 2: Practice – Realization 35:24

1d ago35:24

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In Day two of the Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Kathie Fischer likens sesshin to an artist’s colony where each practitioner’s work unfolds through the act of doing itself. “Each of us is unique,” she says, “and therefore we express ourselves in this practice uniquely,” yet we also “fiercely protect the quiet space and resources we share.” Sh…

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Dogen’s Unconstructedness in Stillness 51:06

7d ago51:06

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk and Day 4 of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Kathie Fischer brings our attention to resonance—the way one vibration awakens or encourages another. Drawing from physics, poetry, and the words of the ancestors, she invites us to hear the dharma not as explanation but the vibration of practice itself. S…

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FPP2025 Sesshin Day 1: Entering Through the True Gate 46:26

8d ago46:26

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In this morning talk on the first full day of the Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Shinzan draws from Dōgen’s Bendōwa (“The Wholehearted Way”) to remind us that zazen itself is the true gate of the Buddha Dharma. With warmth and humor, he encourages practitioners to release striving and self-judgment, saying, “Sesshin is not for making decision…

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Fall Practice Period 2025: Sesshin Opening 42:05

8d ago42:05

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In this opening session of Upaya’s 2025 Fall Pratice Period Sesshin, four teachers—Sensei Kathie Fischer, Sensei Shinzan (joining remotely from San Diego), Sensei Monshin, and Hoshi Senko—welcome participants into the stillness and rhythm of this week-long meditation retreat. They offer encouragement and practical guidance for entering sesshin as a…

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FPP2025: The Ordinary Profundity of the Present Moment (Part 5) 48:30

8d ago48:30

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In this Zazenkai Day Talk during Fall Practice Period, Chris Senko Perez reflects on Dōgen’s Genjō Kōan through his image of sailing far out to sea, where the ocean appears perfectly round. Dōgen comments on this imagery, “When Dharma fills your whole body and mind. You understand that something is missing.” Senko explores this paradox—how true ful…

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FPP2025: Introduction to the Text: Actualizing the Fundamental Point (Part 3) 1:00:05

8d ago1:00:05

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In this Fall Practice Period session, Senseis Kathie, Monshin, and Shinzan, with reflections from Hoshi Senko, open the study of Dogen’s Bendowa and Genjokoan. They invite participants to encounter Dogen not as a distant master to be analyzed but as a living companion in practice. “The zazen of even one person at one moment,” reads Sensei Monshin, …

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FPP2025: Study of The Great Way (Part 2) 39:10

8d ago39:10

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In this Zazenkai Day talk during Upaya’s Fall Practice Period, Sensei Kathie Fischer offers her reflections on the simplicity and depth of Zen practice. She begins by exploring the role of language in […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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FPP2025: Actualizing the Fundamental Point – The Heart of Dogen’s Teachings Opening Session 45:31

8d ago45:31

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Senseis Monshin, Kathie Fischer, and Shinzan, together with Hoshi Senko, open Upaya’s Fall Practice Period by welcoming participants from around the world into a month of deep study of Dogen’s Genjokoan. “To study the way is […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: Embodiment with Guo Gu (Part 13 – October) 1:31:39

10d ago1:31:39

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In this talk from Upaya’s Awareness and Action series, Dr. Guo Gu, founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, explores Embodiment and Engaged Practice—how awakening through the body becomes the ground for compassionate action in […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Finding your place where you are 45:40

14d ago45:40

45:40

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during Fall Practice Period at Upaya, Sensei Monshin explores the meaning of dharma position. Building from Dogen’s Genjokoan, she explains dharma position as an expression of the inseparability of self and […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Monkey Grasping for the Moon 40:24

21d ago40:24

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during the Fall Practice Period, Sensei Shinzan turns to Dōgen’s Genjō Kōan, drawing on the image of a monkey grasping at the moon’s reflection to reveal how our search for […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Way Seeking Mind: Head to Heart 44:17

28d ago44:17

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In this Way-Seeking Mind Dharma Talk, resident Tuck Butsumon Stibich offers a moving reflection on his path from intellectual inquiry to embodied Zen practice. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, in a family grounded in […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: Discernment with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Part 12 – September) 1:39:06

1M ago1:39:06

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In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, Bhikkhu Bodhi offers a penetrating teaching on discernment as the heart of engaged Buddhism in times of crisis. He reflects on his journey from 1960s […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Love and Death 2025: Photos at the Threshold (Part 4) 1:07:04

1M ago1:07:04

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In Part 4 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan invite participants to “bring death into the room” through a mindfulness practice with photographs of people who stepped through the threshold of […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Love and Death 2025: The Sovereignty of Solitude (Part 3B) 48:16

1M ago48:16

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This is the 2nd half of … part 3 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax explore the tension between belonging and accommodation. Through personal stories of illness, recovery, and […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Love and Death 2025: The Sovereignty of Solitude (Part 3A) 50:38

1M ago50:38

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In Part 3 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax explore the tension between belonging and accommodation. Through personal stories of illness, recovery, and care, they show how dignity in receiving […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Love and Death 2025: Four Flavors of Fearless Love (Part 2B) 1:04:13

1M ago1:04:13

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This is the 2nd half of … part two of Upaya’s Love and Death weekend program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski deepened the exploration of how personal love can open into universal compassion. Framed […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Love and Death 2025: Four Flavors of Fearless Love (Part 2A) 48:40

1M ago48:40

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In part two of Upaya’s Love and Death weekend program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski deepened the exploration of how personal love can open into universal compassion. Framed by the bodhisattva path, Roshi Joan recounted […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Love and Death 2025: Opening the Great Gifts: Opening Session (Part 1) 1:03:24

1M ago1:03:24

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In the opening session (part 1) of Love and Death, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski welcomed more than 1,300 participants into a shared inquiry of love and mortality. Framed by Rainer Maria Rilke’s insight that […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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The Ultimate Inspiration: The Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala 49:13

1M ago49:13

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In this intriguing Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Kodo inspires us with the lion’s roar of Queen Srimala. Beginning with reflections on how motivations and intentions consciously and unconsciously impact behavior, Kodo guides […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: Nonviolence with Father John Dear (Part 11 – September) 1:33:05

1M ago1:33:05

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In this timely session of Awareness in Action, Father John Dear confronts the urgency of our times with an echo from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The choice is no longer violence or non-violence… It’s […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Life, Death, and Freedom 53:15

1M ago53:15

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In this unique Wednesday Night Dharma Talk before the upcoming Love and Death program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski engage in an open dialogue on Life, Death, and Freedom. Departing from scripted teachings, the evening unfolds […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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The Grace of Bodhisattvas 44:35

2M ago44:35

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Dainin interweaves personal story, Buddhist teaching, and contemporary challenges to show how the Bodhisattva vow can be lived — and is urgently needed — in our […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: We Were Made for This with Rebecca Solnit (Part 10 – August) 1:38:51

2M ago1:38:51

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In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, writer and activist Rebecca Solnit joins Roshi Joan Halifax to explore how stories shape reality, the nature of human behavior in crisis, and the discipline of hope […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Vimalakirti’s Vulnerability: Through Star to Sky to the Eye of Another 46:01

2M ago46:01

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei James Fushin explores vulnerability as a profound gateway to awakening. Drawing from the Vimalakirti Sutra and physicist Brian Cox’s question—”How do we live a finite, fragile life in […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2) 1:08:22

2M ago1:08:22

1:08:22

In the second part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu guides us into the embodiment of silent illumination. He begins not with theory but with experience: posture, presence, and body. […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: Earth with Terry Tempest Williams & Joan Halifax (Part 9 – August) 1:36:49

2M ago1:36:49

1:36:49

In this session of Awareness in Action, Roshi Joan Halifax and Terry Tempest Williams guide participants to witness the world with care, presence, and courage. Roshi Joan opens with the Zen koan—“A monk asked Joshu, […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: Living Transmission Closing Session (8 of 8) 1:06:08

2M ago1:06:08

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In this closing session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, faculty and participants reflect on how ancient teachings become living transmission through courage, friendship, and practice. Roshi Joan reminds us that discovery emerges not through […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: Eight Awakenings of Great Beings (7 of 8) 1:02:03

2M ago1:02:03

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In the seventh session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Sensei Genzan explores Dogen’s Eight Awakenings of Great Beings (Hachi Dainin Gaku), weaving scholarship with lived experience to reveal how Zen practice addresses the paradoxes of daily […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: The Art of Contextual Teaching (6 of 8) 1:07:52

2M ago1:07:52

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In the sixth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, the faculty engage in a rich exploration of Dogen’s use of language, paradox, and poetry as spiritual communication. Heine highlights how paradox functions as […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: Four Methods of Guidance (5 of 8) 1:03:17

2M ago1:03:17

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In this fifth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Norman and Kathie Fischer explore Dogen’s Four Methods of Guidance (Bodaisatta Shishobo), one of the most accessible and transformative fascicles of the Shobogenzo. Building on reflections about paradox in Zen, […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: True Paradox (4 of 8) 52:50

2M ago52:50

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In this fourth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Sensei Jiryu explores the profound paradox at the heart of Zen practice: the essential teaching of non-separation. He highlights the famous line, “The great way […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: Paradox as a Tool of Awakening (3 of 8) 1:08:13

2M ago1:08:13

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In this third session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, renowned poet, translator, and peace activist Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi presents his analysis of paradox in Dogen’s writings, drawing from his monumental 33-year translation project of […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: Paradox, Parable, and Paradigm (2 of 8) 1:06:14

2M ago1:06:14

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In this second session of the Dogen Seminar, distinguished scholar Dr. Steven Heine explores the profound role of paradox in Zen Buddhism, examining how these seemingly contradictory teachings serve as liberating devices rather […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Dogen Seminar 2025: Meeting Paradox in the Teachings of Zen Master Dogen (Part 1) 1:06:35

2M ago1:06:35

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In this opening session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, program faculty introduce themselves and reflect on themes and paradoxes within Dogen’s teachings they will be sharing over the weekend. Roshi Joan Halifax presented Dogen’s […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Just One Thing 43:00

2M ago43:00

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, resident priest Senko Perez reflects on the common trap of imagining that true practice lies elsewhere—in quieter places, calmer minds, or better circumstances. During a recent solo […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: Equity with Konda Mason (Part 8 – August) 1:34:24

3M ago1:34:24

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In this session of Awareness in Action and speaking from her farm in Alexandria, Louisiana—unexpectedly located at the center of America’s deportation operations—dharma teacher and social justice activist Konda Mason explores the powerful connection […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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We Just Have to Get Quiet Enough 32:24

3M ago32:24

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Monshin explores the ancient Buddhist teaching of Kanno Doko — “responsive communion” or “mystical communion.” Drawing from a Wallace Stevens poem and the writings of Suzuki Roshi, she […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 1) 50:09

3M ago50:09

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In the first part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu explores the deep relationship between silent illumination (or just sitting), and embodiment practice. He traces the historical roots of silent […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Becoming Yourself 40:51

3M ago40:51

40:51

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Jiryu affirms the central practice of Zen is to become truly ourselves. Reading from Suzuki Roshi’s teachings, and sharing quotes from Shohaku Okamura, Katagiri Roshi, and […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Ryokan Dances Dogen 43:39

3M ago43:39

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Genzan offers a unique exploration of true dharma expression – weaving together the teachings of 13th century Zen master Dogen with the poetry and life of […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Way Seeking Mind 49:26

4M ago49:26

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, longtime resident and novice priest Jimon Lorene Flaming tenderly offers her long and winding path to practice in her way-seeking mind talk. Inspired by overseas medical service […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Discovering the Reality of the Five Remembrances 39:13

4M ago39:13

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Dainin shares deeply personal stories of accompanying her father and Roshi Joan through life-threatening medical crises, revealing how the Buddhist Five Remembrances transformed from abstract teachings […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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To Be a Peacemaker 46:40

4M ago46:40

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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Monshin explores what it means to be a peacemaker in our complicated world. Recalling a creative renaming of the 4th of July as “Interdependence Day,” Monshin […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Awareness In Action: Homeboys with Father Gregory Boyle (Part 7 – June) 1:22:45

4M ago1:22:45

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In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, Father Gregory Boyle—Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries—offers a profound reflection on kinship, healing, and radical compassion. Father Boyle brings humor, depth, and […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

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Buddha Meets Buddha: Teacher / No Teacher in Zen 38:27

4M ago38:27

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In this informative Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Zenshin Florence Caplow explores the meaning of “Buddha meets Buddha” in the context of how we might skillfully navigate our relationships with spiritual teachers. Zenshin […]By Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot