Episodes

Nov 16

11/16/2025, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho teaches that sometimes it is necessary to be for or against but there is a broader context in which this is not always necessary.

Nov 2

11/02/2025, Gyokuden Stephanie Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Gyokuden Steph Blank honors the effort and awakening of our ancestors and calls on us—the living—to rise up in support of Decency, Dignity and Awakening.

Nov 1

11/01/2025, Zenshin Florence Caplow, dharma talk at City Center. Zenshin Florence Caplow offers stories and teachings from her life as both a Zen practitioner and person with chronic illness, and readings from her new book, “Tend to Your Spirit: Mindful Living With Chronic Illness.”

Oct 26

10/26/2025, Sessei Meg Levie, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Sessei Meg Levie reflects on Suzuki Roshi’s dedication to zazen, his work with early students in San Francisco, and the creation of the San Francisco Zen Center.

Oct 25

10/25/2025, Dainin Marsha Angus, dharma talk at City Center. Dainin Marsha Angus teaches about cultivating and mental and physical capacity to settle into stillness.

Oct 19

10/19/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler reflects on the “Finding Yourself” chapter of “Becoming Yourself,” in which Suzuki Roshi teaches that finding real freedom is not about overcoming the limitations of our life, but rather embracing them: “To find true joy under some limitation is the way to realize the whole universe."

Oct 18

10/18/2025, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at City Center. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho teaches that when we remain in the mode of discovery we open to new portals to engage and activate in tending to today’s suffering.

Oct 12

10/12/2025, Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson uses the image of bubbles and the teaching of the Three Marks of Existence to explore how Zen practice helps us meet impermanence, suffering, and no-self in the body, not through ideas, but through presence.

Oct 11

10/11/2025, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin teaches that we can deepen our understanding of the causes and cures of dispute, and practice with a unifying value of kindness that has the power to transform our conflicts to occasions for mutual curiosity, intimacy, and growth.

Oct 5

10/05/2025, Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Tatsudo Nicole Baden explores how Zen practice literally shifts the architecture of our experience — from a narrow, biographical “here” into a living, embodied field of contact.

Sep 27

09/27/2025, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at City Center. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth teaches that zazen shows us what to care for, and leads the way in our request to study the precepts with a teacher. In this caring we become a good friend to our practice.

Sep 21

09/21/2025, Hoka Chris Fortin, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Hoka Chris Fortin asks: How do we—individually and as one—not turn away but bear witness, and respond to the suffering of the world with clear-hearted wisdom and compassion as we awaken together to our True Nature and shared humanity.

Sep 20

09/20/2025, Tenmyo Dojima 堂島典明, dharma talk at City Center. Tenmyo Dojima 堂島典明 shares how her early struggles with depression led her to rediscover Buddhism in the U.S., begin monastic training in Japan, and continue the joy of walking the Buddha Way—together with others, rooted in connection.

Sep 18

09/17/2025, Kim Kogen Daiho Hart, dharma talk at City Center. Kim Kōgen Daihō Hart explores her personal journey through anxiety to the realization that it is our own, all too real human struggles that light the path to liberation.

Sep 14

09/14/2025, Sokaku Kathie Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Sokaku Kathie Fischer examines the Xin Xin Ming (Faith in Mind, or Trusting the Mind), a text by the third Chinese Chan (Zen) ancestor, Jianzhi Sengcan.

Sep 11

09/10/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Dan Gudgel discusses gratitude and devotional practices, using his personal altars as examples, and reading “The Angel Handed Me a Book” by Paul Valéry.

Sep 7

09/07/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Sozan Michael McCord considers the deeper purpose of monasteries—not only as places of study and community, but as spaces that preserve and sustain collective practice, creating lasting impact beyond the moment of gathering.

Sep 6

09/06/2025, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin points out that most of us are trying to find stability in less-than-perfect places, times, and conditions. How do we build an external and internal environment that supports us to meditate in peace?

Aug 31

08/31/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler discusses practicing kindness as an overflowing of the direct experience of non-separation, and explores the teachings of Suzuki Roshi on ethical precepts by analyzing each word in a questionable statement that he heard: "You should be kind, and that's enough."

Aug 30

08/06/2025, Kristin Diggs, dharma talk at City Center. Nyokai Kristin Diggs talks about the centrality of self-study in the context of Soto Zen, the interdependent nature of body-mind-self and all phenomena, and wise view within the context of Big Mind, which includes the whole universe.

Aug 28

08/27/2025, So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center. So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson explores what it means to be a good ancestor now: carrying warmth, witnessing others into fullness, and tending the ceremonies of life with reverence.

Aug 24

08/24/2025, Marc Lesser, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Marc Lesser points out that “And yet” is a way of seeing differently, with greater confidence and greater humility. “And yet” could be how we describe history, our lives, and our futures.

Aug 23

08/23/2025, Myles Cowherd, dharma talk at City Center. Myles Cowherd explores the transformative power of sincerity and acceptance as a counterpoint to a life of seriousness and fear.

Aug 21

08/20/2025, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin teaches that when we train our posture and breathing in a manner that helps us sit at night, aided by traditional images and teachings, we can hold the dreamy parts of experience in stillness and understanding.

Aug 17

08/17/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Doshin Dan Gudgel explores how feeling the preciousness of life can support deep practice, kindness and gentleness.

Aug 16

08/16/2025, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman unpacks what it might mean to become yourself through the simple but challenging practice of shikantaza (just sitting), referencing Suzuki Roshi’s teachings and two Zen koans.

Aug 14

08/13/2025, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith examines case 96 from the Blue Cliff Record which holds suggestions about how to frame one’s practice and warnings about the many ways we can get it wrong.

Aug 10

08/10/2025, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho discusses the reality that a human body will turn to dust and yet it is the body in which we carry the dharma and come to know it. As Dogen Zenji, founder of Soto Zen, taught, "To expound the dharma with this body is foremost."

Aug 9

08/09/2025, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center. Shundo David Haye reflects on the way we hold stories about ourselves and others, and how our practice of dwelling in silence can help us change our relationship with them.

Aug 7

08/06/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord discusses working with and growing in our awareness of how the three poisons—greed, hatred and delusion—manifest in our lives, on this 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

Aug 3

08/03/ 2025, Sessei Meg Levie, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Sessei Meg Levie offers the teaching of the Four Elements and how seeing Dharma in nature can help us open our hearts to all beings.

Jul 27

07/27/2025, Zenshin Greg Fain, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenshin Greg Fain talks about gratitude and grief in the context of Thusness. Gratitude and grief can both be dharma gates to bring us closer to a felt sense of connection with each other, and all of existence.

Jul 24

07/23/2025, Yogetsu Akasaka, dharma talk at City Center. Yogetsu Akasaka, a priest from the Sōtō Zen School in Japan, asks What if cleaning a bathroom could be one of your most profound spiritual practices?

Jul 20

07/20/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler reflects on recent departures from Green Gulch of the elder teachers of the founding generation, and how at the same time as that loss, a new flower of teaching blossoms as "Becoming Yourself," the new book of Suzuki Roshi's talks, is released.

Jul 19

07/19/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at City Center. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler celebrates together with the sangha the launch of the first new book of Suzuki Roshi's teachings in over 20 years, "Becoming Yourself," sharing about its fundamental teachings and how it came about.

Jul 17

07/26/2025, Henzan Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. Roger Hillyard offers a look into the origins of Lay Entrustment and how it has manifested in American Zen.

Jul 13

07/13/2025, Gengyoko Tim Wicks, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Gengyoko Tim Wicks explores cultivating joyful energy in times of crisis, with reference to Eihei Dogen Zenji and the Dhammapada.

Jul 13

07/12/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at Tassajara. The world has so many issues that need people's time and attention yet we squester ourselves for days or weeks on end at Tassajara. While it may seem indulgent or even escapist to retreat to practice in the wilderness, it is surviving vital purpose for these times.

Jul 12

07/12/2025, Kiku Christina Lehnherr, dharma talk at City Center. Kiku Christina Lehnherr explores the dharma of living and practicing in a human body.

Jul 6

07/06/2025, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zoketsu Norman Fischer discusses a forthcoming book by the Japanese Zen Master Kosho Uchiyama about his experience practicing chanting the name of Kanzeon Bodhisattva.

Jul 5

07/05/2025, Mark Lesser, dharma talk at City Center. Marc Lesser discusses a teaching from Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh: Breathing, smiling and living are three ways to practice.

Jul 3

07/02/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Dan Gudgel explores the image of Indra’s Net and how it relates to life in this complicated, messy modern world.

Jun 29

06/29/2025, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Kokyo Henkel explores what is really transmitted from teacher to student, and some classic Zen stories about Dharma transmission.

Jun 29

This talk was given at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Zenshinji) by Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道. Lucy reflects on different aspects of harmony. Recorded on June 28, 2025.

Jun 22

06/22/2025, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. As senior dharma teacher Linda Ruth Cutts prepares to move from Green Gulch and SFZC residency after 54 years she brings up the practice of being upright in the midst of great change.

Jun 22

06/21/2025, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at Tassajara.

Jun 21

06/21/2025, Esho Sudan, dharma talk at City Center. Esho Sudan explores the life-story and great legacy of Sozen Nagasawa Roshi, a Soto Zen abbess and teacher, founder of the only women's training monastery in WW2-era Japan.

Jun 19

06/18/2025, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. Jisan Tova Green shares how Zen practice has influenced her long engagement with peace and justice issues, and draws from the words and actions of three of her mentors, Joanna Macy, Maylie Scott, and Alan Senauke.

Jun 15

06/15/2025, Gyokuden Stephanie Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Gyokuden Steph Blank shares her experience of grief and gratitude arising through the intimate process of accompanying her father during his recent transition from the miracle of life into the miracle of death.

Jun 14

06/14/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the final section of the Eihei Koso Hotsuganmon by Dogen Zenji.