340 - Five Kinds of Appropriate Longing (1 of 2)
Many people think that the aim of Buddhism is let go of any kind of longing. However, without wholesome desires – to awaken, to act ethicall...
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Religion & Spirituality
The Zen Studies Podcast
Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher. She records episodes specifically for podcast listeners on traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history.
Episodes
20 of 351 episodes
339 – Bright Clarity Appears Before You: Insight When You're "Just Sitting"
When we sit Zazen, even if we're working with a koan, we do not actively try to achieve insight. But nonetheless, Chan and Zen masters throu...
338 – Seijo Is Separated from Her Soul: Waking Up from Alienation from Ourselves
There are countless ways in which we can feel inwardly divided or somehow alienated from our true self. Case 35 of the Mumonkan , or Gateles...
337 - Finding the Edge of Your Practice (2 of 2)
To keep your Dharma practice lively, it's important to regularly identify the "edge" of your practice. This is your growth point – the curre...
336 - Finding the Edge of Your Practice (1 of 2)
To keep your Dharma practice lively, it's important to regularly identify the "edge" of your practice. This is your growth point – the curre...
335 – Six Useful Lessons from the Buddhist Teachings on Rebirth (2 of 2)
This is second episode of two on this topic. In the first episode (334), I identified existing episodes of the Zen Studies Podcast on - or r...
334 – Six Useful Lessons from the Buddhist Teachings on Rebirth (1 of 2)
Zen practice is not dependent on rebirth being true or untrue, and I suspect most Dharma teachers would say the same of their lineage tradit...
333 - Buddha Is Like an Old-Growth Tree: Practice as Human Maturation
Sometimes it's difficult to relate to the goal of "awakening" or "enlightenment." Especially if we've gained a hard-won sense of peace with...
332 - My Guidelines for Deepening Your Zen Practice
For many years now, people have been asking me how to deepen their Zen practice. They wonder, "What's next?" Some lay people are perfectly c...
331 - When Confronted with Great Difficulties: Zhaozhou's "Just Right"
How can we practice without ignoring the world, but also without being overwhelmed by it? We can learn something from a koan involving the 9...
330 – Teisho: Awakening Bodhicitta, Seeking Your Heart's Inmost Desire
This is a teisho – like a cross between a Dharma Talk and guided meditation. Teisho are sometimes called "encouragement talks," and they are...
329 - No Buddhist Bible: A Brief Overview of 2500 Years' Worth of Buddhist Texts (2 of 2)
In Part 2 of this episode, I continue giving my "2,500 years' worth of Buddhist texts in a nutshell," an overview of texts in my Zen lineage...
328 – A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Sangha as Community (2 of 2)
In Buddhism, we have three treasures: Buddha, teachers or our own awakened nature; Dharma, the teachings or the truth itself, and Sangha, th...
327 – A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Sangha as Community (1 of 2)
In Buddhism, we have three treasures: Buddha, teachers or our own awakened nature; Dharma, the teachings or the truth itself, and Sangha, th...
326 - No Buddhist Bible: A Brief Overview of 2500 Years' Worth of Buddhist Texts (1 of 2)
You may have discovered there are lots of Buddhist teachings and texts. Jews have their Torah, Christians their Bible, Muslims their Quran,...
325 – Imagine Yourself as a Buddha and Unblock Your Natural Generosity
In Buddhism, we are guided by the ideal of a Buddha, or awakened being. One of the characteristics of a Buddha is unconditional and selfless...
324 - Yunmen's "Every Day Is a Good Day"
In koan #6 from the Blue Cliff Record, Yunmen says, "Every day is a good day." I explore this koan, including the way we sometimes imagine o...
323 – Zazen As Defiant Self-Care
Since the term arose in 1950's, "self-care" has referred to a number of different things. If we consider self-care to be things you do to re...
322 – Q&A: Relationships, Cultural "Zen," No-Self, and Confession
This a Q&A episode based on questions I've received from listeners: Does Zen have anything to say about human relationships? Can we learn an...
321 - How Buddhist is Zen? The Buddha's Teachings Compared to Radical Nondualism
Viewed historically, Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that evolved from the original forms Buddhism that were established in India after t...