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May 21, 2023

Taking the Precepts: An Introduction

How do we embody the Precepts in our everyday lives? An overview of morality in Zen and the RZC’s Taking the Precepts Ceremony. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:21 — 37.9MB)

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May 14, 2023

Discovering Awe in Just This

Exploring the intersection between Zen practice and neuroscience on our capacity for experiencing awe in ordinary activities. Commentary on Dacher Keltner’s “The Quiet Profundity of Everyday Awe”, The Atlantic: January 13, 2023. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript

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May 7, 2023

Not Too Hard, Not Too Soft: Finding the Sweet Spot in Practice

May 2023 Sesshin, Day 2
Question:  Should I try or should I not try? Do I apply effort in practice or do I surrender? Ought there be discipline or should it come naturally? Answer: Yes! Sources: Awakening to Zen by Roshi Philip Kapleau; Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield. Dharma Talk by Ven. Jissai Prince-Cherry. Automated Transcript

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May 6, 2023

Making the Most of Each Moment of Sesshin

May 2023 Sesshin, Day 1
How to make the most of chanting, talks, and personalized instruction during sesshin. Sharing the teachings of Roshi Philip Kapleau, founder of Rochester Zen Center, on the 19th anniversary of his death. Source: Zen: Merging of East and West by Roshi Philip Kapleau. Dharma Talk by Ven. Jissai Prince-Cherry. Automated Transcript

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April 27, 2023

The Dalai Lama and the Boy

Bodhin-roshi’s comments on the controversy surrounding the February video of “the Dalai Lama and the boy.” (Correction: the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, not 1951 as was stated in the talk.) Talk by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede. Automated Transcript