Sensei Dhara Kowal was authorized as a Zen teacher by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede in 2022 and serves as Co-Director of the Rochester Zen Center, in partnership with Sensei John Pulleyn.
Teisho and Dharma Talks
Living and Dying
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Birth and death are not discrete events, but rather part of a continuing process of coming and going. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
The Ebb and Flow of Zen Practice
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Conditions come and go. At times, one may feel motivated and energized by practice, and, at other times, discouraged and stuck in a rut. How do we stay engaged in the midst of changing conditions? Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Working with Pain
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The experience of physical pain is part of the human condition. In taking up a sitting practice, we have the opportunity to learn how to work with pain and transform our relationship to it. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Now is the Time
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The human experience of time is shaped by social conditioning. Through Zen practice we learn to let go of our attachment to time as linear and cumulative, releasing ourselves into the eternal, present now. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Shoyoroku (Book of Serenity) #89, “Dongshan’s ‘No Grass’”
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September 2023 Sesshin, Day 6
Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck #3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:36 — 39.9MB)
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September 2023 Sesshin, Day 5
Commentary on the teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck (Part 3). Source: Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck. Edited by Steve Smith. Harper Collins, 1989. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck #2
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:28 — 40.7MB)
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September 2023 Sesshin, Day 4
Commentary on the teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck (Part 2). Source: Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck. Edited by Steve Smith. Harper Collins, 1989. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck #1
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:28 — 42.5MB)
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September 2023 Sesshin, Day 3
Commentary on the teachings of American Zen teacher Joko Beck (Part 1). Source: Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck. Edited by Steve Smith. Harper Collins, 1989. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Teachings of Zen Master Foyan
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:44 — 41.9MB)
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September 2023 Sesshin, Day 2
Commentary on the teachings of Zen Master Foyan. Sources: Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Masters and their Teachings (Expanded Edition) by Andy Ferguson. Wisdom Publications, 2011. Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Teachings of Zen Master Yuanwu
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September 2023 Sesshin, Day 1
Commentary on the teachings of Zen Master Yuanwu. Sources: Zen’s Chinese Heritage: The Masters and their Teachings (Expanded Edition) by Andy Ferguson. Wisdom Publications, 2011. Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Shambhala Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Automated Transcript
Work Practice
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How to engage your practice in the midst of activity, whether it involves manual work or intellectually-demanding tasks. Resources: Sweeping Changes: Discovering the Joy of Zen in Everyday Tasks by Gary Thorp (Walker Books, 2000). “The Value of ‘Deep Work’ in an Age of Distraction,” Hidden Brain podcast featuring Cal Newport (July 25, 2017). Teisho by Sensei Dhara Kowal. Transcript
Beyond Duality
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:21 — 41.5MB)
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When we let go of all the ways we discriminate between self and other, we open up to the suffering of all beings, and to the transformative power of love. Sources: Anthony De Mello, The Way to Love, Image Books, 1995. bell hooks, “Contemplation and Transformation,” Buddhist Women on the Edge: Contemporary Perspectives from the… Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #6
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:51 — 39.2MB)
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June 2023 Sesshin, Day 6
Commentary on dialogues between Bankei and students (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #5
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:18 — 40.6MB)
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June 2023 Sesshin, Day 5
Commentary on dialogues between Bankei and students (Part 1). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #4
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June 2023 Sesshin, Day 4
Commentary on Bankei’s public talk delivered during a training period at Ryumon-ji (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #3
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June 2023 Sesshin, Day 3
Commentary on Bankei’s public talk delivered during a training period at Ryumon-ji (Part 1). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #2
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:57 — 38.4MB)
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June 2023 Sesshin, Day 2
Commentary on the life of 17th-century Japanese Zen Master Bankei Yotaku (Part 2). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei #1
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June 2023 Sesshin, Day 1
Commentary on the life of 17th-century Japanese Zen Master Bankei Yotaku (Part 1). Source: The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693. Revised edition translated with an introduction by Norman Waddell. North Point Press, 2000. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Transcript
Taking the Precepts: An Introduction
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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
Discovering Awe in Just This
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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
Practicing with Our Whole Being
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:19 — 41.5MB)
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We’re socially conditioned to lead with the head, however Zen is not a mental activity. How do we get our practice into the body-mind? Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Blue Cliff Record #21 “Chimon and the Lotus.”
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February 2023 Sesshin, Day 4
Blue Cliff Record #21 “Chimon and the Lotus.” Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
“Attaining the Way” by Master Sheng Yen
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February 2023 Sesshin, Day 3
Commentary on “Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism” by Master Sheng Yen. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
“Subtle Wisdom” by Master Sheng Yen #2
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February 2023 Sesshin, Day 2
Commentary on “Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion Through Chan Buddhism” by Master Sheng Yen Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
“Subtle Wisdom” by Master Sheng Yen #1
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:34 — 44.5MB)
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February 2023 Sesshin, Day 1
Commentary on “Subtle Wisdom: Understanding Suffering, Cultivating Compassion Through Chan Buddhism” by Master Sheng Yen. Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Working with the Urge to Consume
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:43 — 42.8MB)
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Teisho by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Being Sangha
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:40 — 35.5MB)
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On taking refuge in Sangha (Community). Dharma Talk by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Untangling the Knots, Engaging with the Practice
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:59 — 12.9MB)
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On working with habit forces and boredom. Commentary on excerpts from Ordinary Wonder: Zen Life and Practice by Charlotte Joko Beck, edited by Brenda Beck Hess (Shambhala, 2021). Dharma Talk by Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
“The Third Turning of the Wheel: A Conversation with Joanna Macy”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:16 — 14.4MB)
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May 2021 Sesshin, Day 2
Reading and commentary on excerpts from an interview with Joanna Macy that explores the Buddha’s teaching of dependent co-arising, nothing exists apart from anything else. (Source: Dharma Rain, edited by Stephanie Kaza and Kenneth Kraft, Shambhala Publications, 2000) Dharma Talk by Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
“World as Lover, World as Self” by Joanna Macy
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:04 — 14.6MB)
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May 2021 Sesshin, Day 1
Reading and commentary on excerpts from Chapter One. Dharma Talk by Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript
Trust the Practice
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:06 — 14.9MB)
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Dharma Talk by Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript