Sensei Donna 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
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.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:51 — 21.8MB)
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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
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:45 — 41.0MB)
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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
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:02 — 40.3MB)
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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 Sensei 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
Dharma talk by Donna Kowal. 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 Sensei 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
Dharma talk by Donna Kowal. Reading and commentary on excerpts from Chapter One. Dharma Talk by Sensei 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 Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript