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

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

“Attaining the Way” by Master Sheng Yen

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

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

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

Being Sangha

On taking refuge in Sangha (Community). Dharma Talk by Sensei Donna Kowal. Automated Transcript

Untangling the Knots, Engaging with the Practice

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”

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

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