Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

Episode Description: In this episode, Sharon Salzberg talks about lovingkindness practice and poses the questions, “if love is not a feeling but an ability, how do we then live?” and, “if love is an ability, isn’t it also then our responsibility?” She explores the meaning of love in the context of daily life and says “it’s about […]

Episode Description: In this talk, Roshi Joan Halifax explores the meaning of love and the many manifestations it can have in our different relationships. She looks at the Western frameworks that surround love in our culture, pointing out that so often what is lacking is a foundational sense of self-love and self-respect. Roshi then gives an […]

Episode Description: In this talk, Natalie Goldberg reflects on non-duality through the eyes of Heraclitus, who believed change is essence of life and said, “You can never step in the same river twice.” She compares this to the idea of going up the mountain and going down the mountain being the same thing. “All one taste. You meet it. […]

Episode Description: This episode begins with Sharon Salzberg leading a guided lovingkindness meditation. Sharon then talks about the nature of love and suggests that we think of it as a feeling rather than an ability. “Love is a deep knowing our lives have something to do with one another, or recognizing ourselves in someone else… Love is […]

Series Description: Awakening and love require shifts in the mind and heart that allow one to be open to radically new possibilities. In this weekend intensive retreat, we explore cultivating an open field of potentiality. Sharon Salzberg and Roshi Joan Halifax teach together, guide special practice exercises, lead meditations on the cultivation of love, kindness and compassion, […]

Episode Description: In this talk, Frank Ostaseski explores how we can relate to our suffering in ways that open us to a deeper sense of compassion. “Diving into our wounds helps us build empathetic bridges to others,” Ostaseski says, “When we try to reject our pain, we don’t learn anything from it.” He looks at this in light of the […]

Episode Description: For the final Dharma talk of sesshin, Sensei Joshin Byrnes and Sensei Genzan Quennell jump ahead in the lineage to Maezumi Roshi. Joshin admires that Maezumi’s story was so relatable and down to earth. “He was just so real,” Joshin says. He then reflects on the idea of Buddha Nature as being a question of: Who […]

Episode Description: In this talk, Matthew Kozan Palevsky addresses the pervasiveness of addiction in our culture today and their relation to the second Noble Truth, that suffering arises through craving. Starting with the opioid epidemic and the feeling that the world is on fire, he broadens the perspective of addiction to include its subtler and more […]

Episode Description: On the fifth day of sesshin, Sensei Joshin Byrnes and Sensei Genzan Quennell read us the story of Huineng from the Denkōroku. “What’s happening historically at this time is that the Zen way has settled,” Sensei Joshin tells us, referring to the fact that Huineng was the sixth and last of the Chinese patriarchs. Sensei Joshin then […]

Episode Description: In this talk, entering the fourth day of sesshin, Sensei Joshin Byrnes and Sensei Genzan Quennell read from the story of the Chinese ancestor, Daokai. Genzan points to the teaching in the story that knowledge without practice will not lead to an understanding of the Dharma. Through intensive practice and deep silence during sesshin, we have […]

Episode Description: In this talk, Upaya’s visiting scholar David Hinton discusses his work and research in Taoism, Ch’an, and ancient Chinese culture and translation. He begins by giving a brief background of Zen’s historical roots in China originally known as Ch’an, a Chinese cultural infusion of Taoism and Buddhism. He describes Tao, a central idea to Ch’an […]

Episode Description: On the second day of sesshin, Sensei Joshin Byrnes and Sensei Genzan Quennell begin this talk by reading from the story of the Chinese ancestor, Touzi. Genzan discusses finding refuge in silence, pointing out that so much can be revealed in periods of deep silence. Joshin looks at silence as a way of disrupting our narratives […]

Series Description: The dharma talks during this sesshin were inspired by some of the enlightenment stories from the Record of the Transmission of the Light (Denkōroku), a collection written in 1300 by Keizan Jokin Zenji. Sesshin literally means ‘gathering the heart/mind’. A sesshin is an intensive multi-day Zen meditation retreat with a consistent schedule that creates a deep, quiet container for practice. Each […]

Episode Description: In this talk, Petra Zenryu Hubbeling describes one of her biggest inspirations on her spiritual path, Etty Hillesum. In reading her work, largely talking about her religious awakening and the persecution of the Jewish people, Zenryu admires the strength, wisdom, and compassion she embodies. Inspired by the way she relates to suffering, Zenryu reflects that […]

Episode Description: As we continue reflecting on Zen Master Keizan’s Transmission of Light, Sensei Joshin Byrnes examines the story of Rujing, the 10th century Chinese teacher of Dogen. Struck by his peculiar teaching style, Joshin comments on Rujing’s harsh and disciplined attitude towards students, combined with a softness and tender side. Sensei Joshin sees this as an example […]