The Berkeley Zen Center Audio Archive

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Showing 3137 talks

Title	Speaker	Date
Re-Opening Serial: BZ-03079 -	Judy Fleischman	Mar 12 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Like This Serial: BZ-03078 The talk presents zazen as embodied training in nonattachment: desire is not itself the source of suffering; clinging is, and disciplined practice refines ego without erasing individuality. It connects this training to “just this... *Ego, Suzuki Roshi, Dongshan*	Imo Raul Moncayo	Mar 05 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
What is Happiness? Serial: BZ-03077 The talk distinguishes transient pleasure from a more enduring Buddhist happiness grounded in composure, acceptance, and connection with others. Through zazen, joyful activity, and service, practitioners can express rather than... *Happiness, Zazen, Suzuki Roshi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Feb 26 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Life is Basically Impossible – Shunryu Suzuki Serial: BZ-03073 The talk presents life’s apparent impossibility, impermanence, and death as conditions met through daily practice rather than resolved conceptually. Zazen trains practitioners to release thoughts moment by moment, while faith in... *Suzuki Roshi, Impermanence, Zazen*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Feb 19 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh Serial: BZ-03010 -	Hozan Alan Senauke	Feb 05 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Three Doors of Liberation, Class Four Serial: BZ-02879 The talk presents aimlessness or wishlessness as the third door of liberation and as a central dimension of zazen: practice relinquishes pursuit of a future attainment and receives experience without fixation, while remaining... *Enlightenment, Zazen, Nirvana*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Feb 03 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Three Doors of Liberation, Class Three Serial: BZ-02965 The talk examines signlessness as the second door of liberation, linking it to emptiness and zazen. Perception is rapidly shaped by signs and labels; practice involves noticing this process without rejecting language or practical... *Emptiness, Zazen, Liberation*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jan 27 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Exploring Dogen’s Gyoji Serial: BZ-03076 The talk interprets Dōgen’s gyōji as both continuous practice and pure conduct: wholehearted presence in ordinary activity, grounded in interdependence and Buddhist precepts. Stories of meal preparation, dishwashing, cleaning,... *Continuous Practice, Sangha, Dogen*	Hannah Meara	Jan 22 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Three Doors of Liberation, Class Two Serial: BZ-02964 -	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jan 20 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
To Heal the World Serial: BZ-03075 The talk frames Buddhist practice as a commitment to healing personal and social suffering through compassion, connection, and the repair of a divided world. Drawing on the Buddha’s renunciation, teaching career, and formation of... *Community, Suffering, Enlightenment*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jan 15 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Three Doors of Liberation, Class One Serial: BZ-02963 -	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jan 14 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
Remembering Sojun Roshi Serial: BZ-03074 The talk presents Sojin Roshi’s teachings as “relics” carried in memory and practice rather than preserved in physical remains. Through the Blue Cliff Record case “Dawu’s Condolence Call,” it links birth and death, presence and... *Koan, Bodhidharma, Suzuki Roshi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jan 08 2022 Berkeley Zen Center
The Last Talk of 2021 Serial: BZ-03072 The talk presents love as a Buddhist practice expressed through presence, receptivity, and action, especially amid grief, social harm, and collective uncertainty. It connects this teaching to zazen, communal practice, and engaged... *Zazen, Sangha, Community*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Dec 18 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Why Are You Doing This? Serial: BZ-03279 -	Joanna Macy	Dec 11 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Responding to Conditions (Case 16, Mumonkan) Serial: BZ-03071 The talk reads Yunmen’s Case 16 of the Mumonkan—“Why do you put on your seven-piece robe at the sound of the bell?”—as an inquiry into how practice responds to conditions. Drawing on Sojin Roshi’s commentary, it presents zazen... *Zazen, Effort, Suzuki Roshi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Dec 05 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Suzuki Roshi Stories Serial: BZ-03070 -	Hozan Alan Senauke	Dec 04 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
The Self Is A Thing Like Santa Claus….. Serial: BZ-03009 -	Laurie Senauke	Dec 03 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Living In Sangha Serial: BZ-03069 The talk presents sangha as a practice of shared responsibility, especially under uncertainty and disagreement. Drawing on the Aparanihaya Sutta, it identifies frequent and harmonious assemblies, respect for precedent and elders... *Sangha, Community, Wisdom*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Nov 27 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Settling Right Here Serial: BZ-03068 -	Mary Duryee	Nov 20 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Hitting The Mark Serial: BZ-02957 The talk presents Dōgen’s Gakudō Yōjinshū, especially section 10, as guidance for sustained practice: seek instruction from a trustworthy teacher and practice zazen single-mindedly, while keeping one’s own question and way-... *Dogen, Practice Period, Zazen*	Ryushin Andrea Thach	Nov 13 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Reflections On Jukai Serial: BZ-03067 The talk frames jukai (lay ordination) as a public recognition of Buddha nature and sangha membership, expressed through receiving the precepts, a sewn rakusu, lineage papers, and a Dharma name. Drawing on Dōgen’s Guidelines for... *Precepts, Ceremony, Ordination*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Nov 06 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
In The Buddha Way You Should Always Enter Enlightenment Through Practice Serial: BZ-03065 The talk reads section three of Dōgen’s Guidelines for Studying the Way as teaching that practice and enlightenment are inseparable: sincere effort does not produce awakening as an outcome but manifests it in each moment. Drawing... *Enlightenment, Gaining Mind, Effort*	Peter Overton	Oct 09 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Arousing The Thought Of Enlightening, Resolving To Awaken Serial: BZ-03064 The talk presents Dōgen’s Gakudō Yōjinshū as a set of practical guidelines for awakening, centered on recognizing impermanence and arousing bodhicitta. Sustained attention to impermanence undermines attachment to a fixed self,... *Impermanence, Ego, Study*	Gerry Oliva	Oct 02 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
Buddha’s Robe Serial: BZ-03063 The talk presents the Buddha’s robe as both a ritual garment and an enduring embodiment of vow, liberation, and interdependence. Drawing on Dōgen’s writings and Soto Zen robe traditions, it explains the robe chant’s language and...	Hozan Alan Senauke	Sep 25 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
The Dharma Of Listening and Speaking Serial: BZ-02863 The talk presents right speech as a practice that continually moves between receptive silence and engaged communication. Drawing on Zen precepts and Buddhist and Jewish teachings, it emphasizes listening without immediately... Right Speech, Bodhisattva, Listening, Suzuki Roshi	Hozan Alan Senauke	Sep 18 2021
Three Different Kinds Of Mind Serial: BZ-02862 The talk presents open mind, beginner’s mind, and ordinary mind as interrelated forms of Zen awareness: each entails meeting experience without imposing fixed ideas, accumulating expertise, or privileging one’s own judgments.... *Ordinary Mind, Doubt, Joshu*	Ron Nestor	Sep 11 2021
Fire, Flood, Zazen Serial: BZ-02861 The talk delves into the practice of Zazen within Zen Buddhism, focusing on the mindfulness practice described as "settling the self on the self." It discusses how Zazen can help individuals observe and manage their emotions amid... *Zazen*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Sep 04 2021
Getting Stuck Serial: BZ-02860 The talk argues that Zen practice meets “getting stuck” by recognizing difficulty without adding reactive narratives, then returning to the present through breath, posture, and the task at hand. Drawing on the “Ordinary Mind Is... *Ordinary Mind, Big Mind, Nansen*	Susan Marvin	Aug 28 2021
What Now, I Don't Know Serial: BZ-02859 The talk frames uncertainty about reopening Berkeley Zen Center during the Delta wave through the Zen teaching of not knowing: neither certainty nor indecision is adequate, so the community must make provisional choices, revise... *Fayan, Book of Serenity, Suzuki Roshi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Aug 21 2021
Choice Serial: BZ-02858 The talk treats choice as the practice of noticing conditioned responses and acting from vow rather than habit. Through Linji’s “true person of no rank,” it examines comparison and social hierarchy as patterns that practice can... *Rinzai, Emptiness, Skillful Means*	Penelope Thompson	Aug 14 2021
Things Fall Apart Serial: BZ-02857 The talk references various works and themes centered around the notion of impermanence and the cyclical nature of life's events. The speaker incorporates a musical piece by Bob Dylan titled "Everything is Broken" to highlight... *Nirvana, War*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Aug 07 2021
Zazen Forms and Impermanence Serial: BZ-02856 The talk presents zazen as embodied practice: posture, bowing, breath, and communal forms cultivate attention to impermanence and loosen attachment to self and thought. Drawing on Dōgen’s Genjōkōan, it frames returning to the... *Zazen, Bowing, Emotions*	Karen Sundheim	Jul 31 2021
The Mind Of A Sentient Being Is Difficult To Change Serial: BZ-02855 The talk interprets Dōgen’s teaching that “the mind of a sentient being is difficult to change” through the Bodhisattva Never Disparaging: practice means not turning away from others and meeting them with respect grounded in... *Bodhisattva, Buddha Nature, Lotus Sutra*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jul 24 2021
Me Too, The Dharma of Friendship Serial: BZ-02854 The talk presents Dharma friendship as the whole of the holy life: a practice of mutual accountability, embodied attunement, and inclusive care that persists across changing conditions, including online practice. Drawing on Zen... *Suzuki Roshi, Sangha, Dogen*	Judy Fleischman	Jul 17 2021
Forms In The Zendo and In Our Lives Serial: BZ-02853 The talk argues that zendo forms and everyday routines are both expressions of practice: forms become meaningful through wholehearted enactment, while disciplined repetition can bring mindfulness and personal expression into... *Daily Life, Suzuki Roshi, Bowing*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jul 10 2021
The Four Establishments Of Mindfulness, Part Two Serial: BZ-02852 The talk presents the Satipatthana Sutta as a rigorous curriculum for liberation that integrates tranquility and insight within practice, rather than a set of simple mindfulness instructions. Its four foundations move from... *Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Study, Skillful Means*	Gerry Oliva	Jul 03 2021
Waking Up Serial: BZ-02851 The talk presents zazen as a practice of waking up that changes one’s relationship to thought, discomfort, and ordinary responsibilities rather than providing escape from them. Through Blue Cliff Record case 32, “Elder Jo Stands... *Zazen, Koan, Rinzai*	Ellen Webb	Jun 26 2021
This Little Light Of Mine Serial: BZ-02850 The talk presents practice as engaging with “just enough problems”: accepting the difficulties inherent in one’s roles, observing reactions before acting, and allowing problems to become occasions for freedom and development. It... *Suzuki Roshi, Sangha, Shosan*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jun 20 2021
Sangha Jewel Serial: BZ-02864 The talk presents Sangha as an expanding community of mutual practice and responsibility, grounded in friendship, discipline, democratic governance, and shared work. It extends belonging beyond formal Buddhist practitioners to... *Sangha, Community, Vinaya*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jun 19 2021 Berkeley Zen Center
The Four Establishments Of Mindfulness Serial: BZ-02848 The talk reads the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta as integrating tranquility (śamatha) and insight (vipaśyanā) through sustained, non-clinging attention to body, feelings, mind, and mental objects. Its practical emphasis is moment-to-moment... *Practice Period, Impermanence, Zazen*	Gerry Oliva	Jun 18 2021
Six Paramitas Serial: BZ-02849 The talk presents the six pāramitās as interdependent values and practices that answer the question of how to live; prajñā transforms the first five into bodhisattva practice. It focuses on dāna as a reciprocal, non-grasping... *Patience, Suzuki Roshi, Paramitas*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jun 18 2021
The Four Brahmaviharas (The Four Immeasurable Minds) Serial: BZ-02847 The talk presents the Four Brahmaviharas—love, compassion, joy, and equanimity—as interdependent practices that cultivate connection, resilience, and action free from hatred. It emphasizes that love requires attention to impact... *Compassion, Suffering, Equanimity*	Peter Overton	Jun 12 2021
Beginner's Sesshin Serial: BZ-02846 The talk presents sesshin as concentrated, collective continuous practice, integrating zazen with work, meals, ritual, and ordinary activity. Its central practical question is “how”: how to meet each moment—including pain,... *Zazen, Continuous Practice, Suzuki Roshi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jun 06 2021
The Five Skandhas Serial: BZ-02845 The talk presents the five skandhas—form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness—as changing processes, not a fixed self or definitive map of experience. Investigating how these processes become clinging and... *Skandhas, Five Skandhas, Consciousness*	Hozan Alan Senauke	Jun 05 2021
Bodhisattva Precepts Serial: BZ-02844 The talk presents bodhisattva precepts not as fixed commandments but as the lived expression of zazen and an intention to reduce harm and benefit all beings. It traces their grounding in sila, the Eightfold Path, Dōgen’s teaching... *Precepts, Bodhisattva, Karma*	Ryushin Andrea Thach	Jun 04 2021
The Three Marks Of Existence Serial: BZ-02843 - *Nirvana, Four Noble Truths, Monkey Mind, Daily Life*	Hozan Alan Senauke	May 29 2021
The Noble Eightfold Path Serial: BZ-02842 - *Right Speech, Karma, Concentration, Four Noble Truths*	Hozan Alan Senauke	May 28 2021
The Four Noble Truths Serial: BZ-02841 The talk interprets the Four Noble Truths as a practical method for studying suffering: attend to its particular causes, recognize how self-centered identification and reactivity perpetuate it, and cultivate a pause that allows a... *Suffering, Study, Big Mind*	Kosei Laurie Senauke	May 22 2021
Zazen Instructions, Part 1 Serial: BZ-02837 - *Concentration, Non-thinking, Samadhi, Zazengi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	May 15 2021
Zazen Instructions, Part 2 Serial: BZ-02838 - *Zazengi, Non-thinking, Concentration, Zenki, Samadhi*	Hozan Alan Senauke	May 15 2021

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