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The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Zen Mountain Monastery

The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ancient tradition of Buddhist monasticism. Since 1980, the Monastery has offered spiritual practitioners traditional and innovative ways to engage the dharma through a wide range of retreats and residential programs that unfold within the context of authentic, full-time Zen monastic training. The Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple is the city branch of Zen Mountain Monastery. Supporting home practitioners in the metropolitan area, ZCNYC offers varied practice opportunities within the Eight Gates training matrix.

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  • 54 episodes
  • Avg 43 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • October 25 · 1 hr 7 min

    Dharma Encounter: The Yes and No of Buddha Nature

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/25/26 - Referring to Zhaozhou’s koan, “Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature?”, and Dogen’s teachings in Busshō, this Dharma Encounter explores how both…

  • October 24 · 45 min

    Pushing Down, Lifting Up

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/24/26 - Delving into the well-known koan of “Zhaozou’s Dog,” Shugen Roshi explores the importance of seeing one’s self-nature clearly, without the baggage…

  • October 23 · 34 min

    Fusatsu: Using Our Delusions To Awaken

    Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 10/23/26 - How do our vows become visible through renewing them in the shared ceremony of Fusatsu? Hogen Sensei encourages us to use…

  • October 21 · 29 min

    It Exists from the Very Beginning

    Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho - ZMM - 10/21/26  - Master Hongzhi offered practice instructions for zazen which place us directly in contact with our awakened nature. “The field of boundless…

  • October 18 · 39 min

    The Nature of Experience

    Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei - ZMM - 10/18/26 - While concepts and ideas help us to learn about and understand our world, they also have a way of limiting our…

  • October 11 · 1 hr 1 min

    Jukai Ceremony with Shugen Roshi at ZMM – October 2026

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/11/26 - Shugen Roshi officiates the Fall Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, two students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts,…

  • October 4 · 39 min

    You Have “No Buddha” Nature

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/04/26 - Taking up a segment from Dogen’s fascicle on Buddha Nature, Shugen Roshi illuminates how we lead ourselves into misunderstanding our fundamental…

  • October 4 · 30 min

    Fusatsu: Be Still and Heal

    Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - 10/4/26 - In this Fusatsu talk, Hojin Sensei explores atonement as a way to acknowledge harmful karma, renew our vows, and begin again. The Buddha…

  • September 27 · 1 hr 14 min

    Dharma Encounter: Bringing Our True Nature to Life

    Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 9/27/26 - Drawing on Dogen’s teaching that all beings are Buddha nature, Hogen Sensei asks how we bring this truth to life through…

  • September 26 · 46 min

    Beyond Yes and No

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/26/26 - Drawing on Dogen’s Bussho, Shugen Roshi explores the seemingly contradictory teachings that all beings are, have, or have no Buddha nature.…

  • September 25 · 23 min

    Fusatsu: Renewing Our Humanity

    Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZMM - 9/25/26 - In this Fusatsu talk, Hojin Sensei explores renewing our bodhisattva vows and practicing loving-kindness through the Three Pure Precepts. What does…

  • September 24 · 43 min

    Living Beings Are Buddha Nature

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/24/26 - The Buddha realized that all beings are capable of awakening to their true nature. Dogen echoed this truth by saying that…

  • September 23 · 41 min

    Offering This Buddha Nature

    Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei - ZMM - 9/23/26 - The path of the bodhisattva is not always a convenient one, and probably not as we imagine it to be. We…

  • September 20 · 45 min

    Transform A Vow Into Action

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/20/26 - What is the cause of suffering, at its root? The bodhisattva vow is to put an end to suffering and its…

  • September 13 · 47 min

    The Form of Buddha Nature

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/13/26 - This formless Buddha Nature, how does it manifest? Is it large or small? Shugen Roshi quotes the great teacher Nagarjuna, “If…

  • September 13 · 1 hr 27 min

    Jukai at Fire Lotus Temple with Hojin Sensei

    Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/13/26 With Hojin Sensei officiating, four students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts, taking up these living teachings, living vows in the company…

  • September 6 · 42 min

    Ch’ien and Her Soul are Separated

    Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/6/26 - Stories are one of the primary ways that we create and re-create suffering in our own minds, and this folk tale…

  • September 6 · 40 min

    When the Word ‘Should’ Begins to Shine

    Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 9/6/26 - Taking up Emily Dickinson’s practice—“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write…

  • August 30 · 46 min

    Ango Opening Remarks at Fire Lotus Temple

    Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 8/30/26 - Join Hojin Sensei offering opening remarks to the practitioners at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn to begin the Fall Ango Practice…

Showing 1–20 of 54 episodes