Dharma Talks | Ocean Gate Zen Center - Santa Cruz, Capitola, Aptos: Recent Episodes
Ocean Gate Zen Center
Rev. Daijaku Kinst continues the lecture series on Zazen, discussing a passage from Dogen Zenji’s Bendowa.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jaku-April-15-More-on-Zazen-from-Bendowa-MP3-Audio.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst gives a talk on April Fool’s Day about how Zen practice can help upend our usual ideas and show us where we get caught.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Zazen-Jaku-CAYA-April-1st-2023-MP3.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts continues the discussion started last week by Daijaku Roshi about Zazen.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Shinshu-March-25-More-on-Zazen-Zoom-Audio.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst suggests Zazen is life-giving, discussing how it can serve as refuge for us in our difficulties and challenges.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jaku-March-18-Zazen-Zoom-Audio.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts discusses Dogen’s fascicle Shoji (Birth-Death) -which we chant weekly at Ocean Gate Zen Center – a primary Zen Buddhist teaching about being fully engaged in this moment.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Shinshu-Feb-18-Shoji-MP3-Audio.mp3
Discussing how we practice in times of transition, Rev. Daijaku Kinst reflects on James Baldwin, then the “three minds” teaching of Dogen’s from the TenzoKyokun.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Jaku-Feb-11-Three-Minds-of-Transition-MP3Audio.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts shares her response to the eulogy delivered by Rev. Al Sharpton at the funeral of Tyre Nichols last week, discussing the Zen teaching of putting effort into our practice for the benefit of the greater good.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Shinshu-Feb-4-Climbing-the-Mountain-MP3-Audio.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst continues teaching about the life of our Soto lineage holder from Japan, Zen Master Eihei Dogen.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Jaku-Jan-22-Dogen-Part-3-Audio-MP3.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts continues teaching about the life of our Soto lineage holder from Japan, Zen Master Eihei Dogen.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Shinshu-Jan-14-Life-of-Dogen-Part-2-mp3-Audio.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst tells us about the life of our Soto lineage holder from Japan, Zen Master Eihei Dogen.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Jaku-Jan-7-Life-of-Dogen-Audio-MP3.mp3
Using a teaching of Dogen’s from the Eiheikoroku, Rev. Shinshu Roberts discusses Solstice as a time for reflection, transformation and renewal.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Shinshu-Dec-24-Solstice-MP3-Audio.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst recounts one of her favorite Buddhist stories of the monk Nanda to help us consider how times of transition can call us to our inmost request.
Jaku Dec 17 Transition
Rev. Shinshu Roberts continues her lecture series in this fifth part on “Inmo” (Suchness) from Eihei Dogen’s ShoboGenzo.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Shinshu-Dec-3-Inmo-Suchness-Part-5-MP3.mp3
Posing the question, “Are we willing to sit down and engage with our lives as they are?”, Rev. Daijaku Kinst discusses zazen and failure – the willingness to have what we think we know challenged.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Jaku-Feb-12-Zazen-and-Failure-audio-compressed.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts gives her third and final talk on Gassho, reflecting that in following Soto Zen forms, we make our best effort, as forms are an expression of our vow and our inmost request.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Shinshu-Feb-5-Gassho-Part-3-Audio-Compressed.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts gives her second talk on Gassho and form in Soto Zen practice, sharing Suzuki Roshi’s teaching that “the reasons why we observe such formal practice is to acquire absolute freedom.”
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Jan-29-Shinshu-Gassho-Part-2-Audio-Compressed.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst discusses three aspects of tending to our awareness of self, reminding us that “who you are is not what you think”.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Jaku-Jan-22-Audio-compressed.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts discusses the Zen form and practice of Gassho, bringing in Dogen’s teaching that our every encounter is an opportunity to express the dignified activity of a Buddha.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Shinshu-Jan-15-Gassho-Audio-compressed.mp3
On the 34th anniversary of her ordination as a Soto Zen Priest, Rev. Daijaku Kinst notes that sharing the truth or our lives in community is liberative, and she reflects on the importance of finding a path of practice that meets us individually.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Jaku-Jan-8-Ordination-Reflection-Audio-compressed.mp3
Reflecting on a 1968 lecture from Suzuki Roshi about New Years, Rev. Shinshu Roberts encourages us to meet every moment as new, to cultivate the mind of a new student, practicing with renewed feeling.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Shinshu-Jan-1-New-Years-compressed.mp3
Rev. Shinshu Roberts discusses Winter Solstice as a time to find ourselves open to transition and change.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Shinshu-Winter-Solstice-Audio-compressed.mp3
Rev. Daijaku Kinst discusses Buddha’s enlightenment, which Soto Zen temples annually celebrate on December 8th.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dec-11-Jaku-Buddhas-Enlightenment-Audio-compressed.mp3
Recently back from Zenshuji Temple in LA, Rev Daijaku Kinst talks about giving thanks and the spirit of Ōn, that generosity and gratitude are a state of embracing what is.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Nov-27-Jaku-Thanks-Giving-compressed.mp3
Reading from Shundo Aoyama Roshi’s “Zen Seeds”, Rev. Daijaku Kinst encourages us to consider how we practice and what we turn to when we find life demanding.
https://www.oceangatezen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Jaku-Nov-13-The-Wind-in-the-Pines-audio-compressed.mp3