Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

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Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

Upaya Zen Center's Dharma Podcast

Creator: Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot

The Upaya Dharma Podcast features Wednesday evening Dharma Talks and recordings from Upaya’s diverse array of programs. Our podcasts exemplify Upaya’s focus on socially engaged Buddhism, including prison work, end-of-life care, serving the homeless, training in socially engaged practices, peace & no...

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Recent Episodes

71 episodes
FPP2025: Sesshin Day 4: Dogen’s Unconstructedness in Stillness

FPP2025: Sesshin Day 4: Dogen’s Unconstructedness in Stillness

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk and Day 4 of Upaya’s Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Kathie Fischer brings our attention to resonance—the way...

2025-10-27 07:00:13 51:06
FPP2025 Sesshin Day 1: Entering Through the True Gate

FPP2025 Sesshin Day 1: Entering Through the True Gate

In this morning talk on the first full day of the Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Shinzan draws from Dōgen’s Bendōwa (“The Wholehearted Way”) to...

2025-10-26 19:00:51 46:26
Fall Practice Period 2025: Sesshin Opening

Fall Practice Period 2025: Sesshin Opening

In this opening session of Upaya’s 2025 Fall Pratice Period Sesshin, four teachers—Sensei Kathie Fischer, Sensei Shinzan (joining remotely from San Di...

2025-10-26 18:30:41 42:05
FPP2025: The Ordinary Profundity of the Present Moment (Part 5)

FPP2025: The Ordinary Profundity of the Present Moment (Part 5)

In this Zazenkai Day Talk during Fall Practice Period, Chris Senko Perez reflects on Dōgen’s Genjō Kōan through his image of sailing far out to sea, w...

2025-10-26 17:00:04 48:30
FPP2025: Introduction to the Text: Actualizing the Fundamental Point (Part 3)

FPP2025: Introduction to the Text: Actualizing the Fundamental Point (Part 3)

In this Fall Practice Period session, Senseis Kathie, Monshin, and Shinzan, with reflections from Hoshi Senko, open the study of Dogen’s Bendowa and G...

2025-10-26 16:35:19 1:00:05
FPP2025: Study of The Great Way (Part 2)

FPP2025: Study of The Great Way (Part 2)

In this Zazenkai Day talk during Upaya’s Fall Practice Period, Sensei Kathie Fischer offers her reflections on the simplicity and depth of Zen practic...

2025-10-26 16:00:42 39:10
FPP2025: Actualizing the Fundamental Point – The Heart of Dogen’s Teachings  Opening Session

FPP2025: Actualizing the Fundamental Point – The Heart of Dogen’s Teachings Opening Session

Senseis Monshin, Kathie Fischer, and Shinzan, together with Hoshi Senko, open Upaya’s Fall Practice Period by welcoming participants from around the w...

2025-10-26 15:34:49 45:31
Awareness In Action: Embodiment with Guo Gu (Part 13 – October)

Awareness In Action: Embodiment with Guo Gu (Part 13 – October)

In this talk from Upaya’s Awareness and Action series, Dr. Guo Gu, founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, explores Embodiment and Engaged Practice—ho...

2025-10-24 12:23:20 1:31:39
Finding your place where you are

Finding your place where you are

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during Fall Practice Period at Upaya, Sensei Monshin explores the meaning of dharma position. Building from Dogen’...

2025-10-20 07:00:00 45:40
Monkey Grasping for the Moon

Monkey Grasping for the Moon

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during the Fall Practice Period, Sensei Shinzan turns to Dōgen’s Genjō Kōan, drawing on the  image of a monkey gra...

2025-10-13 07:00:46 40:24
Way Seeking Mind: Head to Heart

Way Seeking Mind: Head to Heart

In this Way-Seeking Mind Dharma Talk, resident Tuck Butsumon Stibich offers a moving reflection on his path from intellectual inquiry to embodied Zen...

2025-10-06 07:00:12 44:17
Awareness In Action: Discernment with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Part 12 – September)

Awareness In Action: Discernment with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Part 12 – September)

In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, Bhikkhu Bodhi offers a penetrating teaching on discernment as the heart of engaged Buddhism in...

2025-10-03 14:50:48 1:39:06
Love and Death 2025: Photos at the Threshold (Part 4)

Love and Death 2025: Photos at the Threshold (Part 4)

In Part 4 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan invite participants to “bring death into the room” through a mindfulness p...

2025-10-02 18:00:59 1:07:04
Love and Death 2025: The Sovereignty of Solitude (Part 3B)

Love and Death 2025: The Sovereignty of Solitude (Part 3B)

This is the 2nd half of … part 3 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax explore the tension between belonging and a...

2025-10-02 17:40:55 48:16
Love and Death 2025: The Sovereignty of Solitude (Part 3A)

Love and Death 2025: The Sovereignty of Solitude (Part 3A)

In Part 3 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax explore the tension between belonging and accommodation. Through p...

2025-10-02 17:20:32 50:38
Love and Death 2025: Four Flavors of Fearless Love (Part 2B)

Love and Death 2025: Four Flavors of Fearless Love (Part 2B)

This is the 2nd half of … part two of Upaya’s Love and Death weekend program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski deepened the exploration of how p...

2025-10-02 17:00:53 1:04:13
Love and Death 2025: Four Flavors of Fearless Love (Part 2A)

Love and Death 2025: Four Flavors of Fearless Love (Part 2A)

In part two of Upaya’s Love and Death weekend program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski deepened the exploration of how personal love can open i...

2025-10-02 16:30:17 48:40
Love and Death 2025: Opening the Great Gifts: Opening Session (Part 1)

Love and Death 2025: Opening the Great Gifts: Opening Session (Part 1)

In the opening session (part 1) of Love and Death, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski welcomed more than 1,300 participants into a shared inquiry...

2025-10-02 16:00:12 1:03:24
The Ultimate Inspiration: The Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala

The Ultimate Inspiration: The Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala

In this intriguing Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Kodo inspires us with the lion’s roar of Queen Srimala. Beginning with reflections on how motiv...

2025-09-29 07:00:34 49:13
Awareness In Action: Nonviolence with Father John Dear (Part 11 – September)

Awareness In Action: Nonviolence with Father John Dear (Part 11 – September)

In this timely session of Awareness in Action, Father John Dear confronts the urgency of our times with an echo from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The choi...

2025-09-22 13:00:17 1:33:05
Life, Death, and Freedom

Life, Death, and Freedom

In this unique Wednesday Night Dharma Talk before the upcoming Love and Death program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski engage in an open dialog...

2025-09-22 07:00:03 53:15
The Grace of Bodhisattvas

The Grace of Bodhisattvas

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Dainin interweaves personal story, Buddhist teaching, and contemporary challenges to show how the Bodhisat...

2025-09-15 07:00:35 44:35
Awareness In Action: We Were Made for This with Rebecca Solnit (Part 10 – August)

Awareness In Action: We Were Made for This with Rebecca Solnit (Part 10 – August)

In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, writer and activist Rebecca Solnit joins Roshi Joan Halifax to explore how stories shape realit...

2025-09-14 14:55:59 1:38:51
Vimalakirti’s Vulnerability: Through Star to Sky to the Eye of Another

Vimalakirti’s Vulnerability: Through Star to Sky to the Eye of Another

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei James Fushin explores vulnerability as a profound gateway to awakening. Drawing from the Vimalakirti Sutra...

2025-09-08 07:00:36 46:01
Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)

Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)

In the second part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu guides us into the embodiment of silent illumination....

2025-09-01 07:00:15 1:08:22
Awareness In Action: Earth with Terry Tempest Williams & Joan Halifax (Part 9 – August)

Awareness In Action: Earth with Terry Tempest Williams & Joan Halifax (Part 9 – August)

In this session of Awareness in Action, Roshi Joan Halifax and Terry Tempest Williams guide participants to witness the world with care, presence, and...

2025-08-31 20:10:48 1:36:49
Dogen Seminar 2025: Living Transmission Closing Session (8 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: Living Transmission Closing Session (8 of 8)

In this closing session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, faculty and participants reflect on how ancient teachings become living transmission through courage...

2025-08-27 13:30:44 1:06:08
Dogen Seminar 2025: Eight Awakenings of Great Beings (7 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: Eight Awakenings of Great Beings (7 of 8)

In the seventh session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Sensei Genzan explores Dogen’s Eight Awakenings of Great Beings (Hachi Dainin Gaku), weaving scholars...

2025-08-27 13:00:06 1:02:03
Dogen Seminar 2025: The Art of Contextual Teaching (6 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: The Art of Contextual Teaching (6 of 8)

In the sixth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, the faculty engage in a rich exploration of Dogen’s use of language, paradox, and poetry as spiritual c...

2025-08-27 12:30:10 1:07:52
Dogen Seminar 2025: Four Methods of Guidance (5 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: Four Methods of Guidance (5 of 8)

In this fifth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Norman and Kathie Fischer explore Dogen’s Four Methods of Guidance (Bodaisatta Shishobo), one of the m...

2025-08-27 12:00:58 1:03:17
Dogen Seminar 2025: True Paradox (4 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: True Paradox (4 of 8)

In this fourth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Sensei Jiryu explores the profound paradox at the heart of Zen practice: the essential teaching of no...

2025-08-26 13:30:24 52:50
Dogen Seminar 2025: Paradox as a Tool of Awakening (3 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: Paradox as a Tool of Awakening (3 of 8)

In this third session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, renowned poet, translator, and peace activist Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi presents his analysis of parado...

2025-08-26 04:00:21 1:08:13
Dogen Seminar 2025: Paradox, Parable, and Paradigm (2 of 8)

Dogen Seminar 2025: Paradox, Parable, and Paradigm (2 of 8)

In this second session of the Dogen Seminar, distinguished scholar Dr. Steven Heine explores the profound role of paradox in Zen Buddhism, examining h...

2025-08-26 03:30:30 1:06:14
Dogen Seminar 2025: Meeting Paradox in the Teachings of Zen Master Dogen (Part 1)

Dogen Seminar 2025: Meeting Paradox in the Teachings of Zen Master Dogen (Part 1)

In this opening session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, program faculty introduce themselves and reflect on themes and paradoxes within Dogen’s teachings th...

2025-08-26 03:00:20 1:06:35
Just One Thing

Just One Thing

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, resident priest Senko Perez reflects on the common trap of imagining that true practice lies elsewhere—in quieter...

2025-08-24 22:00:16 43:00
Awareness In Action: Equity with Konda Mason (Part 8 – August)

Awareness In Action: Equity with Konda Mason (Part 8 – August)

In this session of Awareness in Action and speaking from her farm in Alexandria, Louisiana—unexpectedly located at the center of America’s deportation...

2025-08-19 00:00:48 1:34:24
We Just Have to Get Quiet Enough

We Just Have to Get Quiet Enough

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Monshin explores the ancient Buddhist teaching of Kanno Doko — “responsive communion” or “mystical communi...

2025-08-17 22:00:06 32:24
Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 1)

Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 1)

In the first part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu explores the deep relationship between silent illuminat...

2025-08-10 22:00:53 50:09
Becoming Yourself

Becoming Yourself

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Jiryu affirms the central practice of Zen is to become truly ourselves. Reading from Suzuki Roshi’s teachi...

2025-08-03 22:00:21 40:51
Ryokan Dances Dogen

Ryokan Dances Dogen

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Genzan offers a unique exploration of true dharma expression – weaving together the teachings of 13th cent...

2025-07-27 22:00:10 43:39
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