Emma Roy - Not Being Special

“People say the ultimate destiny of consciousness is to be liberated. Is that What we’re up to? Because I like the idea that it’s not.” - Emma Roy

Emma reads “On (Not) Being Special” by Ken McCleod to ask the questions of whether any of us are special, whether zazen does anything special, whether we are all destined for enlightenment, and ultimately what is a good use of a human life or a Monday night (or the 40 minutes it takes to listen to a podcast…). The sangha jumps all the way in and discusses why being art necessarily breeds misery, why they don’t want to be special, why they wouldn’t recommend Zen to anyone, but can’t stop doing it if they tried, and ultimately lament that enlightenment never did anyone’s dishes. All in all, it is a prime example of a good use of a monday night and a fantastic way to spend your 40 minutes to listen.

Emily Eslami - Not to be Achieved by Wanting (Unnecessary Roughness)

“‘But this is not to be achieved by wanting,’ is the saddest sentence in the whole thing, the crux of everything. That should be written on my gravestone. It’s all the pain, all the sorrow, all the despair, and the lamentation. We can’t wish things to be true. We can’t will things into being.” - Emily Eslami

Emily wraps up her series on the three marks of existence with Buddhism's favorite least favorite topic - The Truth of Suffering. She leads the sangha in an acknowledgement of all the large and small ways we experience suffering on a daily basis and then goes into the ways we exacerbate that and compound the problem with the classic parable of the second arrow. Drawing on both straightforward teachings of classical Buddhism and the more open ended Zen approach she explores the ways that suffering is both an inherent product of life and also far more avoidable than we might think.

Dave Cuomo - A Better Way (History of Zen - pt 4)

“What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil?” - Emperor Ashoka

Dave Cuomo continues his series on the history of Zen with pt 4 - Ashoka! It's one of the most extraordinary and unexpected stories in world history as a bloodthirsty warlord emperor sees a simple monk walking across a field and over night turns one of the world's largest empires into a bastion of peace, piety, and goodness. Everything we know about Buddhism comes from this one moment and Dave explores all the implications of what happened and why. The sangha jumps in and discusses what morality is and where it comes from, how the Buddhist cannon was formed, and who exactly we can call a sociopath.

Craig French - Community

“The more intimate I become with Zen, it’s less of a religion. It’s just about living. Buddhism is living right, its just waking up.” - Fong Sam

To inspire the sangha in our new center, Craig French gives a reading from Crooked Cucumber, the story of Sunryu Suzuki and San Francisco Zen Center. Craig and the sangha get cute as they discuss community, what it means to help out, the connection between different lineages of Zen, bringing Zen to the West, and whether the Ramones were trying to start British Punk Rock on purpose.

Dave Cuomo - Ananda and the Dharma of Not Getting It (History of Zen pt 3)

“Sometimes getting it means not getting it.” - Dave Cuomo

Dave Cuomo continues his History of Zen series w/ pt 3 - Ananda. He’s the great unreliable narrator of all Buddhist scripture. Dave tells the story of this sweet and simple character and looks into the wisdom in his unenlightnment, what it means to live a life of service, and why Buddhism requires us to ask stupid questions. 

Nina Snow - Love and Kindness

“When people are kind its like a beautiful virus that goes around and infects everyone. It’s gorgeous.” - Nina Snow

Nina and the sangha wade into the messy grey areas of being nice. Reading from “The Thousand Eyes and Hands of Compassion” in Brad’s latest book, they explores the nuanced ways compassion is as much about the way we treat ourselves as it is being kind to others.

Emma Roy - Dogen and the Eternal Age of Collapse

Emma discusses the life of Dogen with readings from Hee-Jin Kim’s “Dogen - Mystical Realist.” She explores parallels between Dogen’s time and ours including the the recurring feeling that we’re living on the verge of collapse. The sangha dives in and debates why every generation seems to feel that way even as the world shambles along without ending.

Dave Cuomo - Hopeless

“Hope is what religions sell when they need to get donations and don’t want to explain the whole truth.”

Dave tries to shock the sangha with a talk on the delusion of hope and the liberation of being hopeless, letting go of our ideals in favor of being open to what is. It’s a talk about goallessness and the freedom and kindness that come from giving in to reality. The conversation is lively and not without disagreement as the sangha discusses expectations, whether there is a basic goodness in staring at the wall, whether we can live without desire, dealing with death, and how pretty a leaf can look in the sunlight.

Erik Andersen - Seeing True Nature

“We’re not looking for true nature, we’re not studying true nature, we’re not researching true nature. You sit down and you’re seeing true nature.” - Erik Andersen

Erik continues his inquiry into beliefs and how they can hinder us. He looks at what was meant by the classic Zen promise of "seeing true nature," beliefs as attachment, and how this is all worked with in psychology, while the sangha turns the discussion to mental health and whether it's possible to be happy about being sad.

Dave Cuomo - History of Zen pt 2

What was Buddha’s problem? - an empty container for an open question

Dave continues his series tracing the philosophical and social history of Zen. In part 2 we come to Buddha himself, what was the social context he was teaching in, who were his teachers and what did they teach him? What was the problem he was trying to solve and how did he solve it?? The sangha discusses our connection to history and whether history is even knowable, what, if anything, Buddha was doing differently, and of course, what is the meaning of life?

Dave Cuomo - Intro To Zen

If you’ve ever been curious what exactly we do here and why, this is your chance to find out! We cover all the basics from extended Zazen instructions to what exactly we do here in Zen and why. What does it all mean? How do I be the greatest meditator of all time and will that help? Is life just one continuous mistake? Find all these questions and more here!

Nina Snow - The Neurotic Emotional Veil

Nina leads us in a a reading from Charlotte Joko Beck - Experiencing and Experiencing. It's a conversation about how we objectify our world by seeking out experiences instead of resting in the act of experiencing. Why are we so reluctant to let go of the things that we know hold us back? Why do we cling to an illusion of safety when freedom lies in giving in?

Erik Andersen - Beliefs

In a freewheeling talk, Erik talks about beliefs. Do we need them? No, well sometimes, but not like we think we do. What happens when you let go of even the most fundamental beliefs? What happens when the beliefs you've most relied on fall apart? Can anything be known for certain?! Find out here!

Emma Roy - Rituals and Playing With Fire

"Be careful what you say out loud, and make it good."

Emma and the sangha discuss rituals - what are they really and why do we do them? Is it superstition, is it magic, a way to mark a moment, or is it just something nice to do with your friends on a saturday afternoon? Do they actually hold meaning or are they how we make meaning? What's the line between a lucky pair of socks and a fascist rally? Join us in a discussion on the power and pitfalls of religion and community!

Emily Eslami - Nothing is Sacred, Nothing is Mundane

“Everything is sacred, I believe nothing. Nothing is sacred, I believe in everything” - Tom Robbins

It’s hard to say what this podcast is about since the topic of Emily’s talk was explicitly nothing special. All I know is that when I listened to it, I felt moved, both to sit zazen and to appreciate today for just what it is. She explores how not let the good days over charm you and not let the boring days discourage you, and how the mundaneness of zazen becomes the best part of the day if only we can remember to stop thinking in those terms. The sangha discusses what to look forward to after a wedding, whether mexican food is really just one dish, and how much we’ll all miss lukewarm coffee when we’re gone. Again, I’m not exactly sure what it’s about, like I’m not sure what any of this is about, but it’s a convincing exhortation to practice and a reminder of what really matters in the end, which is to say nothing and everything at the same time.

Dave Cuomo - History of Zen pt 1

Dave attempts to trace the history of Zen from its Indian roots up to our present day Zen center. Part 1 is an exploration of pre-Buddhist Brahmanism, and the sangha discusses what to do when you're cultural narrative no longer fits the world as you find it.

Nina Snow - Love and Attachment

We often don't talk about love in Zen, sticking to more monkly sounding terms like "compassion" or "loving kindness" but Nina is not one to shy away from the big topics. She opens her new series this week exploring the difference between love and attachment with a reading from Brad's Sex, Sin, and Zen, and opening up about her own experiences while the sangha discusses how to let go while keeping what truly matters close. Do we have to abandon our loved ones and run off to the forest to find enlightenment? Does non attachment mean we can't love our families?? (spoiler: no you don't and no it doesn't...)

Craig French - The Vine That Connects Everything

Jiko - Self, the vine that encompasses everything; past present, and future. Craig discusses the universal self; what that means, how to act when there is no ultimate purpose, and how to engage in conflict and be with yourself and others in the big universal self.