The Zen Studies Podcast

Domyo Burk
  • 5.0 (1)
  • BUDDHISM
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS
The Zen Studies Podcast

Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.

  1. Teisho: You Have to See Your Nature

    5 DAYS AGO

    Teisho: You Have to See Your Nature

    This episode is a Teisho, an encouragement talk that’s meant to be listened to while you are sitting quietly. Zen teachers give Teisho during sesshin, and this amounts to a more formal kind of Dharma talk, almost like a meditation. It’s not meant to be educational. I’m curious as to how it will come off if you listen to it while walking or driving or doing something else. Maybe it’ll be cool. But I recommend sitting still if you’re able. Teisho are generally only given during sesshin and not recorded, but I recreated one from the sesshin I led last week for you.

    28 min
  2. One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 6: Trikaya, the Three Bodies of Buddha

    21 APR

    One Reality, Many Descriptions Part 6: Trikaya, the Three Bodies of Buddha

    The teaching of the Trikaya, or Three Bodies of Buddha, is challenging. It may seem to be metaphysical speculation or surprisingly theistic for Buddhism. However, it offers a unique and valuable framing for the mystery of awakening, the palpable presence of the Ineffable despite its ungraspable nature, and the relationship of all phenomena to the Ineffable.

    34 min
  3. Q&A: Revisiting Veganism and Moral Choices, and Questions about Shikantaza

    11 APR

    Q&A: Revisiting Veganism and Moral Choices, and Questions about Shikantaza

    In this extemporaneous question-and-answer episode I address a listener's comment on my answer in a recent Q&A episode about the relationship between Buddhism and eating a plant-based diet. Then I respond to two different questions about the practice of shikantaza, or just sitting.

    33 min
  4. Framing Your Dharma Practice in a Helpful Way

    31 MAR

    Framing Your Dharma Practice in a Helpful Way

    Chances are, whether you're aware of it or not, you have a certain way of framing your Dharma practice. That is, you function using a conceptual framework that defines your relationship to your practice, the intent of that practice, and what is supposedly being transformed by that practice. When you're centered in the moment, you can practice without framing, but most of the time you'll be framing things whether you mean to or not. It's good to be conscious of your framing and choose a framing that's helpful.

    23 min
  5. Investigating the Wandering Mind

    15 MAR

    Investigating the Wandering Mind

    Almost everyone who practices meditation or mindfulness encounters the phenomenon of the wandering mind – when, despite your conscious intention, your mind is filled with thoughts that have nothing to do with your current experience. You can employ various techniques to let go of the thoughts and “bring the mind back” to your meditative object or to the present moment, but often these techniques are applied as if all mind wandering was of the same nature. I investigate different reasons your mind wanders and how they call for different responses.

    37 min
  6. Q&A: Paramis, Mindfulness, Karma, and Enjoyment

    7 MAR

    Q&A: Paramis, Mindfulness, Karma, and Enjoyment

    This is an extemporaneous question-and-answer episode. Do you know the difference between a parami and a paramita? Do I still like to think of mindfulness as "undivided presence?" What about when Buddhists use the idea of karma as an excuse not to take compassionate action? Why can't our practice include more activities aimed at the cultivation of joy, creativity, and other positive experiences?

    34 min
  7. 295 - The Power of Equanimity

    28 FEB

    295 - The Power of Equanimity

    Equanimity is a powerful state of being that not only reduces our stress and suffering but also enables us to respond effectively. However, in our efforts to achieve some measure of equanimity, we may end up stuck in the tentative calm of denial or in the coldness of indifference. True equanimity is clear-eyed, undefended, compassionate, and inclusive – but how do we cultivate it? I explore the virtue of equanimity from a Buddhist perspective.

    30 min

  8. 18 FEB

    Ten Fields of Zen, Field 10 - Connecting with the Ineffable, or What Is Most True

    The tenth Field of Zen is Connecting with the Ineffable. Zen is not based on a belief in God in a theistic sense. However, at its core there is a strong emphasis on a much more profound, inspiring, significant, and hopeful Reality than the bleak, mundane, and discouraging one people sometimes experience in their ordinary daily lives. Call this “greater reality” anything you like – God, the Divine, That Which is Greater, Other Power, the Ineffable, the Great Mystery, the Great Matter of Life and Death – but you have tasted it at peak moments of your life. Zen encourages you to explore and deepen your relationship with the Great Matter.

    36 min
See All (312)

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About

Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.

Information

  • Creator
    Domyo Burk
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    312
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2017-2021 Domyo Burk
  • Show Website
    The Zen Studies Podcast

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