Upaya Zen Center&#x27;s Dharma Podcast

On the fifth and final day of the Winter Practice Period Sesshin, Roshi Joan Halifax, and Senseis Kodo and Dainin gather the threads of practice into a teaching on Magnanimous Mind, intimacy, and not knowing. Kodo explores not knowing as a gateway to vastness, questioning how thought and naming can obscure direct experience. Roshi Joan continues this inquiry, inviting practitioners to stay with… Source

Duration:00:55:42

WPP2026: Sesshin Day 4: Joy and Responsibility in Practice

On the fourth day of the Winter Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Kodo and Sensei Dainin continue the exploration of Dōgen’s Three Minds. Kodo opens by situating the dharma talk itself within silence, inviting practitioners to listen as they would to wind, creaking floorboards, or the laughter and screams arising from the nearby park, quoting Mahatma Gandhi “Do not speak unless you can improve upon… Source

Duration:00:42:49

WPP2026: Sesshin Day 3: The Three Minds – From Kitchen to Cushion

On the third full day of the Winter Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Kodo and resident priest Butsumon reflect on how practice comes alive through ordinary activity. Butsumon opens with stories from samu (work practice), contrasting effort driven by efficiency with work done in care and attention. Drawing on Dōgen’s Three Minds, he explores how Joyful, Caring, and Magnanimous Mind transform any… Source

Duration:00:42:27

WPP2026: Sesshin Day 2: Nyoho–Compassion, Integrity, Thussness

Day two of the Winter Practice Period Sesshin opens with Sensei Dainin recalling placing the names of Renee Good and Alex Pretti—both killed in recent shootings involving federal agents in Minneapolis—on the altar. Visibly moved by these tragedies Dainin reflects on Nyoho (thusness), the practice of embracing “the good, the bad, the ugly, everything.” She invites us to consider wether even those… Source

Duration:00:56:02

WPP2026: Sesshin Day 1: Zenki–Undivided Activity

On the first full day of the Winter Practice Period Sesshin, Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on alignment and presence, exploring how practice begins by meeting things as they are. She emphasizes that Zen training is not performance but a return to our natural state—learning to act with care, attention, and nonviolence in relationship with others and the world. Addressing ongoing social violence in… Source

Duration:00:52:07

WPP2026: Auspicious Circumstances: Responsive Recipes

In this Zazenaki Talk during the Winter Practice Period, two recently ordained priests— Butsumon and Genryu—explore Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyokun through personal experiences of transformation and learning. Genryu shares how a “ghost from a past life” unexpectedly visited him just days before ordination, initially shaking him but ultimately becoming a teacher. Weaving quotes from sutras and Dogen… Source

Duration:00:42:23

WPP2026: Wholehearted Apamada

In this Winter Practice Period Zazenkai Day Talk, resident priest Jimon and Sensei Wendy Johnson explore apamada—careful, heedful practice—through the lens of everyday activity. Drawing on Dogen’s Tenzo Kyokun, Jimon shares stories on how grinding sesame, tending squash, and preparing food are opportunities for the expression of ‘gyoji’, or wholehearted engagement. She reflects on how ritual… Source

Duration:00:53:26

WPP2026: Introduction to The Text: Tenzo Kyōkun

In this introduction to Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyōkun (Instructions for the Cook) during the opening days of Upaya’s Winter Practice Period, the faculty explores how awakening is realized through work, care, and ordinary activity. Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on Dōgen’s three minds—joyful mind, parental mind (grandmother’s heart), and big mind—emphasizing care for others in the cultivation of wholesome… Source

Duration:01:01:24

WPP2026: Dogen’s Tenzo Kyokun – Actualizing The Way in Everyday Life: Opening Session

In this opening session of the Winter Practice Period, Roshi Joan Halifax, alongside Senseis Wendy Johnson, Dainin, Kodo, and Hoshi Senko, names this month of practice as movement “against the stream”. Roshi suggests this step into structure, silence, and relationality is expressed not through personality, but through respect. Ango, she reminds us, is not only “peaceful dwelling” but safety: a… Source

Duration:00:54:15

The Measure of Our Humanity: INTERCONNECTEDNESS

This opening session of The Measure of Our Humanity series gathers over 1,000 participants worldwide to reflect on what sustains our humanity in difficult times. Roshi Joan Halifax welcomes longtime friend Jon Kabat-Zinn, framing the series as a shared ‘commons’ grounded in solidarity, truth-telling, and radical care, recognizing the gathering itself as an act of collective sanity. Source

Duration:01:24:48

Just Doing One Thing

1/26/2026

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during the Winter Practice Period at Upaya, Sensei Dainin collects our attention from the many paths we feel pulled in—gathering it toward one-pointed effort as a genuine way of relieving the suffering of self and other. Illustrating Roshi Joan’s reflection—“it’s good to stay in one place, watch the seasons change, and just do one thing”—through photographs of… Source

Duration:00:44:28

Standing Stone

1/19/2026

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during the Winter Practice Period at Upaya, Sensei Wendy Johnson explores Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Cook) through the metaphor of standing stones like those erected in England and the British Isles by Neolithic ancestors—ancient, grounded monuments embodying power and presence. She traces the text’s origins to Tang Dynasty monastics who created… Source

Duration:00:47:13

Open Dharma: Peaceful Dwelling

1/12/2026

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Roshi Joan Halifax is joined by Senseis Kodo, Dainin, and longtime Upaya friend and master Zen gardener Sensei Wendy Johnson to set the roots of the month-long Winter Ango (peaceful dwelling). Roshi traces Ango’s history to ancient traditions of seasonal retreat and offers careful instruction not to trample what arises—no longer avoiding snakes, insects… Source

Duration:00:45:18

Rohatsu 2025: Day 6 – Full and Seamlessness

1/10/2026

On the final day of Rohatsu sesshin, the faculty turn toward presence as the heart of the bodhisattva way. Sensei Kaz Tanahashi reflects on the final full day not as a rush toward the end, but as an invitation to be more fully present with each moment, as practice settles into quiet confidence and seamless activity. Roshi Joan Halifax deepens this inquiry by asking, What is a bodhisattva? Source

Duration:00:47:53

Rohatsu 2025: Day 5 – Indra’s Net and One Body Practice

On the fifth day of Rohatsu sesshin, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi explores Indra’s Net—jewels “reflecting one another forever” in “inter-illumination”—showing how Buddhist teachings illustrate the reality of interconnected actions and outcomes. Kaz assures us that every humble action contributes to breakthrough. Reflecting on his anti-nuclear activism in the 1970s and ’80s, he says, “Everything I did… Source

Duration:00:46:06

Rohatsu 2025: Day 4 – Ethics and the Awakened Heart

On the fourth day of Rohatsu sesshin, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi reflects on the previous evening’s full moon atonement ceremony, revealing that “I think to be ethical is … life with ease and joy. You don’t have to hide anything. You don’t have to fear.” Kaz references the teaching to “thoroughly engage in each activity” to transform the world. He reframes “continuous failure” as “continuous missing”… Source

Duration:00:42:55

Rohatsu 2025: Day 3 – The Circle of the Way

On the third full day of Rohatsu sesshin, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi illuminates the radical teaching at the heart of Zen practice: we begin with enlightenment itself. Tracing the tension between seventh-century China’s scholarly Huayan school—requiring lifetimes of gradual study—and Huineng’s “illiterate school” of sudden enlightenment, Kaz reveals how Dogen went even further… Source

Duration:00:42:41

Rohatsu 2025: Day 2 – Vow, Liturgy, and Becoming One Body