Zencare Podcast

“…when you practice and practice in this way and there is agreement between thoughts and words, it will truly be like intimate friends meeting, or self nodding to self. ” – Keizan Zenji     Even in the darkest of days, a faint light may be shimmering in the distance. Sometimes the dharma emerges as a mere sprinkle of goodness through the dense muck of our lives. No matter how heavy things are at the moment, can we allow something tiny and quiet and beautiful to break in?   In this recent dharma talk, Chodo Sensei reflects on Keizan Zenji’s teachings about Micchaka, the sixth ancestor in the Soto Zen lineage. The Venerable Micchaka learned from his teacher, Dhritaka, not to be preoccupied or enamored by a narrow view of things. Life is an expansive stream wide enough to allow everything to flow. How can we be more receptive to what is possible, more available to experiencing life as it is? By sharing his journey through the grips of substance abuse to a life of service to others, Chodo gives expression to the truth of Keizan’s insights. On the thirty seventh anniversary of his sobriety, Chodo honors the three treasures and expresses gratitude for his teacher.         ZENTALK NOTES   Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.    MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Unearthing Beauty | Chodo Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Even if we encounter hardships and difficulties we should always be united with the one mind and be willing to walk hand and hand through it all.”- Keizan Jokin Zenji     With whom are you willing to unite and walk through hard times? Whose hand will you hold, and who will hold your hand, to share the weight of what we all carry? There is great joy and beauty to be experienced in a community dedicated to practicing love, compassion, and service together.      In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei opens our winter sesshin and the ninety day practice period we call Commit to Sit. The guiding inspiration for both are the teachings and practices of our dharma ancestors from Shakyamuni Buddha to Dogen Zenji and Keizan Jokin Zenji to those we learn from today. Upon seeing the morning star, these words attributed to Shakymuni ignite the way of awakening: “I and the great earth, and all beings, simultaneously achieve the way.”  An astonishingly ordinary moment, Koshin reminds us. To actual be where you are and see what there is to see there. A star. That tree. This body. Your face. “From the time you got of bed this morning, have you allowed yourself to be amazed by what is right in front of you?” Fully receiving reality just as it comes, however it comes in each moment, means waking up to amazement. Reality, like a city, is an exceedingly complex blend of known and unknown materials; seen and unseen activities; spoken and silenced intentions. Can we be more receptive to this complexity? Can we enter the city of reality without excluding any of it? And without being able to fully understand all of it? What if we stopped holding back, feeling less and less content with simply walking around the edge of the action? Koshin encourages us to get away from our “cranky rumination” about the way we want things to be and embrace the work and ease of staying in relationship to what is within and around you. Practicing together draws us out from our little, lonely heads and places us into new realms of surprise and joy; heartbreak and intimacy. Life is short. Invite yourself in. Join hands with others and embrace the awakening way of freedom and dedication.     ZENTALK NOTES     Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Enter the City of Reality | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“How do we trust what is actually fresh and coming from a soft, unknowing place? This is the whole reason to practice.” – Koshin Sensei    Each moment is an opportunity to notice from where our thoughts, feelings, and actions come. Do we live out of our discursive mind and entrenched reactions, or are we able to touch into what is fresh and responsive? Can we remain attuned to our soft belly breathing, from the hara, as we encounter the realities of beauty and pain in our day to day lives? Being grounded, open, upright, and soft is a place of practice.    In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei allows the confluence of Martin Luther King, Jr Day and Inauguration Day to remind us that everyday, and truly every moment, is full to the brim with celebration and disappointment; possibility and despair. This is reality. We practice – again and again – in the same way that generations of ancestors have to live in accordance with reality. At the advent of our ninety day ango period, Commit to Sit, Koshin encourages us to show up to our lives and invite everything in. Instead of exclusion and division, can we begin to see everything as an essential part of the whole? MLK Jr’s vision of the beloved community is an inspiration to understand what it means to be a sangha. Like the opening chapter of the Lotus Sutra, can we invite all beings – those we like and those we don’t; those we name and those whose names we do not yet know – to our assembly? There is enough pushing away. Can we practice compassion for all beings, including ourselves, in a fresh way for the sake of a hurting and fractured world?       ZENTALK NOTES     Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Auspicious Day | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“This sangha, here and on Zoom, represents 88 generations of practitioners—how incredible to be part of this living lineage.”   Our upcoming Commit to Sit is starting this week and so we share one final dharma talk from last summer’s Commit to Sit with you.   In this moving talk, Chodo Sensei weaves personal stories with timeless Zen teachings, reflecting on the profound simplicity of zazen and its capacity to transform even the most challenging moments.   From the resilience of daffodils breaking through asphalt to the unexpected beauty of aging, Chodo inspires us to embrace the present moment and commit to the path, breath by breath.   Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or new to Zen, this talk will encourage you to remember the strength found in sincerity and community.   ZENTALK NOTES Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.    MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post The Resilience of a Daffodil | Chodo Robert Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“The world will always need compassion and wisdom. In our lifetime and after our lifetime.” – Koshin   The interconnectedness of everything is not an idea or a belief. No separation is a truth to experience. How can we allow the thorough, inherent relatedness of all things to inform how we think, feel, and act today? Openness and receptivity is a place a practice.     In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei encourages us to widen our perspective and move beyond the usual preoccupations with our ‘small’ concerns. How can we courageously allow a view of the whole to come alive through us in everyday moments? This is the meaningful shift from relative to absolute bodhichitta that the awakening way calls us to practice together.  As Koshin teaches, the exceedingly spacious view – which is all of reality – “…is the container within which our practice can actually be free.” Continuing with his series of reflections on Keizan Jokin Zenji’s “Zazen-Yojinki,” Koshin takes time in this talk to focus on the next few lines of this text. Listen to how Keizan Zenji speaks to the expansive view of the whole. “Without peak of depths, its brilliance is unthinkable, its shows itself silently. Between sky and earth, only this whole body is seen.”  How can we open ourselves up to see this whole body? How can this enliven our practice and ground our service in the world? For Koshin, the qualities of equanimity, compassion, and wisdom are key. In our lifetime, how can we embody these qualities in our relationships? Can all of our heart-minds manifest equanimity, compassion, and wisdom as medicine for a world perpetually struggling with fires, floods, and violence? May our clear and loving actions, in this moment, reverberate outward for the sake of all beings who will be here long after we are gone.      ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Seeing This Whole Body | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Taking refuge in Sangha is taking refuge in diversity—diversity inside and diversity in the world.”   We share this profound and tender opening dharma talk from our recent Summer Commit to Sit in honor of our upcoming Commit to Sit starting January 22nd.   In it, Koshin Sensei opens the 90-day practice period by weaving timeless teachings from Buddha’s era into the challenges and opportunities of modern life. From the joy of shared meditation to reflections on suffering, impermanence, and interconnectedness, this talk is both deeply moving and lighthearted—featuring everything from Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” to a humorous nod to Schitt’s Creek.   He also explores how to “take refuge” in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, inviting us to embrace both our fears and joys, our personal stories, and the vastness of the universe.   With reflections on love, death, and the enduring power of community, we are invited to live fully, practice deeply, and fold everything—suffering, diversity, and awe—into the richness of life.     ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post The Great Challenge of Sangha | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“There is not a moment when you can’t practice.” – Koshin   Many of us are busy. We often share with one another just how busy our lives feel. Can we slow down, pause, and experience each moment? Koshin Sensei reminds us that “Zazen teaches us how to find a stillpoint in the midst of movement.”    In this recent dharma talk from the first days of 2025, Koshin begins his talk with a description of a ritual of gratitude for his teacher and continues his series on Keizan Jokin Zenji’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. We listen as Koshin reads the next few lines. “Do nothing at all. The six senses produce nothing.” In our zazen practice, we are encouraged not to get caught up and involved with all these senses. What would it be like not to mindlessly follow the sights, sounds, and smells of the world? Could this become the beginning steps of not creating a world that is our exact same shape? “Stop making up things.” says Koshin. When we allow the expansiveness of the world to open us up something happens. “What is this?” Keizan Zenji asks. “Its name is unknown. It cannot be called ‘body’, it cannot be called ‘mind’. Trying to think of it, the thought vanishes. Trying to speak of it, words die. It is like a fool, an idiot.” The aspiration is boundlessness not perfection. And this is the practice. We do this together, Koshin reminds us, because becoming foolish is about living in truth. Like the Baba Yaga of mythic folklore, life is imploring us to authentically show up and not succumb to the devouring forces that hide us from ourselves and one another.  May we set down our demand for perfection and open ourselves up to the spaciousness that is available in every moment.    ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Boundlessness Not Perfection | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“What do you need to set aside?”   How often do we get stuck on ‘rightness’ and ‘wrongness’?  These judgements separate us from actually experiencing our lives moment by moment. Keizan Jokin invites us to free ourselves from such considerations and rest comfortably in our true nature for the sake of all beings. In this new year, what entanglements will you set down to enliven your practice, your life?    In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei continues his series of talks on Keizan Jokin’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. A line-by-line study of these “points to keep in mind when practicing zazen” allows the clarity of Keizan’s teachings to impact how we function in the world. Koshin begins this talk with a tender look at the perfectly imperfect rituals and forms of zen practice. As with our lives and relationships, we are encouraged to invite everything in. Can we give dignity to what is worn out and make way for new things to emerge? When we get tangled up in our preferences, get enamored by our ideas and feelings about everything; when we are certain that we are ‘right’ and they are ‘wrong’, Keizan reminds us to “…put aside all affairs, and let go of all associations.” The new year presents an opportunity for all of us to align our values and actions. May our aspirations guide us into the full, messy, beauty of life.       ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.       MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Set Aside Entangling Affairs and Associations | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Zazen is an attitude for how you live.” – Koshin    For many of us, showing others who we really are is rare. But why? What causes and conditions; stories and identities do you drape around yourself? Keizan Jokin says that the practice of sitting zazen is like coming home. How can we set down what is hiding and separating us from one another to be truly at home within ourselves and of service to others?    In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei offers the second in a series of talks on Keizan Jokin’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. Keizan is the dharma grandson of Dogen Zenji and, like Dogen, was committed to making this practice available and accessible to all people. With this aspiration, Keizan is notable for many things, including the creation of communal rituals and ceremonies honoring loss and recognizing other rites of passage. In this classic text, “Zazen-Yojinki,” translated as “Points to keep in mind when practicing zazen,” we are encouraged to set down our preoccupations with the small self and allow ourselves and others to become who we truly are. In this talk Koshin focuses on the second sentence as it expands on Keizan’s opening line. What dwelling “comfortably in your actual nature” looks like in practice and in life is “revealing yourself manifesting the original ground.” That is, when we come home to ourselves in our practice, through our relationships, “both body and mind drop off. Zazen is far beyond the form of sitting or lying down.” The forms of practice and the roles we play in life can become a barrier to meeting reality just as it is. Can we allow the small body and mind to drop off so that we may experience what else is true? We all have specific roles and identities that are important to how we function in the world. And any one of them can become a problem. It depends on how we hold these identities. Can we practice setting our smaller selves down? When our true nature is uncovered, “revealing ourselves manifesting the mind-ground,” we can come home to ourselves and be of service to others.    ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.       MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Revealing Ourselves Manifesting the Mind-Ground | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“What have you discovered that is reliable, no matter what?” – Koshin   Like a plum blossom blooming in the winter, possibilities can emerge even when new life seems inconceivable. Koshin Sensei encourages us to stop indulging our deadening habits and to work with our minds to get clear moment by moment. Can we walk down the street, meet other humans, and get curious about our life together?   In this dharma talk during Rohatsu, Koshin turns our attention to Dogen Zenji’s writings from this day eight hundred and twenty three years ago. He writes, “The two wheels of practice and dharma are intimately connected and constantly turning. Under the bodhi tree the flower of awakening shines bright though and incalculable expanse encompassing tens of thousands of realms. Bliss permeates all beings and their environments.” During this commemoration of Shakyamuni Buddha’s commitment to remaining steadfast in practice, we are given another reminder to ask ourselves: what is zazen for? Is it about just getting through another period of sitting? What are we doing with our minds, our lives? Dogen’s words strike a sweet and nudging tone when he writes that practice, in every moment, can lead to “…feeling a sense of joy as if for the first time.” This talk concludes with a wonderful description of the rituals of Rohatsu.      ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.   MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Intimately Connected and Constantly Turning | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“It turns out that we don’t really change until we completely commit, especially when things are hard.” – Koshin    We all can feel lonely and isolated sometimes. And, at the very same time, we are often reluctant to participate and engage with what is all around us. Koshin Sensei encourages us not to hold back. Perhaps, when we commit to being fully in our lives, we can come home to ourselves and truly meet others along the way.      In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei offers the first in a series of teachings on Keizan Jokin’s “Zazen-Yojinki”. Keizan, the dharma grandson of Dogen Zenji, is the recognized co-founder of Soto Zen Buddhism and the title of this text is translated as “Points to keep in mind when practicing zazen.” The opening sentence is striking. “Zazen means to clarify the mind-ground and dwell comfortably in your actual nature.” Koshin focuses on this line and encourages us to fully inhabit our lives. When Keizan says that “zazen is like returning home and sitting in peace,” Koshin asks: why remain outside the gate? “Other activities and distractions are like being outside the gate. When we are not focused, we leave ourselves outside the gate.” The commitment to practice is about clarifying and dwelling, about being in your true nature and coming home. The auspicious occasion of this talk is the morning directly after our sangha’s Rohatsu celebration, a sitting meditation practice that goes deep into the middle of the night to honor Shakyamuni Buddha’s steadfast sitting under the bodhi tree until he saw the morning star.  Rohatsu reconnects us to the urgency of practice and recognizes that we are here because of the dedication of myriad practitioners of the awakening way. Come in. Do not stay outside the gate. Join life.     ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.       MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Clarify the Mind-Ground | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“We are caught in unawareness, in delusion, when our minds grasp after what isn’t really here and right in front of us.” – Chodo   Our minds are constantly grasping after shiny objects – names, concepts, ideas, stories. There is a long history in Buddhism of referring to this cognitive tendency as our monkey mind. Chodo Sensei encourages us to pay close attention to this grasping. Can we see how our minds chase after the mere reflections of things, rather than aspiring to connect with what is really here?    In this dharma talk, Chodo begins by drawing our attention to what is around him. The flowers, like all aspect of reality, become our teacher. We also hear about a recent trip Chodo took to the Japan Society to view paintings and calligraphy by Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768). Chodo focuses on one particular scroll depicting a monkey reaching down into a pool of water to grab the moon. This relatively famous image is revealing, a playful portrayal of a central teaching about the kinds of minds we all have. In our delusion, the mind’s reach is often misplaced. Chodo turns to the wisdom of Zen Master Raven to teach us more about delusion. Can we seek after what is real and practice doing what is true?  Ethical precepts, we are reminded by this talk, are always intimately related to the minds we cultivate. This talk concludes with Chodo’s reading and exploration of Thich Nhat Hahn’s perspective on the moon and the moonviewer.     ZENTALK NOTES   Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.    MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Aspiring Not Grasping | Chodo Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Why are you seeking liberation outside of yourself?” – Jianzhi    We all can feel bound up sometimes. And for good reason, depending on the life circumstances we find ourselves in. Over time and with practice, Koshin Sensei encourages us, we can learn to avail ourselves of the freedom and clarity that are always available to us. Within a supportive community, invite yourself to “Set down what you are worried about and just show up in each moment.”   In this dharma talk, Koshin begins with a moving reflection on the value of tears. “Moments of weeping help to clarify what is most important to us.” His talk continues with an exploration of an ongoing study of Soto Zen’s Chinese ancestors. We learn how Daoxin, who lived during the 7th Century, is not so different from us today. Caught up in his own stuff and clamoring to find someone to give him all the answers, Daoxin is tenderly and pointedly questioned by his teacher, Jianzhi. Their intimate exchange as teacher and student is another example of how this practice is about community and relationship. In one moment, we are bound up and in the next we are clear. We lose our way only to find it again in the next breath. This awakening way, Koshin reminds us, must be practiced with great tenderness toward ourselves and with one another. Near the end of this talk, Koshin reads Keizan’s poetic tribute to the exchange between Daoxin and Jianzhi.   “Mind is empty, and our knowing contains no right or wrong. In this, what is there to be bound or liberated?”     ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.       MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Who is Binding You? | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“How open am I? Who and what do I not welcome in?” – Koshin   Providing safe harbor and true welcome to all others is deeply courageous. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the bodhisattva vow to exclude nothing and no one from our care and compassion. “How many of us are that open?”     In this dharma talk, Koshin Sensei reflects on a recent visit to Liberty Island. He is moved to imagine what his own sojourning ancestors must have felt seeing this ‘mother of exiles,’ as Emma Lazarus refers to Lady Liberty, for the first time. The statue, an enormous beacon to our highest ideals as a nation, strikes an active pose. Her heel is raised, about to take another step forward, communicating the provocative truth that real welcome is an active, ongoing process. How often do we get complacent and sit back to passively stand by while the challenging surges of life assail us? Can we be moved to practice courageous welcome as an active, open, and curious response to all others? This is the bodhisattva vow. For Koshin, it brings to mind Dogen’s central question: If the “…way is basically perfect and all-pervading…”then  “[w]hat is the use of going off here and there to practice?” When we decide that only some things and some beings matter, we divide what is originally and perfectly whole and “the mind is lost in confusion.” May we practice being open together and learn to include more and more of ourselves and others. “Constantly perform in such a manner,” Dogen teaches, “and you are assured of being a person.”          ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.       MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Actively Welcoming All Beings | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“When the mind calms down, we can treat ourselves and others more authentically.” – Chodo Campbell    Morality and right ethical conduct is not about appearing a certain way or trying to look good. Doing what is right is about owning your own shit, vowing with every misstep to act more skillfully, and continuing to practice what you truly value with others. How can you pull yourself together over and over again to experience a life of freedom and connection?     In this dharma talk, Chodo Sensei explores Sila, the paramita of ethical conduct or moral discipline. The occasion for these teachings is the Contemplative Care Retreat which gathered around the theme of “The Nobility of Imperfection”. Beginning with the verse of atonement, Chodo invites us to face our minds and actions exactly as they are in the messiness and confusion of life. Drawing on his own experiences and the insight from Norman Fischer that “…wrong conduct unsettles the mind and heart…,” we are encouraged to find our breath and take our seats to help settle our minds and ground ourselves in this moment.  It is difficult to see what is fresh and new when we are caught up in the swirl of unskillful behaviors, Chodo tells us. How can we interrupt unhealthy habits and begin again, right now? This talk concludes with Zen Master Raven and daffodils teaching us more about liberation.      ZENTALK NOTES   Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets.        MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Pulling Yourself Together | Chodo Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Living fully is not an idea. Tenderness and compassion are always the barometer of how practice is going.” – Koshin Paley Ellison   Uncertainty about elections. Dozens of active wars around the globe. “Where do you focus?” Koshin Sensei asks. What practice guides your life?      In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei names where we find ourselves. Within the whirls of conflict, chaos, confusion, and upheaval we must be evermore receptive. The dharmas are boundless. What we celebrate and we what we abhor are opportunities to remain grounded in our practice. What grounds your practice, your life? Seeking after the right view and learning to act wisely means understanding that ethical precepts are not ideas. Living fully is not an idea. How are you able to approach others with tenderness and compassion? Koshin asks us to reflect on this question by turning our attention to teachings from Dogen Zenji’s work entitled Zenki, or “Full Function”. The founder of the Soto Zen lineage of Buddhism writes that “…there is leaving life and death, and there is entering life and death; and both are the great way exhaustively investigated.” What would it look like for you to be fully functioning in all your relationships? Together, with tenderness and compassion, may we exhaustively investigate how we are showing up in the world.      ZENTALK NOTES Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Full Functioning Tenderness and Compassion | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“If we are going to maintain our practice carefully, we have to pay careful attention to what we think is not welcome.” – Koshin Paley Ellison   Our lives are complicated. Full of love and light; anger and judgment. Can we resist deciding too quickly what should and should not be welcomed in?    In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei shares teachings from Dogen Zenji about the precepts. “The great precepts of the Buddha are maintained carefully.” and “Receiving the precepts we are beyond the three times.” These gems are explored by Koshin as he offers his remarks directly after returning from a retreat with participants in the New York Zen Center’s Contemplative Medicine Fellowship. The Fellows, as medical professionals, have committed to living the bodhisattva vow to help others. But, like all of us, how they think, talk to themselves, and function in the world gets chunky and gunky. The heart-mind needs to be regularly swept clean. We should be carefully maintaining our practice by looking directly, and without flinching, at everything coming up within ourselves and happening in our relationships. “We are sure that what we think is true, and then we meet other people,” Koshin reminds us. Are we able to welcome all others as important teachers?  Shakyamuni Buddha, the great stories tell us, actually welcomed Mara in. We are encouraged to learn and understand what all of life has to teach us, perhaps especially from those we despise or find disgusting. Anyone who gets under our skin may be the best spiritual friend. They show you where the limits of your compassion are. May we practice being direct and unflinching with what our lives are showing us and be open to constantly learning together how to be more spacious and connected.     ZENTALK NOTES Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Direct and Unflinching | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“Are you indulging your bulls@$t, your mistaken understandings?” – Koshin Paley Ellison    The awakening Way is not an idea. How can we free ourselves from the ideas of practice in order to practice?    In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei continues to engage with Dogen Zenji’s “Deportment of the Practicing Buddha” by paying close attention to the following lines: “Those who are not practicing buddhas are not yet liberated from the bonds of the buddha…’Bonds of the buddha,’ means precisely to be bound by the very knowledge, the very understanding that knows and understands bodhi as bodhi. We pass through each moment of thought without expectation of a time of liberation, vainly given over to our mistaken understandings. To understand bodhi as bodhi must be the knowledge that accords with bodhi.” Koshin encourages us to see how we can get caught up in our concepts and assumptions about what a practicing Buddha is. How do you not get bound up by an idea and just show up to do what is loving and kind? When we practice fully engaging with what each moment has to offer, we see the destruction and pain and separation all around us. We confront the sorrows of this world. But there is always more. When we are open, Koshin teaches, “joy is also possible where we think it isn’t. Sorrow and joy are side by side.” When we live our lives in service to others, we will receive feedback and notice opportunities to learn to flow with praise and correction. “Everything can be used to see the quality of your mind,” Koshin reminds us in this talk. How are you vainly given over to your mistaken understandings? How can you completely show up for others with love and compassion?       ZENTALK NOTES Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Bonds of the Buddha | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“It is not enough that your carcass is here. Are you really alive to who you are, who you’re with, and what is around you in this moment?”  – Koshin Paley Ellison    Can you bring more liveliness into your life? Whether walking down the street or sitting zazen, Koshin Sensei invites us to practice being fully alive, keenly attuned to the present. Too often, because we are human, we move in and out of touch with what each moment has to offer. Come back. Again and again, practice.   In this recent dharma talk, Koshin continues his series of talks on Dogen Zenji’s gyobutusu iigi, “Deportment of the Practicing Buddha.” Dogen writes, “For this practicing buddha, since his deportment appears in each thing, his deportment appears before his body; his teaching spills out before his words, spanning the times, spanning the directions, spanning the buddhas, spanning the practices.” The Way is about how one carries oneself. This is a central teaching. Deportment has something to do with posture, bearing, presence, and totally inhabiting your body and mind. Koshin encourages us not to merely follow our stream of thoughts and waves feelings wherever they take us. Rather, we are to allow the practice to spread its influence and grow to become that from which all our words and actions flow. This way of engaging with ourselves and others, Koshin reminds us, is dynamic and attuned and alive. Bring this liveliness into everything you do. This is how we will be able to meet whatever arises. Our thoughts may bounce from one thing to another or ruminate on one thing for hours. We may go from feeling bored, raw, tender, challenged, connected, and triggered from one minute to the next. How can we hold all of this? Can we remain in relationship? May we keep showing up to everything we do. And continue to do this together.    ZENTALK NOTES Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Bringing Liveliness into Everything You Do | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

“We need enthusiasm for practice to meet this opportunity, to show up to our life, right now.” – Koshin   Can you bring increased vigor and enthusiasm to your relationships, to your life? The pāramitā of virya is active and connecting. It does not have to appear or sound a certain way, but being vigorous has everything to do with how we show up. As Koshin Sensei observes, “You can feel when someone is completely with you.”    In this dharma talk, from NYZC’s recent Contemplative Care Retreat, Koshin leans further into the theme of The Nobility of Imperfection by exploring virya, often translated as vigor or enthusiasm. While the six pāramitās are certainly interconnected, Koshin turns his full attention to virya in this challenging and spirited talk. Actually being of service to others requires that we be wholehearted. No maybes or we’ll sees. An enthusiasm for practice and an enthusiasm for caring go hand-in-hand for Koshin. To think otherwise is delusion. Drawing on his teacher/student relationship as an exemplar, Koshin emphasizes his vow to say ‘Yes’ to what is being asked of him at the bedside, in sangha, in life. We are invited to closely at our lives and to reflect deeply on what we do. What is holding you back?      ZENTALK NOTES   Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei is a Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.     MUSIC Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.   NYZC PUBLICATIONS Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL   CONNECT WITH US —Instagram —Facebook —X (Twitter) —Donate The post Enthusiasm In Relationship | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.