The Doors of Liberation - Jogen Salzeberg, Sensei

In this retreat talk, Jogen explores love, yielding, and aimlessness as essential dimensions of Zen practice. Beginning with love as the ground of awakening—from kindness toward oneself to devotion to ending suffering—he offers practical guidance for integrating warmth, relaxation, and embodied presence into meditation. The talk unpacks distraction and return as the natural texture of practice, introduces the Mahayana teachings of signlessness, wishlessness, and aimlessness, and points to how releasing the habit of striving opens timelessness and freedom. Throughout, Jogen emphasizes sincere effort, deep yielding to the present moment, and the way an awakened heart-mind naturally interpermeates and benefits the wider world. This is talk 3 of the 2026 Dharma Gates retreat at Great Vow.