Zencare Podcast Failure, Zombies & the Grasping Mind | Koshin Paley Ellison
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Sep 30, 2025 A lively talk on practice as ongoing failure and why there is no final arrival. Tips for settling the mind and not entertaining every thought. A call to stop outsourcing meaning and to notice habitual grasping. Playful stories, zombie imagery about endless craving, and a surprise giant Labubu moment that highlights distraction. An invitation to embrace simple, wholehearted practice in daily life.
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Practice Has No Finish Line
- Practice never ends because even great teachers like Shakyamuni Buddha and Dogen Zenji kept learning until their last moments.
- Koshin Paley Ellison uses their lifelong practice to show that seeing ourselves as not-failing is a delusion that blocks wholehearted practice.
Stop Outsourcing Why You Live
- There is no external force that compels you to live; relying on outside validation is a mistaken hope of human beings.
- Uchiyama Roshi's point is that waiting for laws, leaders, or rescuers outsources the meaning of life and removes personal responsibility.
Practice Letting Go Of Grasping
- Expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing as Dogen Zenji instructs to travel the way of the Buddhas and ancestors.
- Koshin recommends softening grasping habits so you can experience yourself and the world without inflating or deflating by others' opinions.