Quietude in the Midst of the Storm | Koshin Paley Ellison

“Sangha (community) is not a retreat from suffering but a mirror to it.”

In this lively and direct dharma talk, Koshin Sensei invites us to explore what it truly means to cultivate serenity and quietude; not as an escape from life’s messiness, but as a way of meeting it fully.

Drawing on a Jataka (lives of the historical Buddha) tale of a hollow tree, teachings from our Zen ancestors, Dogen Zenji and Uchiyama Roshi, and reflections on the challenges and beauty of Sangha life, Koshin reminds us that impermanence is the very nature of awakening. 

True quietude, he says, is “settling down in the deepest meaning of your own life,” even when the winds are strong and the mud is thick.

Rather than clinging to what appears sturdy or avoiding discomfort, we are invited to stay, to be changed by continuous practice (like robes slowly moistened by the mist) and to discover serenity right in the heart of our lives, together.