Zencare Podcast

A contemplative tour of Fudo Myo-o’s fierce, hara-centered presence and how that image shapes spiritual leadership. Reflections on binding fears, demons, and control to the path using sword and rope imagery. A retelling of the burning house parable and how difficulties can be turned into protectors and gates to practice.

A reflective talk on the Lotus Sutra and why thousands walked away from a teaching. Topics include the messy middle of practice, masks we wear, and how arrogance or guilt can drive withdrawal. There is focus on attentive listening, dialoguing with inner dissenters, and what it means to stay and care within a sangha.

A Zen teacher explores sitting zazen alongside plants and all beings. Reflections touch on practicing with terminal illness, staying open amid fear, and releasing personal stories. Ancient Lotus Sutra teachings and skillful means are woven with tender stories. Practical cues like soft-belly awareness and naming fear invite inclusive, nonjudgmental practice.

Chodo Robert Campbell, a Zen teacher who guides contemplative care and end-of-life practice, explores refuge through Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. He shares stories of sitting with the dying, finding presence in ordinary moments, and returning to community amid unrest. Short reflections on impermanence, care, and the steady practice of coming back to what is real.

Reflections on birth and mortality as a prompt to live fully. Simple daily rituals like zazen, sunrise, and care for others as nourishment. Stories of reunion and lineage that highlight tenderness and humility. Exploration of four inclusive practices: accepting injustice, adapting to conditions, seeking nothing, and simply showing up.

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.

A meditation on how daily discipline can bring freedom and joy. Stories from Zen history illustrate the search for authentic concentration. Reflections on refusing mind-manipulation and living with courage instead of autopilot. Practical encouragement to make focused practice a daily refuge and cultivate inner serenity.

"A boat without a rudder drifts with the current, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but always away from the true shore."In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei invites us to reflect deeply on what it means to “not lose sight of true dharma.” Drawing from Shakyamuni Buddha’s final teachings and Dogen Zenji’s commentary, Koshin reminds us that vigilance and effort are not punishments but the armor and encampment that protect us from distraction, defensiveness, and the pull of the senses. With humor and tenderness, he shows us how forgetting is simply the natural drift of an unmoored mind, and how remembering, again and again, brings us back to clarity, presence, and freedom.

“The challenge is not sustaining the silence (on retreat), but bringing the silence with you when you leave.”In this dharma talk from the final day of our recent summer silent retreat, Chodo sensei explores what it means to practice without seeking reward.Through the powerful story of 13th-century nun Mugai Nyodai, whose awakening came when the bottom fell out of her water bucket, and a poem by Marie Howe about a dog transfixed by moonlight, this talk explores mushotoku: the art of gaining nothing.Throughout the talk, Chodo weaves together intimate stories of caregiving, the challenges of spiritual ego, and the paradox of diligent effort (“shojin”) that aims to attain nothing. From cleaning a dying friend to a hospital chaplain learning to practice without robes, discover how true shojin means showing up fully present—not to become something, but to be with what is without clinging.

“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.