In the second part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu guides us into the embodiment of silent illumination. He begins not with theory but with experience: posture, presence, and body. Speaking with a soft, smooth cadence—measured and unhurried—we explore the terrain of our own physicality through an extended guided meditation followed by a reflection on the practice of silent illumination. Noticing most people live in their heads, estranged from their own physicality, Guo Gu teaches that rooting attention in the body diminishes the grip of thought. This space from mental activity allows for “curiosity and great interest” in what remains – the felt edge before ideas form. Resting in this alert wonderment is silent illumination, a practice that seeks nothing and, in seeking nothing, reveals the treasury of true intimacy.

In this session of Awareness in Action, Roshi Joan Halifax and Terry Tempest Williams guide participants to witness the world with care, presence, and courage. Roshi Joan opens with the Zen koan—“A monk asked Joshu, when great difficulties come upon us, can they be avoided?” Joshu replies, “Welcome.”—and, in the same spirit, notes the similarity in Chinese kanji between “crisis” and “opportunity” helping to frame our global challenges alongside our global potential. Terry invites us to dwell in the spaces between light and dark, love and grief: “To be in light and to be in dark is to hold that space in between.” She shows how even the smallest acts of noticing can become profound practice, saying, “Attention is a prayer.” The session explores the deep intertwining relationship between spiritual practice and civic engagement, revealing that democracy, ecological care, and awakening unfold not in abstraction, but in patient, loving attention to the world and each other.
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In this closing session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, faculty and participants reflect on how ancient teachings become living transmission through courage, friendship, and practice. Roshi Joan reminds us that discovery emerges not through resolution but through living fully within paradox, just as Dogen himself persisted amid loss and uncertainty. Steven Heine and Kazuaki Tanahashi illuminate Dogen’s poetic range—paradoxes that resist mastery yet open insight. Norman and Kathie Fischer return us to what matters: practice as generosity, kinship, and the tender work of being human. Genzan invites us to bring Dogen home—reading, writing by hand, and connecting with others through our questions and insights. This communal closing affirms that understanding ripens not in concepts, but in relationship—with the teachings, each other, and our own wakeful life.
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In the seventh session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Sensei Genzan explores Dogen’s Eight Awakenings of Great Beings (Hachi Dainin Gaku), weaving scholarship with lived experience to reveal how Zen practice addresses the paradoxes of daily life. “It’s not that Dogen is paradoxical,” he notes, “our lives are paradoxical.” With humor and humility, Genzan shows how the Eight Awakenings form not a list but “a holistic mandala,” where each quality—few desires, contentment, quietude, diligence, remembering the dharma, samadhi, wisdom, and refraining from idle talk—contains all the others. Through vivid stories, from a restless zazen to gently escorting a spider from his bathtub, he demonstrates how ordinary experiences embody awakening. This intimate teaching invites us to live the paradox of practice with kindness, courage, and freedom.
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In the sixth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, the faculty engage in a rich exploration of Dogen’s use of language, paradox, and poetry as spiritual communication. Heine highlights how paradox functions as a “turning word,” pushing beyond ordinary discourse to liberate us from fixed assumptions. The faculty respond with perspectives on authenticity, context, and translation, illuminating Dogen’s genius as both philosopher and poet. Norman Fischer emphasizes that Dogen was not paradoxical in ordinary life, but an intelligent, grounded human being who communicated appropriately—whether instructing monks, speaking with donors, or handling everyday matters. The conversation celebrates Dogen’s timeless ability to weave philosophy, artistry, and humanness into teachings that remain profoundly relevant today.
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In this fifth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Norman and Kathie Fischer explore Dogen’s Four Methods of Guidance (Bodaisatta Shishobo), one of the most accessible and transformative fascicles of the Shobogenzo. Building on reflections about paradox in Zen, Norman Fischer explains how paradox “extends the subtlety and the scope of what you mean,” allowing us to deepen our curiosity toward teachings such as “Nirvana is samsara.” Together, Norman and Kathie unpack Dogen’s radical instructions: generosity as “not craving,” kind speech as truly caring, beneficial action as “benefiting self and others together,” and identity action as the non-separation of self and other—exemplified in the story of Lingzhao who, after seeing her father fall, runs up and falls beside him. “She did not run up to help her father solve his problem. She just joins him. She just comes to be with him just where he is.” We are pulled into the question: what is it like to join the joyful paradox of service through practice?
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In this fourth session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, Sensei Jiryu explores the profound paradox at the heart of Zen practice: the essential teaching of non-separation. He highlights the famous line, “The great way is not difficult, only avoid picking and choosing,” echoed by Suzuki Roshi’s words: “The supreme way is not difficult. If you just avoid discrimination, then whatever you encounter, that is it.” Jiryu examines how true non-discrimination paradoxically requires precise discernment. Through vivid examples—from walking on rocky terrain to Santa’s red suit—he illuminates the difference between genuine Zen practice and what Dogen called the “naturalistic heresy” of passive acceptance. Guiding listeners toward embodied wisdom that can “discriminate through non-discrimination,” he reveals how to move beyond the either-or mind into a freedom that responds with clarity and precision to each moment’s authentic demand. This teaching shows how true practice embraces everything while preserving the discerning accuracy of awakened beings.
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In this third session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, renowned poet, translator, and peace activist Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi presents his analysis of paradox in Dogen’s writings, drawing from his monumental 33-year translation project of the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye). Tanahashi offers a unique classification system organizing these teaching devices into three categories: freedom from the self, freedom from divisions, and freedom from conventional views. His approach acknowledges the inherent contradiction of intellectual analysis and what transcends intellectual understanding, admitting with humor, “This is anti-zen. This is anti-Dogen. Yes, I am guilty.” Complementing his scholarly insights with commentary on his own large format calligraphy pieces, Tanahashi reveals how a paradox can free us from fixed ideas and open us to what he calls “wisdom beyond wisdom.” This masterful blend of rigorous scholarship, artistic expression, and playful wisdom illuminates the transformative power of seeming nonsense in Zen practice.
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In this second session of the Dogen Seminar, distinguished scholar Dr. Steven Heine explores the profound role of paradox in Zen Buddhism, examining how these seemingly contradictory teachings serve as liberating devices rather than confounding puzzles. As Professor of Religious Studies and History, Heine has dedicated his career to studying Zen master Dogen and has authored nearly three dozen books on Zen Buddhist history and thought. Drawing from his extensive research into Chinese Soto Zen traditions, Heine shares how “the significance of paradox is to create a sense of freedom, freedom from delusion” by serving as rhetorical devices that dislodge us from self-deceptions. His scholarly approach describes the intricate relationship between paradox, parable, and paradigm in Dogen’s writings, demonstrating how apparent contradictions like “to study the self is to forget the self” guide practitioners toward what he calls “the vanishing point of satori” – where all polarities dissolve into boundless experience. This deeply erudite but accessible exploration of Dogen shows how paradoxical language provides practical pathways to authentic awakening and appropriate, intuitive action.
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In this opening session of Upaya’s Dogen Seminar, program faculty introduce themselves and reflect on themes and paradoxes within Dogen’s teachings they will be sharing over the weekend. Roshi Joan Halifax presented Dogen’s fundamental question from age 13: if we already possess Buddha nature, why do we seek enlightenment? Teachers Steven Heine, Sensei Kaz, Norman and Kathie Fisher, and Sensei Jiryu explored various aspects of how paradox serves as a pathway to freedom from delusion rather than intellectual puzzles. Participants were invited to share their motivations for attending, with many expressing how Dogen’s writings inspire deeper practice despite—or because of—their difficulty to understand. As one participant beautifully expressed: “When I read Dogen, I feel very strongly that he wants me to practice… I feel like he wants me to practice. He’s really pulling for me.” The evening emphasized sitting with contradiction rather than trying to resolve it, that our very existence is paradoxical and an acceptance of this fact can create shifts toward greater peace and deeper practice.
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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, resident priest Senko Perez reflects on the common trap of imagining that true practice lies elsewhere—in quieter places, calmer minds, or better circumstances. During a recent solo retreat in Cerrillos, he expected peace, quiet, and to submerge into deep practice. Contrary to his expectations Perez describes the arrival of his own restless thoughts and “all of these imaginary people who were filling that beautiful little casita with me.” In the relatable effort to tame his restless mind, Perez greeted old habits and wounds previously thought to be resolved. Reading from the Genjo Koan Perez regains the thread – “When you find your place where you are, practice occurs; actualizing the fundamental point. When you find your way at this moment, practice occurs; actualizing the fundamental point. The place, the way, is neither large nor small, neither self nor other.” Perez speaks to the release that comes with radical surrender—what Dogo Rinpoche called “resting like a flowing river.” Rather than waiting for perfect conditions, we are invited to meet the treasury of awakening here and now, in each noisy, fleeting, and beautiful moment of our lives.

In this session of Awareness in Action and speaking from her farm in Alexandria, Louisiana—unexpectedly located at the center of America’s deportation operations—dharma teacher and social justice activist Konda Mason explores the powerful connection between inner and outer equity. Drawing from her transformative move from Oakland California’s progressive bubble to rural Louisiana, Mason shares her appreciation for her practice to cultivate equanimity in the face of her own covert biases. Mason weaves together Buddhist teachings with insights from Hannah Arendt’s concept of “The Banality of Evil” and John Paul Lederach’s “Improbable Dialogue” to demonstrate how contemplative practice enables meaningful engagement across deep political divides. We are encouraged to make the leap beyond polarization toward genuine connection. Referencing Dr. Cornel West’s “Justice is what love looks like in public” Mason adds “Equity is what equanimity looks like in public,” sharing the importance of building authentic democracy rooted in our shared humanity.
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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Monshin explores the ancient Buddhist teaching of Kanno Doko — “responsive communion” or “mystical communion.” Drawing from a Wallace Stevens poem and the writings of Suzuki Roshi, she reflects on the mind that can “get quiet enough to be in our experience, quiet enough to be our experience.” With plain curiosity, Monshin asks: What do we really feel? How do we sense Buddha’s response to us? What is that really? She weaves together insights from Dōgen, Katagiri Roshi, Simone Weil, and Joanna Macy, showing how this quieting transcends tradition and is expressed in the deep aspiration — the call and intention — for awakening. As Simone Weil writes, “Attention consists of suspending our thought, leaving it detached, empty, and ready to be penetrated by the object.” Through humility and deep listening, we may find that “if we know who we are, we can’t help but make life-honoring choices.”

In the first part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu explores the deep relationship between silent illumination (or just sitting), and embodiment practice. He traces the historical roots of silent illumination from ancient China and Zen patriarch Hongzhi, through to Dogen’s application of them in the Soto school of Zen. Guo Gu discusses silent illumination as a remedy for our natural tendency to be “top heavy,” saying, “we have to disentangle this overlay of discursive, rumination, ideas, words, and language onto all of our experiences, all the senses.” His approach centers on embodied experiencing – through progressive relaxation of skin, muscles, and tendons, we ground our experience within the body itself—this is how we “come to know ourselves, and come to know the world, others, through our body right now.” This simple but profoundly practical practice reveals how we can transform not just our sitting practice, but our entire way of being present with others in daily life.
In part two, Guo Gu will guide us deeper into embodied practice and explore the unifying quality of wonderment in silent illumination.

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Jiryu affirms the central practice of Zen is to become truly ourselves. Reading from Suzuki Roshi’s teachings, and sharing quotes from Shohaku Okamura, Katagiri Roshi, and others, Jiryu explores two dimensions of practicing being ourselves: being fully who you are in the relative world, and recognizing the deeper self that “includes everything.” As Suzuki Roshi taught, “When you become yourself, your practice includes everything. Whatever there is, it is a part of you.” Jiryu encourages us to see how this seemingly simple invitation to “just be yourself” is actually the complete path of Zen practice and abides naturally within the precepts. This simple practice adheres to the Bodhisattva precepts when we realize true ethics aren’t external rules but flow from our innate loving nature, which already contains all the wisdom we need for living in harmony with others.

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Genzan offers a unique exploration of true dharma expression – weaving together the teachings of 13th century Zen master Dogen with the poetry and life of 18th century hermit-monk Ryokan through the unexpected lens of modern Butoh dance choreography. Genzan suggests we may interpret Ryokan’s poetry as the ‘fu’ or choreography for the Way of practice and guides the audience through Dogen’s “Eight Understandings of Great People,” pairing each teaching with Ryokan’s poetry and his own personal anecdotes. The fundamental understandings: having few desires, knowing contentment, enjoying quietude, and maintaining right mindfulness – pull us in as Genzan skillfully illustrates these teachings to be beautiful, natural, and totally accessible, like how water moves around a rock with “No fuss, no muss, no complaint, no ‘who put this rock here?'” Genzan reveals how the hermit poet danced Dogen’s wisdom from across centuries through his simple alignment with the current moment. The talk culminates with Ryokan’s profound teaching on “no mind” – where blossoms invite butterflies and butterflies visit blossoms in perfect, unknowing harmony with the Way.

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, longtime resident and novice priest Jimon Lorene Flaming tenderly offers her long and winding path to practice in her way-seeking mind talk. Inspired by overseas medical service by her father and the values of her Mennonite upbringing, Jimon blazed a passionate path in her life toward service. Aspiring to be of use to the world, she studied public policy at Harvard, soaking in their glorification of data and analytics, disregarding the ‘softer skills’ she would come to appreciate later like connections and leadership. Always striving, Jimon moved from the World Bank to positions scattered across Bosnia, Cambodia, Liberia, Afghanistan (and more). She reflects on the intense efforts she made to achieve her goals, foreshadowing experiences to come with the saying “When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers.” In Bosnia, an acute escalation of an autoimmune disease tempered her beliefs toward self-reliance and achievement, initiating an arcing journey to return to her true home of inner practice. Jimon shares pivotal moments with spiritual teachers who affirmed her growing belief that of all the challenging destinations where service can be done, within herself is the most important place to travel. As her reflections approach the present, Jimon shares the affinity that arose from finding not only a home inside herself, but a community and sangha at Upaya to practice alongside: “If I had had a magic wand, I could not have dreamed this place up.” Noting the challenges of practice in community, Jimon ends with an encouragement to trust our inner voice, or as Rumi says, “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you truly love.”

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Dainin shares deeply personal stories of accompanying her father and Roshi Joan through life-threatening medical crises, revealing how the Buddhist Five Remembrances transformed from abstract teachings into intimate companions during times of acute uncertainty. Drawing from her unique perspective as both emergency physician and Zen practitioner, Dainin explores the difference between destructive pessimism and wise acceptance of impermanence. Recounting her father’s fulminant liver failure, Dainin honestly examines how her medical training led her to assume the worst, clinging to stories of doom while missing the possibilities (good and bad) that comes with uncertainty. Through her sister’s confrontation — “What are you doing? We are all here trying to help dad get through this and you are telling us that this is not gonna work” — she discovers how pessimism can become a form of attachment that causes more suffering. Quoting Rebecca Solnit’s insight that pessimism is “like a sinking ship” where we dismiss hope as naive and cannot see “lifeboats that are bobbing all around us,” Dainin illustrates how we often prefer the tempered certainty of negative outcomes over facing the vulnerability of genuine not-knowing. In a moment of clarity and poise, Dainin shares her response to her father’s fear and uncertainty in an elevator ride to another surgery when she leaned in close to say “Dad, you know, we love you, right?”— embodying Roshi Joan’s repeated reminder that “all that matters is love.” Through observing Roshi’s recent journey through open heart surgery, Dainin investigates her comment that “resistance obliterates dignity” and witnesses how true dignity means being present without shame or resistance to whatever the moment brings. Dainin challenges us to see the Five Remembrances not as pessimistic ruminations but as pathways through all Four Noble Truths, guiding us toward acceptance, love, and genuine presence with life’s deepest uncertainties.

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Monshin explores what it means to be a peacemaker in our complicated world. Recalling a creative renaming of the 4th of July as “Interdependence Day,” Monshin identifies the roots of war and aggression as ignorance — “ignorance as in misunderstanding the fact that we’re all connected and dependent on each other.” She encourages listeners to move beyond demonizing those with different views, asking us to genuinely consider: “Who are these people I don’t understand who act in ways I see as really harmful?” Quoting Father Greg Boyle’s Cherished Belonging, she shares his insight: “we’ve all met the broken, the despondent and damaged, the desperate and unwell, the traumatized, the wounded, the injured, but never anybody evil.” This helps us shape conflict as measures of misunderstanding or ignorance rather than an immutable aspect of person or society. Sharing stories from her 40 years as a public school teacher working with challenging students she guides participants through reflective questions about what it would take to be a genuine peacemaker in family, sangha, community, and within ourselves, asking: “What would you need to let go of? What would you need to pay attention to?” Through inspiring stories of Bernie Glassman’s Zen Peacemaker Order, the women of La Patrona helping migrants, and women in Wajir, Kenya creating zones of peace, Monshin illustrates how peacemaking begins with simple responses to immediate need, rather than enactment of lofty ideals. Her talk directs us again and again towards interbeing, challenging us to remember Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching that we are both victim and perpetrator, and calling for the moral imagination to transcend taking sides. We are inspired to recognize that to make real peace is to see that every side is our side.

In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, Father Gregory Boyle—Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries—offers a profound reflection on kinship, healing, and radical compassion. Father Boyle brings humor, depth, and decades of experience to bear on the essential truths that guide his work. Reflecting on 40 years of work with gang members as “the privilege of my life,” he discloses that “the day won’t ever come when I am more noble or more courageous or closer to God than the thousands upon thousands of men and women I’ve been privileged to know.” At the heart of his message are two powerful beliefs: that every person is unshakably good, and that we belong to each other. These principles, he says, if held without compromise, could dissolve every complex social problem we face.
Through tender and humorous stories of transformation, Father Boyle shows what happens when we move from judgment to awe, from fixing to cherishing—what he calls “love with its sleeves rolled up.” He recounts unforgettable moments: a young man confusing “exalted” with “exhausted,” toppling a revered God into a God who is weary (from loving us); gang rivals becoming friends through shared work; and his mother’s final words that teach us about presence and delight. These stories are not just anecdotes—they are invitations to stand confidently at the margins, “because that is the only way they will be erased,” and to build a circle of compassion with no one left outside. Whether confronting violence, addiction, or despair, Boyle’s work reveals a simple, luminous truth: healing comes through love, community, and the courageous act of cherishing one another.
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