In this morning talk on the first full day of the Fall Practice Period Sesshin, Sensei Shinzan draws from Dōgen’s Bendōwa (“The Wholehearted Way”) to remind us that zazen itself is the true gate of the Buddha Dharma. With warmth and humor, he encourages practitioners to release striving and self-judgment, saying, “Sesshin is not for making decisions or planning your life. It’s for trusting the process and letting go.” As we surrender the impulse to control or achieve, we allow the practice to reveal its own quiet wisdom. “You are already Buddha,” Shinzan reminds us, pointing to the natural awakening that unfolds when we sit wholeheartedly—moment by moment, breath by breath—entering the wondrous dharma through the true gate.
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In this opening session of Upaya’s 2025 Fall Pratice Period Sesshin, four teachers—Sensei Kathie Fischer, Sensei Shinzan (joining remotely from San Diego), Sensei Monshin, and Hoshi Senko—welcome participants into the stillness and rhythm of this week-long meditation retreat. They offer encouragement and practical guidance for entering sesshin as a space of deep care and transformation. Sensei Kathie likens sesshin to a chrysalis, a protected container where we can safely dissolve old forms and allow something new to emerge. She reminds us of the quiet intimacy of silence, the tenderness of shared vulnerability, and the simple act of following the bell. Sensei Shinzan speaks of letting go of control—of plans, decisions, and self-concern—to rediscover the freedom of simply being present. Together, the teachers invite us to trust the process of sesshin: to meet our emotions with gentleness, care for one another as we would a fragile wing, and allow transformation to unfold naturally in its own time.
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In this Zazenkai Day Talk during Fall Practice Period, Chris Senko Perez reflects on Dōgen’s Genjō Kōan through his image of sailing far out to sea, where the ocean appears perfectly round. Dōgen comments on this imagery, “When Dharma fills your whole body and mind. You understand that something is missing.” Senko explores this paradox—how true fullness awakens an awareness of vastness still unseen. As practice ripens and familiarity sets in, complacency can create what Senko calls “a thin layer of non-contact,” a subtle barrier between ourselves and the living moment. His encouragement: return to the heart of our intention, to the freshness of not knowing. “You have no idea the depth of what’s here,” he reminds us. Senko invites us to rest in this mystery with “warmth and precision” asking “Why are you actually here? Why are you actually doing this?” opening us to a relaxed attentiveness where the ordinary reveals its quiet profundity—“the present moment becoming the present moment”.
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In this Fall Practice Period session, Senseis Kathie, Monshin, and Shinzan, with reflections from Hoshi Senko, open the study of Dogen’s Bendowa and Genjokoan. They invite participants to encounter Dogen not as a distant master to be analyzed but as a living companion in practice. “The zazen of even one person at one moment,” reads Sensei Monshin, “imperceptibly accords with all things and resonates through all time,” illustrating Dogen’s vision of practice and enlightenment as one. Sensei Shinzan reminds listeners, “It is right here… it’s happening,” while Sensei Kathie speaks of the “dynamic center” of the Middle Way and the spaciousness of beginner’s mind. With warmth and humor, the teachers guide students to slow down, trust the body, and let Dogen’s teachings come alive in everyday experience.
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In this Zazenkai Day talk during Upaya’s Fall Practice Period, Sensei Kathie Fischer offers her reflections on the simplicity and depth of Zen practice. She begins by exploring the role of language in understanding Zen, noting that “the purpose of a word is to create a boundary.” Kathie reflects on our intellectual and creative tendency to collect, compare, and update expressions of practice or enlightenment over time—sharing her curiosity for the word actualizing, —yet reminding us that “thinking and conceptualizing are actually outside the boundary that actualizing conveys.”
Kathie emphasizes that we cannot capture this practice through words alone; instead, these great questions must be lived and explored through our own bodies. In the end, Kathie, like Dōgen, points us toward the practice of shikantaza—“just sitting”—as the way to embody our pursuit of awakening. Her talk offers a timely reminder that our practice is our own, and that reading, analyzing, or striving for understanding can sometimes distract us from the simple act of being present.
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Senseis Monshin, Kathie Fischer, and Shinzan, together with Hoshi Senko, open Upaya’s Fall Practice Period by welcoming participants from around the world into a month of deep study of Dogen’s Genjokoan. “To study the way is to study the self,” Monshin reminds us, as the teachers reflect on beginning again, letting go of comparison, and trusting the unfolding of practice. With warmth, humor, and reverence, they invite practitioners to move with ease, rest in presence, and allow the forms to reveal their quiet magic. As residents and Cloud Sangha sign the opening scroll, a shared vow takes shape—an ancient rhythm renewed: do not squander your life.
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In this talk from Upaya’s Awareness and Action series, Dr. Guo Gu, founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, explores Embodiment and Engaged Practice—how awakening through the body becomes the ground for compassionate action in the world. “This body is what we have to work with,” he says. “It is the tool, it is this moment.” Through guided meditation and passionate teaching, Guo Gu reframes emptiness as “freshness, connection, new beginnings,” showing that when we return to embodied awareness, compassion arises naturally and action becomes effortless. Drawing on both ancient sutras and lived experience, he emphasizes that “everything is workable” when practice is rooted in presence. Grounded, humorous, and deeply practical, Guo Gu invites practitioners to rediscover the immediacy of awakening—right here, through this very body.
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In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during Fall Practice Period at Upaya, Sensei Monshin explores the meaning of dharma position. Building from Dogen’s Genjokoan, she explains dharma position as an expression of the inseparability of self and reality—“this intersection of the individual and universal.” Each being, she reminds us, is perfectly situated where it is; practice does not move us toward awakening but reveals that we are already dwelling within it. Quoting Dogen, “Each thing, when it’s completely and fully what it is, manifests the absolute,” Monshin invites us to consider how practice unfolds through alignment with this inherent fullness. We are encouraged to embody our own dharma position by participating fully in the dynamic functioning of the world—to stop and rest within the living moment of arising and passing. In this view, practice is the continuous realization of action, aliveness, and belonging.

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk during the Fall Practice Period, Sensei Shinzan turns to Dōgen’s Genjō Kōan, drawing on the  image of a monkey grasping at the moon’s reflection to reveal how our search for enlightenment often obscures what is really there. “You want to see who is awake or who is enlightened? Just watch how they live their lives,” he says, reminding us that realization is expressed through embodied action rather than social or material achievement. Quoting Dōgen, “Enlightenment does not disturb the person, just as the moon does not disturb the water,” Shinzan points to awakening as inseparable from daily life—reflected in each moment, whether washing a bowl, placing shoes at the zendo door, or meeting one another fully awake.

In this Way-Seeking Mind Dharma Talk, resident Tuck Butsumon Stibich offers a moving reflection on his path from intellectual inquiry to embodied Zen practice. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, in a family grounded in both mathematics and Catholic faith, Stibich’s curiosity about the world was nurtured by moments of wonder in nature and study abroad. His life’s arc carried him through Peace Corps service in Mongolia, graduate work in public health, and entrepreneurship before profound loss reshaped everything: his wife Julie’s death from glioblastoma and his own cancer diagnosis. Julie’s fearlessness in facing death, he shared, opened a space of deep connection—“she wasn’t afraid and she wasn’t angry… we ended up just connecting in this amazing, deep way.” Finding refuge at Upaya, Stibich discovered practice as presence rather than expertise, opening the gate for himself, and others through compassion and attentive presence.

In this session of Upaya’s Awareness in Action series, Bhikkhu Bodhi offers a penetrating teaching on discernment as the heart of engaged Buddhism in times of crisis. He reflects on his journey from 1960s activism, through decades of monastic practice in Sri Lanka, and back into the realm of social engagement, emphasizing that “Buddhism must not remain cloistered within meditation halls; it must speak to the burning issues of our age.” Drawing on his founding of Buddhist Global Relief, Bodhi critiques “a world where almost everything—land, water, even human relationships—has been turned into commodities for profit.” He exposes how “corporate, political, and media power weave together to entrench inequality and stifle compassion,” while urging practitioners to resist despair. Against this tide, he calls for “conscientious compassion,” an ethic of active responsibility for one another and the planet. “We have to discover what is true,” he says, “even at the cost of our comfort.”
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In Part 4 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan invite participants to “bring death into the room” through a mindfulness practice with photographs of people who stepped through the threshold of life. This practice asks us to directly face mortality and how our bodies, hearts, and minds respond to it—what draws us in and what makes us turn away? Through vivid stories of hospice life, Frank reveals how presence, dignity, and even humor can transform dying into a profoundly human experience. At the heart of the session is the story of Sono, whose death poem teaches surrender, non-attachment, and trust in the journey ahead. Death, Frank reminds us, is not as distant as we think—it is a mirror calling us to live with awareness, compassion, and authenticity now.
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This is the 2nd half of … part 3 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax explore the tension between belonging and accommodation. Through personal stories of illness, recovery, and care, they show how dignity in receiving and offering support deepens our understanding of love. Frank distinguishes authentic belonging—our birthright of interconnection—from the self-abandonment of accommodation, revealing how the effort to “fit in” erodes love and freedom. Echoing Brené Brown’s insight that “the opposite of belonging is fitting in,” participants reflected on patterns of accommodation in their own lives and envisioned who they might be without them—“authentic,” “fierce,” “free.” Teachings on loneliness vs. aloneness, radical acceptance, and the “sovereignty of solitude” underscored that love cannot flourish when we reject parts of ourselves. The session closed with Marie Howe’s Singularity, affirming our original belonging to all that is.
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In Part 3 of Upaya’s Love and Death program, Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax explore the tension between belonging and accommodation. Through personal stories of illness, recovery, and care, they show how dignity in receiving and offering support deepens our understanding of love. Frank distinguishes authentic belonging—our birthright of interconnection—from the self-abandonment of accommodation, revealing how the effort to “fit in” erodes love and freedom. Echoing Brené Brown’s insight that “the opposite of belonging is fitting in,” participants reflected on patterns of accommodation in their own lives and envisioned who they might be without them—“authentic,” “fierce,” “free.” Teachings on loneliness vs. aloneness, radical acceptance, and the “sovereignty of solitude” underscored that love cannot flourish when we reject parts of ourselves. The session closed with Marie Howe’s Singularity, affirming our original belonging to all that is.
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This is the 2nd half of … part two of Upaya’s Love and Death weekend program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski deepened the exploration of how personal love can open into universal compassion. Framed by the bodhisattva path, Roshi Joan recounted Thich Nhat Hanh’s story of youthful love for a nun, which he transmuted into service for a suffering Vietnam: “She represented everything I loved… bringing Buddhism into society, and realizing peace and reconciliation.” Participants reflected on their own “first loves,” discovering how such tender awakenings point beyond the self. Frank then introduced the four brahmaviharas—loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity—as practices that ground love in wisdom and service. The session closed with guided metta practice, encouraging participants to feel into the pathways from intimate connection to boundless care.
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In part two of Upaya’s Love and Death weekend program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski deepened the exploration of how personal love can open into universal compassion. Framed by the bodhisattva path, Roshi Joan recounted Thich Nhat Hanh’s story of youthful love for a nun, which he transmuted into service for a suffering Vietnam: “She represented everything I loved… bringing Buddhism into society, and realizing peace and reconciliation.” Participants reflected on their own “first loves,” discovering how such tender awakenings point beyond the self. Frank then introduced the four brahmaviharas—loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity—as practices that ground love in wisdom and service. The session closed with guided metta practice, encouraging participants to feel into the pathways from intimate connection to boundless care.
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In the opening session (part 1) of Love and Death, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski welcomed more than 1,300 participants into a shared inquiry of love and mortality. Framed by Rainer Maria Rilke’s insight that “Love and death are the great gifts that are given to us. Mostly they are passed on unopened,” the dialogue explores how dying strips away pretense, dissolves stories, and reveals uncontrived tenderness. Participants spoke of distilled, luminous moments at the edge of life and the essential questions that arise: Am I loved? Did I love? Roshi Joan’s candid reflections on her recent surgeries and near-death experience embody the vulnerability at the heart of this teaching. This session set a foundation for the weekend’s continued unwrapping of these gifts through practice and community dialogue.out history. Ultimately, Dear calls for an uncompromising commitment: “There is no cause ever again… for which you and I will ever support the taking of a single human life.”
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In this intriguing Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Kodo inspires us with the lion’s roar of Queen Srimala. Beginning with reflections on how motivations and intentions consciously and unconsciously impact behavior, Kodo guides us into the surprising and unexpected teachings of Queen Srimala. Counter to common cultural conceptions of Buddhism, Queen Śrīmālā proclaims the four shining qualities of Buddha Nature as permanence, happiness, self, and purity. Kodo connects her lion’s roar to a familiar chant at Upaya: the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo. With a snap of recognition, he points us to the line “Jo Raku Ga Jo”—translated as “eternal, intimate, pure, and joyful.” In doing so, Kodo reorients us from detachment and non-grasping toward vow, intimacy, and the freedom to be fully ourselves. Coming full circle and inviting us to look deeply into our practice, and intentions, he asks: “What can truly call to our deepest aspirations and bring us into the practice and action we long to embody in this world?”

In this timely session of Awareness in Action, Father John Dear confronts the urgency of our times with an echo from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The choice is no longer violence or non-violence… It’s non-violence or non-existence.” Rooted in Gandhi’s teaching that “nonviolence is the highest form of human consciousness,” Father John presents nonviolence not as passivity but as the already existing, already pervading force waiting to be tapped – a force that can transform humanity, embodies healing and compassion toward all beings, and is accessible and expressible by all. He challenges religious practitioners who condone war, reminding us that without nonviolence, we “miss the whole point” of Buddha, Christ, and peacemakers throughout history. Ultimately, Dear calls for an uncompromising commitment: “There is no cause ever again… for which you and I will ever support the taking of a single human life.”
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In this unique Wednesday Night Dharma Talk before the upcoming Love and Death program, Roshi Joan Halifax and Frank Ostaseski engage in an open dialogue on Life, Death, and Freedom. Departing from scripted teachings, the evening unfolds through participant questions that touch the raw edges of grief, love, and mortality. Roshi Joan frames grief as “unmediated access to truth,” while Frank emphasizes that questions of love—“Am I loved? Did I love?”—belong in daily practice, not reserved for the deathbed. Together they highlight freedom as found not in escape, but in authenticity, presence, and compassion that responds to each moment’s conditions. With honesty, vulnerability, and wisdom drawn from decades in death and dying work, Roshi Joan and Frank model how to face impermanence and suffering as a path to deepening true intimacy.
This dialogue was marked by poignant and deeply personal questions and reflections from participants, including: a recently bereaved partner questioning the meaning of freedom, Buddhist perspectives on assisted suicide, the relationship between love and death, the interplay of freedom with life and death, estrangement, addiction, suicide, and social oppression. Roshi and Frank bring warmth and care to each question, inspiring practice and contemplation of our own love and loss in life.