Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Sara takes an unflinching look at learning to trust our selves despite or maybe because of whatever messes we may have made in our lives along the way. What’s the difference between the mind that aspires to our best intentions and the one that actually tries to put them into practice? What sort of wonderful demons can we look forward to making friends with along the way? Can we actually do Zen practice, or does it do us?? Find out here!

Dave gives a full report on the processes, practices, and spiritual journeys involved in our recent sangha trip to Japan for Zuise, the final ceremonies in a years long quest to complete his teacher training. Do we actually know Buddhism is? Do we know how to take ourselves seriously? Is bringing the whole sangha to Japan a humble way to show respect or an inconvenient logistic for already overworked monks? Find out here!

Dave regales us with stories and poetry from everyone’s favorite Soto renegade poet monk hero, Ryokan, while trying to figure out if he’s the scrappy unpretentious rebel we all want him to be, or is he the patron saint of strict fundamentalist austerity and tradition as others seem to think. Can he maybe be both and can Dave make peace with that? Can we judge people for their pretensions and worldly ambitions, or is that a responsible response to the world as it is? How can we trust ourselves when no one agrees, and what makes a renegade respect worthy?? Find out here!

In our ongoing series where brave sangha members tell us the story what they’re doing and why they’re here (while we just maybe learn something about those things for ourselves), LA local Cole, born just a few blocks down the road tells us a wonderfully insightful story about doing his damndest to runaway from home and faith and, luckily for us, finding himself right here but maybe in a totally new and deeper way? Do Catholics just like doing things the hard way? What does it mean to not take life seriously? Is there such a thing as a breakup rakusu?? Find out here!

In a starkly honest and personal talk, Gyokei reflects on renunciation and picking & choosing through his experience growing up as a rural temple kid and living as a modern professional monk among sincere Western lay practitioners. Can letting go of wants still mean getting what we need? How does renunciation work for a monk with a salary and a family to feed? What lessons about choice can sincere lay practitioners learn from their example, and which ones should they definitely not?? Find out here!

Sara gives us an insightful reflection on narrative and story telling, either our most powerful technology or our greatest hindrance to seeing the world honestly. Should we be trying to see through our narratives, or harness them for our benefit? What’s the difference between main character syndrome and taking responsibility for your life? Is Sara blessed with the LA parking superpowers, or is that kind of wishful thinking a magic of its own?? Find out here!!

Sara gives us a candid Zen look at modern dating, aka an endless opportunity for working with compassion. Does seeing the best in people bring out the best in ourselves? Should we give people the benefit of the doubt, or is that just a recipe for getting let down? Is all life a performance and if so can it be an authentic honest one?? Find out here!

Samm spins us an ancient Zen love tragedy (that might even have a happy ending?), and helps us heal the one breakup we urgently need to mend, the splits in our selves and souls. What parts of our realities are we unable or unwilling to see? Have we ever been truly awake, or been safe enough to get an honest night’s sleep? When is or is it not time to go off to the mountains and never come back, jump off a moonlit cliff? Find out here!

Patrick takes on the world and people that rile us up, and how to sit down and face the wall with them without actually turning our backs. Does paying attention mean being outraged? Can we practice peace without facilitating harm? Is the history of Zen an inspiring example of finding balance in conflict or a warning about misused mindfulness?? Find out here!

Dave tries to figure out what Zen meant when they said inanimate objects talk to us, and how to stay sustainably weird in a society that (for some reason) expects us to be reasonable productive members of it. What level of function do we owe our friends and families, and what does it cost us to play along? What kind of wonder do we lose in an age of reason, and is it possible to live in a world of rational magic? We talk to plants, but can you empathize with a tree, argue with a vacuum, talk to a computer?? Find out here!

Chris takes a Buddhist look at burn out and bad habits and how and why we choose to make things worse when we know so much better. Zen can shed light on our choices, but does it care to actually improve them? What should a responsible person look like? Are stale christmas cookies for breakfast the problem, or is judging stale christmas cookies for breakfast the problem?? Find out here!

A well seasoned line cook takes a gig in the Zen kitchen and dishes us up a moving report on the dirt and dharma inherent to the work. How does the pure land of work practice stack up to the grizzled world of restaurant work? Is the spirit of service to give up our needs or serve ourselves first? Is there time for Buddhism in a Zen kitchen? Find out here!

Great sangha friend Beth Kaiserman brings us the story of what she’s doing and why she’s here; a story about spirituality for the irreligious and making a practice out of expressing yourself from the cushion to the page to the stage, even when deep down we might get the sneaking suspicion there’s nothing to explain. Who did we learn our resistance to authority from? Is it ever possible to truly do nothing? Can we, or should we even try to, make ourselves legible?? Find out here!