About this episode

Senko discusses the koan of relaxed effort during the second day of the Spring Practice Period Sesshin.

During the second day of the Spring Practice Period Sesshin, Senko takes up the koan of relaxed effort — how effort and ease, far from being opposed, are expressed in the same movement. Drawing on Seung Sahn’s story of a bear who, long after escaping his circus cage, keeps turning somersaults in the mountains hoping to be fed, Senko asks us to look honestly at the conditioning we carry into… Source

People in this episode

Host: Joan Halifax

Guest: Senko

Topics covered

• koan
• relaxed effort
• conditioning
• Spring Practice Period
• Sesshin

Keywords

• koan
• effort
• ease
• conditioning
• Sesshin
• Spring Practice Period

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• SPP2026: Sesshin Day 5: Returning to the Source · April 30, 2026 · 54 min
• SPP2026: Sesshin Day 3: Holding the Keys · April 30, 2026 · 45 min
• SPP2026: Sesshin Day 1: Joyful Effort · April 30, 2026 · 35 min

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