Zen and Ecodharma Talks by Kritee Kanko

How can you become fully enlightened like a Buddha? If you were a Buffalo, how can you be enlightened from head to tail? Or is that a delusional goal?In this talk, Sensei Kanko (Dr. Kritee) explores the koan of a buffalo passing through the window ( or a in Chinese architecture). In the koan, Buffalo’s head, horns, and four legs all make it through the window, but the tail cannot. What is this stubborn little tail that nags at us after years, even decades, of practice, therapy, and healing? Which patterns of unlovability, shame or inadequacy do we keep circling around or trying to hide from others? Drawing on personal stories — her arrival in the U.S. a week before 9/11, her early depression, and a recent health scare with her mother — Sensei Kanko offers a trauma-informed reading of this koan. She suggests we replace the word "ego" with "trauma," and invites us to hold the tail with tenderness rather than trying to eliminate it. She also gestures toward a deeper, absolute dimension of the koan, where the distinction between tail and enlightenment begins to dissolve — pointing, as Dogen did, to how the very sense that "something is missing" can itself be a mark of Dharma filling body and mind.Sensei Kanko gave this talk during a recent half-day sit (Zazenkai) in April 2026.If this talk speaks to you, consider joining Sensei Kanko and Imtiaz Rangwala for the upcoming Zen sesshin at Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center from May 11–17, 2026, which includes a "Solo" day of practice in nature. Details and registration are available at www.boundlessinmotion.org.Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com.

Sensei Kanko ventured into Indian forests frequently visited by predators such as leopards, tigers, sloth bears, venomous snakes, and wild elephants. Why did she do this? What does fear held in trust look like? And why does she feel more hopeful and alive now than she has ever felt in her life? In this talk, Sensei Kanko shares what motivated her to make this trip to India and reconnect with her ancient ancestral roots and ecosystems in India. She shared what happened during one part of her 2.5 month long journey. And she describes how does this journey relates to the first koan of the legendary Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record), in which Bodhidharma — the teacher who carried Buddhism from the Indian subcontinent to China — answered an emperor's questions about morality and goodness with "Emptiness, No Holiness" and "Not Knowing". Sensei doesn't give any direct answers but offers hints and examples of what it might mean to follow a path uniquely meant for you. Sensei Kanko gave this talk upon her return from India in early 2026. Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

.Why are both hardship and gentleness invaluable in the spiritual path? Why is it sometimes helpful to be slapped and pushed away by the circumstances and the world around us? And how can it be also pivotal to treat ourselves gently like our best buddy or kind deity like Gyanyin would treat us?In this tender and powerful talk given on the first day of the Fall 2025 Zen retreat, Sensei Kanko addresses these questions through a classical koan about standing still in the face of life slapping and battering us. Many people our community knows are going through profound changes—breakups, cancer diagnoses, workplace abuse, or maybe deep health crises. The larger world is collapsing around us. How do we not collapse with these challenges? Using the story of Jō Jōza who "stands still" after being seized, slapped, and pushed by his teacher Rinzai, Sensei Kanko reveals the profound gift of Rinzai Zen to the world: the capacity to find your rooted core in the middle of intense storms. But she adds what traditional Zen often misses—a trauma-informed understanding that we must "go soft before we go still." For those whose relationship with breath practices causes them anxiety, for those who have been pushing too hard, the instruction is revolutionary: speak to yourself with profound kindness first. Tell yourself how precious you are, how hard what you've been through has been, how your medicine is needed in this world. Only from this softness can we access the stillness that allows us to belong—to ourselves, to the human community, to our natural ecosystems, and to what Kanko calls invisible realms. This is not about mastering meditation techniques or experiencing enlightenment experiences. This is about cultivating a heart overflowing with love for yourself, so you can watch life's waves from the perspective of the deep still ocean within.Sensei Kanko gave this talk during the Fall 2025 Zen retreat (sesshin).Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

Can we transcend suffering by letting go of notions of good and bad? When does medicine become a sickness? In this profound talk, Sensei Kritee Kanko explores one of Zen's most challenging teaching: everything on earth—including our most painful experiences—is medicine. Drawing from her 25 years of practice, she reveals how our desperate attempts to escape suffering through meditation and spiritual practice can paradoxically become another form of sickness. With refreshing honesty about her own past spiritual bypassing (neglecting her husband, mother, and even her own health in pursuit of “enlightenment”), Kanko examines the delicate balance between disciplined practice and harmful attachment to the "blue sky mind." She bridges ancient Zen wisdom with Joanna Macy's contemporary grief work, discussing how both the “absolute level” wisdom that "Fear or grief is Buddha" and living compassionately along with the messy process of being accountable are essential—and how focusing on only one aspect (wisdom vs compassion) creates harm. Using the metaphor of a consciousness microscope to examine the “components” of grief and fear in our bodies, this talk offers a nuanced path through these times of polycrisis that honors both transcendent realization and grounded community healing.Sensei Kanko gave this talk during a Zazenkai (half-day meditation retreat) in October 2025.Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

What is the relationship between the big “eternal” spiritual mind and our small lonely or calculative mind? How to live our daily lives in these times of polycrisis and systemic oppression?This talk by Sensei Kanko (Dr. Kritee) flows like a compassionate boat running down a wild river and embodies a deep spontaneity. Here, she guides listeners through Zuigan's paradoxical koan—calling his own self "Master!" and then answering "Yes sir!"—to explore who these two selves “Master” and “Attendent/student” are within us: Perhaps the observer vs. the observed or the experiencing mind vs. the experience, or the small critical or lonely self vs. the vast blue sky mind. With humor and vulnerability (including her early fear that enlightenment would steal her partner away), she challenges masculine Zen's "get enlightenment at all costs" approach. She instead advocates for embodying a "curious, kind and patient host" to all clouds that visit our consciousness—even very painful clouds like fear of death or feeling unlovable.Weaving together insights from Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, Tibetan demon-feeding spiritual practices, and Hindu wisdom traditions, Kanko also emphasizes the need for a crucial discernment: distinguishing personal struggles we can address through spiritual practice from systemic oppression. While traditional Buddhism might say "go back to your breath and hara" for every problem, Kanko insists we recognize when issues stem from societal trauma (e.g., millennial’s inability to afford housing or womxn’s inability to get education in patriarchal systems). She also teaches how we can integrate three pillars of Zen practice in our lives: faith, determination, and great curiosity.Sensei Kanko gave this talk during the last day of May 2019 Zen retreat (sesshin).Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

How do we cultivate deeper trust in life when everything seems to be falling apart? What does it mean to "proceed on from the top of a hundred-foot pole" - to let go just when we think we've learned to control some aspects of life. In this powerful talk on the last day of silent May 2025 Zen retreat, Sensei Kanko explores the profound teaching of trusting the universe and releasing our grip on comfort and control. Drawing on inspiring examples - from Dipa Ma who could sit for seven days without moving to a contemporary practitioner's complete surrender to Kali - she illuminates how limitless trust in life is the essence of enlightenment. Making a crucial distinction between trusting the divine/natural order and accepting injustice and toxicity created by humans, Kanko offers practical wisdom for maintaining both trust and healthy boundaries. Through personal stories and the metaphor of learning to "kin" with nature, she shows how deepening our trust allows us to act with compassion even as we navigate these times of polycrisis.Sensei Kanko gave this talk on the final day of the May 2025 Zen retreat (sesshin).Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

How can we make wholesome decisions in the face of impossible dilemmas that life throws at us? How do we face impossible choices when hanging between life and death?In this talk, Dr. Kritee Kanko reflects on a strange Zen story where someone finds themselves in an impossible situation: hanging by their mouth from a tree branch over a cliff, he must either answer a spiritual question and fall to his death, or remain silent and fail to fulfil his vow to help all beings. Is the koan presenting us with a false choice between self-preservation and service to others? We all need to make seemingly impossible choices around old age, sickness, and death concerning ourselves, our loved ones, and all living beings. Sensei Kanko explains with vivid and vulnerable personal stories related to her own chronic health issues that it's not easy, that it is okay to make mistakes or to feel that we have failed. She explores how we can find profound spiritual depth even while experiencing physical limitation. With tenderness, Sensei Kanko reveals how meditation allows us to transcend black-and-white (i.e., right vs wrong) thinking, embracing both our human vulnerability and spiritual potential simultaneously. She discusses how facing our own mortality can deepen our practice, encouraging us to "die on the cushion" while still fully embracing life. In these times of polycrisis and systemic collapse, she emphasizes the essential role of community in facing our deepest fears and challenges, reminding us that true Buddhism was never meant to be a hyper-individualistic pursuit of enlightenment.Sensei Kanko gave this talk during the February 2025 Zen retreat (sesshin).Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

How can we respond with loving clarity and topple brothers like Trump or Musk who are stuck in toxic patterns of power and control?In this profound Dharma talk, Sensei Kritee Kanko explores a koan about an eighth-century Chinese Zen master who stubbornly dies standing on his head—only to have his sister, a bearer of gentle, loving wisdom, topple his final display of ego. Through personal stories and reflections on leaders like brothers Trump and Musk, who inspire others to be “brave in their cruelty,” Kanko reveals two ways we all can get stuck: either in the pursuit of power and specialness or in a state of helpless victimhood.Is it possible to live, love, and be in these times as our ancestors did—those who faced world wars, famines, and destruction alike? We may not control how every event unfolds in the future, but what can we do? What inner qualities can help us dismantle the need for power and specialness—both in ourselves and in the leaders driving chaos and destruction?Drawing parallels between the nun’s gentle yet effective response to her brother and our current challenges, Kanko illustrates how the feminine qualities of loving care, community support, and persistent gentle action can transform seemingly immovable obstacles. This talk reminds us that in these difficult times, our path forward lies not in hatred or despair but in staying grounded in love while taking continuous action for change.Sensei Kanko gave this talk during the February 2025 half-day meditation gathering (Zazenkai).Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

What is the mental state from which we can take action during these times of uncertainty, fear and grief? How can we access such a “prized” mental state? In this talk Sensei Kritee Kanko (Ph.D.) shares, with examples and stories, a modern trauma-informed way to access equanimity and courage to take action for the benefit of all beings. In these times of polycrisis, it is ordinary to feel busy, distracted and stressed all the time. But were we born to be like this? Usually when humans have experienced trauma and stress themselves, they perpetuate trauma to others. Are we destined to just keep passing on trauma? Or does somewhere, beyond all of our challenges, and our fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses to these challenges, lie a natural, ordinary, relaxed, and trusting “infant” mind? What is our collective responsibility in these challenging times which are generated by accumulated trauma? In this talk given on the second day of the December 2019 Rohatsu sesshin, Sensei Kanko explains how we can access the “ordinary” loving mind and work towards personal and collective healing through meditation and by welcoming/embracing grief on the cushion. Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com

What is inner spiritual liberation? What happens when outer social-political liberation is not possible in these times of polycrisis? In this talk, Dr. Kritee explores the path of inner liberation in the midst of overwhelming planetary grief and oppression. It is important that we keep going with our actions for peace at political level, climate sanity, and social justice. But is it wise to cling to our physical wellbeing and derive meaning of life only based on the material and political results of our actions? In this talk, Dr. Kritee explains, with personal examples and stories from Zen Buddhism and other traditions, how we can access a sense of spaciousness that can help us toward inner peace and enable us to keep going despite the uncertainty we are facing in this world. Sensei Kanko gave this talk during the July 2024 half-day sit (Zazenkai). Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to boundlessinmotion.org or kriteekanko.com

Is a widespread climate chaos or collapse inevitable? Can we face this impending chaos through the frameworks promoted by late stage capitalism: the ones driven by quarterly or annual financial returns? Is it time to stop accepting that we are lonely, sinful, inadequate and isolated from our more-than-human kins? How can we create a “Beloved community” and move away from a sense of shame and inadequacy? Dr. Kritee explores these questions in a talk given on the second last of a six day residential retreat for people of color in a way that is also gently accessible for those who identify as White. Since the industrial revolution and widespread adoption of Western materialistic values, humans have caused massive decline in health of our global ecosystems. Our planet is currently undergoing loss of tens or hundreds of thousands of species as a part of the sixth mass extinction. Now it seems inevitable that because of our actions, not just other species, but humans across the planet will also directly face widespread climate chaos or even collapse. Is there a way to stay grounded or even thrive in such times? What can we learn from indigenous cultures, and for example, from their ecological footprints, from their deep sense of belonging even to their enemies and from their concept of deep time? Can we remove away from the paradigm of needing to see change in our lifetimes and act from a place of planting seeds even if we will not be alive to see the fruits on the trees? What kind of loving and belonging to all other beings, both human and more-than-human, will take us to the place where we can be completely loving and peaceful as we plant these seeds? This talk was given at a time when Dr. Kritee was suffering from intense burning pain of shingles, a nerve infection, on 22nd June 2024 at Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center.

Is Mu enough? In this talk, Sensei Kanko dives into some details of the Rinzai Zen path, discussing the all-encompassing nature of the Mu Koan and its relationship to breathing from the hara (lower belly) and accessing concentrated awareness. She invites listeners to balance the masculine Zen approach with emotional healing. Acknowledging Zen's limitations with respect to dealing with societal inequalities, she also advocates for devotional approaches as part of spiritual practice. The talk offers an insightful and heartening exploration of Zen's role in addressing contemporary challenges. Sensei Kanko gave this talk on the 4th day of the retreat, on October 4, 2020. Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com.

How to access your spiritual power amidst overwhelming grief and shame? How can a sword made of paper help you when you are being attacked? How can we fight oppression when we feel powerless? How can we begin to see why the universe brought us alive as a human in this exact time and place? In this talk given on the last day of Feb 2024 Zen retreat, Sensei Kanko powerfully shows us a clear path to access our spiritual power against all the odds and make a difference. How is it possible that almost none of the Buddhist teachers want to speak out and demand the stopping of mass killings? How is it possible that regardless of how much we sit, we can still feel shamed and powerless to act outside of the cushion? Is the traditional way of practicing Buddhist meditation enough? Kanko discusses how our sitting practice and healing from our childhood trauma and shamed inner parts can give us access to spiritual power. We who consider ourselves to be "small" or "weak" can become a person who can overcome an assaulter, a group of white supremacists, and our personal difficulties with a paper sword. With stories from US Navy seals, the Palestinian crisis, and Asia to the ones illustrating the need for personal safety and wellbeing, Kanko dives into questions of primal importance. We are living in very difficult times but even when we feel we are powerless and completely at a loss there are ways to continue walking the path the universe has laid out ahead of us and make a difference. Thank you for listening to the Boundless in Motion podcast. You can access more information about our programs and retreats by going to www.boundlessinmotion.org or www.kriteekanko.com