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The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Zen Mountain Monastery
The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ancient tradition of Buddhist monasticism. Since 1980, the Monastery has offered spiritual practitioners traditional and innovative ways to engage the dharma through a wide range of retreats and residential programs that unfold within the context of authentic, full-time Zen monastic training. The Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple is the city branch of Zen Mountain Monastery. Supporting home practitioners in the metropolitan area, ZCNYC offers varied practice opportunities within the Eight Gates training matrix.
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- 1 weeks ago1h 7m
Dharma Encounter: The Yes and No of Buddha Nature
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 10/25/26 – Referring to Zhaozhou’s koan, “Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature?”, and Dogen’s teachings in Busshō, this Dharma Encounter explores how both “yes” and “no” can be doorways to understanding our true nature. Rather than treating these responses as opposing answers, Shugen Roshi encourages us to move beyond conceptual thinking and the habits of grasping and aversion. If Buddha Nature is the fundamental nature of all beings, how do we understand our doubts, imperfections, and reactive patterns? Can we recognize Buddha Nature in our very body that ages, suffers, and dies, rather than seeing it as something separate from our everyday experience? Shugen Roshi invites the sangha to reflect on these questions and come forward to share their own experiences, insights, and questions in the spirit of Dharma Encounter.
- 1 weeks ago45 min
Pushing Down, Lifting Up
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 10/24/26 – Delving into the well-known koan of “Zhaozou’s Dog,” Shugen Roshi explores the importance of seeing one’s self-nature clearly, without the baggage and habits of our defensiveness. This early step in koan training helps us train our minds in letting go of the illusions of “self” and “others” directly and intimately. With this foundation in practice, we can go further in exploring how self-nature and buddha nature function in our lives. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 18 – Zhaozhou’s Dog.)
- 2 weeks ago34 min
Fusatsu: Using Our Delusions To Awaken
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei – ZMM – 10/23/26 – How do our vows become visible through renewing them in the shared ceremony of Fusatsu? Hogen Sensei encourages us to use the words of the ceremony and the invocation of the Buddhas and ancestors to fully enter and engage them. We can practice seeing where we are still under the spell of our delusions—the root of our suffering—and turn this practice of atonement as an offering for awakening to all beings.
- 2 weeks ago29 min
It Exists from the Very Beginning
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho – ZMM – 10/21/26 – Master Hongzhi offered practice instructions for zazen which place us directly in contact with our awakened nature. “The field of boundless emptiness which exists from the very beginning,” are words which can inspire as well as encourage. As Gokan Osho says, we can see that there is work to be done, there is something to see clearly, and with these instructions we can enter into and study our lives deeply.
- 2 weeks ago39 min
The Nature of Experience
Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei – ZMM – 10/18/26 – While concepts and ideas help us to learn about and understand our world, they also have a way of limiting our ability to experience things as they really are. Don’t keep yourself in a state of numbness or emotional distance from whatever is arising, but study and practice with a full and capable heart. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 27 – Neither Mind Nor Buddha.)
- 3 weeks ago1h 1m
Jukai Ceremony with Shugen Roshi at ZMM – October 2026
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 10/11/26 – Shugen Roshi officiates the Fall Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery. Today, two students formally receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts, taking up these living teachings, living vows in the company of the sangha with family and friends: George Ando (“peaceful earth”) Milne and Tre Shokai (“divine ocean”) Miller.
- Oct 4, 202639 min
You Have “No Buddha” Nature
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 10/04/26 – Taking up a segment from Dogen’s fascicle on Buddha Nature, Shugen Roshi illuminates how we lead ourselves into misunderstanding our fundamental nature because we grasp so readily at things—at language, at meaning, and what it says about “me”—before we actually experience our fundamental nature. “Not this” is a negation, but it can really mean: “Not this, but This” —our fundamental buddha nature—which cannot be grasped at, owned, or taken away. Not ever.
- Oct 4, 202630 min
Fusatsu: Be Still and Heal
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – 10/4/26 – In this Fusatsu talk, Hojin Sensei explores atonement as a way to acknowledge harmful karma, renew our vows, and begin again. The Buddha called healthy shame and fear of wrongdoing “bright guardians, a noble treasure of the world.” How can we take responsibility for our actions without becoming trapped in shame, guilt, or self-justification? Through this ancestral ceremony, we practice stillness, connect with our heart-mind, and find the clarity to release and heal what we no longer need to carry. Can we meet ourselves and one another with the courage and compassion to begin again?
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About The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast
The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ancient tradition of Buddhist monasticism. Since 1980, the Monastery has offered spiritual practitioners traditional and innovative ways to engage the dharma through a wide range of retreats and residential programs that unfold within the context of authentic, full-time Zen monastic training. The Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple is the city branch of Zen Mountain Monastery. Supporting home practitioners in the metropolitan area, ZCNYC offers varied practice opportunities within the Eight Gates training matrix.
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