The Upaya Dharma Podcast features Wednesday evening Dharma Talks and recordings from Upaya's diverse array of programs. Our podcasts exemplify Upaya’s focus on socially engaged Buddhism, including prison work, end-of-life care, serving the homeless, training in socially engaged practices, peace & nonviolence, compassionate care training, and delivering healthcare in the Himalayas.
Koans are intimate knowledge, teaches Sensei Wendy Johnson, and to be effective they “must and only live in reality through direct experience.” Here, Sensei Wendy shares with us her intimate knowledge […]
1/29/2024 • 44 minutes, 20 seconds
Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 6 of 6)
In Parts 5 & 6 of this multipart series, John Dunne discusses some more of Nagarjuna’s policies around leadership and considers how they can create personal and world transformation. Roshi […]
1/27/2024 • 42 minutes, 23 seconds
Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 5 of 6)
In Parts 5 & 6 of this multipart series, John Dunne discusses some more of Nagarjuna’s policies around leadership and considers how they can create personal and world transformation. Roshi […]
1/27/2024 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 53 seconds
Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 3A of 6)
In Parts 3 & 3A of this 6 part series, Roshi Joan Halifax considers the qualities of a leader as modeled and taught by the Buddha. Roshi speaks of the […]
1/27/2024 • 43 minutes, 49 seconds
Kaz Tanahashi & Joan Halifax: Rohatsu: Green Dharma (Part 6 of 6)
Everything can become the path. The teachers of this Rohatsu – Senseis Kaz, Shinzan, Kozan, & Kodo and Roshi Joan – offer their closing statements, reminding us of we can […]
1/25/2024 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 38 seconds
Kaz Tanahashi & Joan Halifax: Rohatsu: Green Dharma (Part 5 of 6)
Sensei Kaz and Roshi Joan speak beautifully about the path of service and its deep and simple relationship to practice and personal suffering. Roshi says it is only in our honest reflection […]
1/24/2024 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 24 seconds
Kaz Tanahashi & Matthew Kozan Palevsky: Rohatsu: Green Dharma (Part 4 of 6)
Sensei Kaz and Sensei Kodo reflect on the common question of how do spiritual and esoteric teachings of buddhism relate to the serious social and global issues, aswering the question of how […]
1/23/2024 • 57 minutes, 16 seconds
Kaz Tanahashi & Matthew Kozan Palevsky: Rohatsu: Green Dharma (Part 3 of 6)
Sensei Kozan, and Sensei Kaz remind us “without samsara there would be no practice”. When we consider this reminder along side Dogen’s quote “Between aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana, there is […]
1/23/2024 • 59 minutes, 24 seconds
Kaz Tanahashi & Shinzan Palma: Rohatsu: Green Dharma (Part 2 of 6)
On day two of 2022 Rohatsu sesshin, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi talks about the practice of meditation and working meditation, highlighting the importance of unity and connection. He touches on the […]
1/23/2024 • 55 minutes, 57 seconds
Joan Halifax: The Puzzle of the Golden Carp
In this dharma talk, Roshi Joan Halifax discusses the heart of our practice, which is to develop the ability to sit in a sea of fire, to be with the […]
1/22/2024 • 46 minutes, 37 seconds
Zazenkai: Sun Face Buddha Moon Face Buddha
In this talk, Sensei Kozan explores the third case in The Blue Cliff Record, entitled Master Ma Is Unwell. Through the method of allegory, he invites us to consider changing […]
1/19/2024 • 37 minutes, 53 seconds
Wendy Johnson: The Whole Earth Is Medicine
It is impossible to summarize a dharma talk so undomesticated and wild as the one delivered here by Zen teacher and master gardener Sensei Wendy Johnson. With passion and grit, […]
1/15/2024 • 44 minutes, 54 seconds
What Do You Preserve?
In the opening dharma talk of Upaya’s Winter Ango, Sensei Matthew Kozan Palevsky delves into Case 2 from the Blue Cliff Record, a koan titled “The Ultimate Path is Without […]
1/8/2024 • 42 minutes, 49 seconds
Natalie Goldberg: Petites madeleines as dharma
A simple cake, a petite madeleine, expounded the dharma to French writer Marcel Proust. Some years later, Proust’s writings expounded the dharma to our beloved Natalie Goldberg who now expounds […]
1/1/2024 • 41 minutes, 8 seconds
Noah Kodo Roen & Matthew Kozan Palevsky: Turning Toward the Light
As we approach winter solstice, the darkest night of the year, Sensei Kodo and Sensei Kozan explore the meaning of light in the dharma through Dogen’s fascicle “Radiant Light”. As […]
12/25/2023 • 45 minutes, 42 seconds
Brooke Kaishin Barss: Toward an Enlightened Life
In this uplifting talk, Hoshi Brooke Kaishin Barss beautifully distills Zen practice and encourages us to lean towards enlightenment. “We are Buddhas already […] having a breakthrough is not the […]
In this illuminating dharma talk given on day four of Rohatsu sesshin, 2023, Sensei Kaz Tanahashi and Sensei Shinzan Palma speak to the importance of recognizing and embracing our inner […]
12/11/2023 • 52 minutes, 45 seconds
Joan Halifax: Seeing Without a Seer…Hearing Without a Hearer
On the eve of Rohatsu, the celebration of the Buddha’s awakening, Roshi Joan Halifax considers the theme of “breakthrough”. How do we breakthrough our own limiting beliefs and behaviors to […]
12/4/2023 • 46 minutes, 8 seconds
Christiana Figueres: What does the climate crisis teach us?
“Climate and biodiversity loss could be nature’s invitation to humanity to either fish or cut bait.” Here, Upaya friend and architect of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, Christiana Figueres delivers […]
11/27/2023 • 44 minutes, 17 seconds
Wendy Dainin Lau, MD: Taming this wild horse: listen, study, practice
As a doctor, Wendy Dainin Lau realized her medical practice was missing something when she began to experience “compassion fatigue”. To deepen her practice in compassion, she ordained as a […]
11/20/2023 • 41 minutes, 55 seconds
Hozan Alan Senauke: The Bodhisattva’s Four Embracing Ways
In a world at war, how do we begin the difficult work of healing? What is the antidote to hate, conflict, and destruction? Sensei Hozan Alan Senauke discusses the importance […]
11/13/2023 • 44 minutes, 51 seconds
Cyndi Lee: Lifting the Gaze
Yoga and meditation teacher Cyndi Lee discusses the benefits and limitations of “self-care” culture. She warns against materialistic self-care “bandaids” that enhance our craving for pleasure and are used to […]
11/6/2023 • 38 minutes, 40 seconds
Kathie Fischer: When a fish enters the flowing stream, everything is provided
What does the evolution of grasses, the schooling behavior of fish, and our dharma practice have in common? Former school teacher and Zen priest Sensei Kathie Fischer beautifully weaves together […]
10/30/2023 • 45 minutes, 30 seconds
Monshin Nannette Overley: The Spiritual Source Shines Clearly in the Light
Sensei Monshin Nannette Overley guides us straight to our hearts in her teaching on The Sandokai, our Zen ancestor Shitou’s poem on the harmony of oneness and multiplicity. How do […]
10/23/2023 • 42 minutes, 58 seconds
Kathie Fischer: Warm Hand to Warm Hand
In this warm talk, Sensei Kathie Fischer explores the classic Zen poem The Sandokai, translated at Upaya as “The Identity of Relative and Absolute”. Weaving through the history of Buddhist […]
10/16/2023 • 38 minutes, 15 seconds
One Body Buddha
What and where is our body? This is the question Sensei Matthew Kozan Palevsky asks us to deeply consider in this probing dharma talk. Is our body, as we commonly experience it, […]
10/9/2023 • 47 minutes, 42 seconds
Rhonda V. Magee: Mindfulness and the Possibility of Living Well Together in Hard Times
How do we integrate our meditation practice and our collective work for social and racial justice? Mindfulness teacher and law professor Rhonda Magee explores this question in a personal and […]
10/2/2023 • 43 minutes, 46 seconds
Rebecca Solnit: Hope Is a Discipline – On Being Present and Committing to the Future
In her talk, Rebecca Solnit explores the concept of hope and activism in the face of uncertainty, particularly relating to climate change. She discusses how even so-called “failed” actions can […]
9/25/2023 • 49 minutes, 31 seconds
Ben Connelly: Imagination, Interdependence, and Liberation Practicing Yogacara Buddhism with Vasubandhu’s Three Natures
“Good news! Everything is of complete, realized nature.” In this energized dharma talk, author and teacher Ben Connelly beautifully articulates Vasubandhu’s teachings of “The Three Natures” – that all things […]
9/18/2023 • 40 minutes, 25 seconds
Alcio Braz: Making Peace with our Ancestors
In this compassionate talk, Sensei Alcio Braz calls in his ancestors to sit with him and invites us to call in ours, too. This explicit invitation runs counter to the […]
9/11/2023 • 49 minutes, 47 seconds
Natalie Goldberg: The Mind of Writing
“There’s an integrity to mind if you watch it.” In this fresh talk, Natalie Goldberg shares about giving space to her grief, about her high school friend Phyllis, about time, […]
9/4/2023 • 57 minutes, 10 seconds
Frank Ostaseski: Surrendering to Death
“Stay close and do nothing.” Frank Ostaseski shares from his deep personal experience walking along so many people in the dying process about what it means to surrender to death. […]
8/28/2023 • 48 minutes, 25 seconds
Zenshin Florence Caplow: She Who Hears the Cries of the World, Stories of Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
Rev. Zenshin Florence Caplow shares intimate accounts and stories of Kannon or Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion. She shares the story of Julie Pryde, the public health administrator of her […]
8/21/2023 • 37 minutes, 51 seconds
Jonathan S. Watts: Using the Four Noble Truths as a Framework for Buddhist Chaplaincy in Japan
Jonathan Watts shares a framework of an iceberg, in which direct violence (the 1st Noble Truth), on the tip of the iceberg, is masked by structural and cultural violence (the […]
8/14/2023 • 44 minutes, 30 seconds
Monshin Nannette Overley: It’s all alive; It’s all intelligent; It’s all connected; It’s all YOU
In this heartfelt talk, Sensei Monshin Nannette Overley examines the Buddha’s foundational teaching of dependent co-arising in light of our deep responsibility towards our beautiful and fragile earth, and our […]
8/7/2023 • 39 minutes, 45 seconds
Henry Shukman: The Cart Track: what an obscure early Chan document can teach us about the path of practice
In this delightfully human talk, Henry Shukman allows us to see how his heart was opened by zen practice. He reflects on the Sattipatthana Sutta and Soko Morinaga’s book “An […]
7/31/2023 • 41 minutes, 49 seconds
Peter Levitt: Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry of Three Daoist Women
Peter Levitt loves what he does. That is so clear from the way he shares the stories and works of Li Ye, Xue Tao, and Yu Xuanji, three Daoist women […]
7/24/2023 • 46 minutes, 16 seconds
Edoardo (Shoryu) Eusepi: Taking Time to Transition
Edoardo Eusepi, who is affectionately known around Upaya by his dharma name “Shoryu,” reflects on his transition back into the “marketplace” after four years of residency at Upaya. He reminds […]
7/17/2023 • 37 minutes, 51 seconds
Hozan Alan Senauke: Turning Words
“Can we care? Can we find the joy in that?” Sensei Alan Senauke shares words from teachers throughout his life that turned, or awakened, him. These teachers include his father, […]
7/10/2023 • 47 minutes, 3 seconds
Monshin Nannette Overley: Agency, Karma, and the Four Noble Truths
In this honest and courageous talk, Sensei Monshin Nannette Overley investigates the relationship between recalling our intention and where we delegate our attention, especially in lay practice. How do we […]
7/3/2023 • 41 minutes, 57 seconds
Stepping into the Turbulence: Our Walk with Fear
On the summer solstice, James Fushin Bristol encourages us to shine light on those fears we carry everyday, to see what is underneath them, to see what comes alongside them. […]
6/26/2023 • 37 minutes, 58 seconds
Beginner’s Mind; Continuous Practice
On the first day of the Young Adult sesshin at Upaya, Sensei Matthew Kozan Palevsky explores each of the Four Great Bodhisattva vows. He helps us understand what is meant […]
6/19/2023 • 43 minutes, 36 seconds
Tim Burkett: Enlightenment is an Accident
“Looking. Seeing. Peace.” Tim Burkett discusses the contents of his new book Enlightenment is an Accident in this richly informative and encouraging talk. Tim walks us through the three phases […]
6/12/2023 • 43 minutes, 58 seconds
Keido Troy Fernandez: How Will You Plant Your Life: What Could it Mean?
“And when you go to harvest all that surely will grow, give it away.” Hoshi Keido Troy Fernandez weaves together past and present, questions and stories, dialogue and teachings as […]
6/5/2023 • 46 minutes, 49 seconds
Something’s Happening Here and We Don’t Know What It Is
In light of the Varela Symposium and his travels, Sensei Matthew Kozan Palevsky is interested in study and knowledge and different ways of knowing. He considers the pitfalls of knowing—how […]
5/29/2023 • 47 minutes, 29 seconds
Rev. Issho Fujita: Zazen as a Way of Harmonizing the Self
In this photo-worthy and delightfully diagram-aided talk, Rev. Issho Fujita shares his personal story and perspective on zen practice, with an emphasis on the somatic. Issho talks about how zazen […]
5/22/2023 • 45 minutes, 49 seconds
Bhante Sanathavihari: On the Wings of Awakening
Bhante Sanathavihari enthusiastically and joyfully shares the Ummaggasutta as a way of considering that the Buddhist metaphor of a bird, with one wing of compassion and one wing of wisdom, […]
5/15/2023 • 47 minutes, 4 seconds
Frank Ostaseski: Grief – A Path to Wholeness
How do we move towards the light of absolute truth while accepting and honoring our very human nature?” In this vulnerable, raw talk, Frank Ostaseski shares his heart with us […]
5/8/2023 • 49 minutes, 56 seconds
Singing the River’s Song Back to the River Part 2
“The practice was literally saving my life.” In Part 2 of her way seeking mind talk, Sensei Amie Diller recounts heart-filled stories about her time as a resident at Tassajara […]
5/1/2023 • 45 minutes, 46 seconds
Kathie Fischer: Reflecting on the Way of Ling Zhao and her Mother
In this timely dharma talk in our final days of Spring Sesshin, Sensei Kathie Fischer shares teachings from three wise women who offer a powerful dharmic lesson when faced with […]
4/24/2023 • 36 minutes, 8 seconds
Zenshin Florence Caplow: The Joys and Pitfalls of Helping: Lingzhao & Layman P’ang
Zenshin Florence Caplow’s dharma talk discusses Lingzhao’s helping, a koan from The Sayings of Layman P’ang which has served as our source text for the Spring Practice Period. In this […]
4/17/2023 • 43 minutes, 4 seconds
Ordinary Mind: Layman Pang and Maurine Stuart, Roshi
In this improvisational jazz duet-style dharma talk, Senseis Amie Diller and Kathie Fischer explore the resonance between one of their shared teachers Maurine Stuart, Roshi, and the 7th Century celebrated […]
4/10/2023 • 45 minutes, 36 seconds
Monshin Nannette Overley: All Moments Are Equally Precious
In this honest and courageous talk, Sensei Monshin Nannette Overley investigates the relationship between recalling our intention and where we delegate our attention, especially in lay practice. How do we […]
4/3/2023 • 43 minutes, 16 seconds
HAIKU: The Leap
“Haiku is about paying attention.” Natalie Goldberg offers a deep dive into the work of Tim Roberts who found haiku after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 49. His haiku in […]
3/27/2023 • 33 minutes, 41 seconds
Singing the River’s Song Back to the River
In this vulnerable and alive (and hopefully only part one of a multi-part series) Way-Seeking Mind talk, Sensei Amie Diller takes us to the LA parking lot where she had […]
3/20/2023 • 43 minutes, 15 seconds
Engaged Attention: Enhancing Daily Life
A talk that came to her in the middle of several nights, Dr. Laurie Leitch offers us a “bedtime story” style dharma talk. She shares five stories about attention ranging […]
3/13/2023 • 37 minutes, 33 seconds
Begin Again: Precepts for Everyday Life
“How is practicing the precepts like waking up?” In this practical and story-flush talk, on the night of the first of two jukai ceremonies in 2023, Sensei Mathew Kozan Palevsky […]
3/6/2023 • 53 minutes, 52 seconds
Monshin Nannette Overley: I Offer You This Bodhi Mind
“Once bodhichitta is awakened in us, it is a treasure that continues to open.” In this beautiful exploration, Monshin Nannette Overley characterizes bodhichitta as “the first impulse or intention towards […]
2/27/2023 • 44 minutes, 47 seconds
Zenshin Florence Caplow: On Courage and Practice
“It takes so much courage to meet our suffering, to meet our life, raw and unadorned.” In this captivating talk, Zenshin Florence Caplow draws on stories and teachings from encounters […]
2/20/2023 • 38 minutes, 36 seconds
Valerie Brown: The Heart of Sangha: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Teachings on Building Beloved Community
“We teach what we need to learn the most.” In this humble, participatory, and open-hearted talk, Valerie Brown explores four of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on building beloved community: volition, […]
2/13/2023 • 45 minutes, 34 seconds
Dancing with Mara: Revisiting the Life of Buddha
In this heartfelt talk, Sensei Amie Diller reminds us of the story of Buddha and particularly of Buddha’s relationship with Mara. Even after his enlightenment, Siddhartha was still visited by […]
2/6/2023 • 41 minutes
Wendy Johnson: Grass Boundless: Inside the Gate, Outside the Gate
On the fourth night of Winter Practice Period sesshin, Sensei Wendy Johnson explores Case 89 of The Book of Serenity, “Dongshan’s “Place of No Grass.””
1/30/2023 • 43 minutes, 26 seconds
Stepping Off A 100 Foot Pole: Case 79 The Book of Serenity
“When we all have enough, we can fully let go. When we fully let go, we know what it is to have enough.” In this joyful and moving talk, Sensei […]
1/23/2023 • 46 minutes, 58 seconds
The One Who Is Not Trifling
With a combination of playfulness and humility, Sensei Noah Kodo Roen presents Case 21 of Book of Serenity, “Yunyan Sweeps the Ground,” and explores the dichotomy of mindfulness and busyness, […]
1/16/2023 • 37 minutes, 5 seconds
On Joy
“What are you doing?” a mom asked her young son who she found sitting cross legged, smiling, with eyes closed on the couch. “I’m enjoying my body,” he replied. From […]
1/9/2023 • 44 minutes, 36 seconds
Talking on Empty
“Many of our friends are no longer alive or we don’t see them anymore. [Writing poetry] is a way we hold them.” Natalie Goldberg reflects on the end of the […]
1/2/2023 • 40 minutes, 34 seconds
Dekila Chungyalpa: Wisdom of Winter: Rest, Regeneration, and Rebirth
“Does your breathing change when you imagine it’s the landscape breathing?” Dekila Chungyalpa invites us to explore different ways of looking at time (as nature and different species view time, […]
12/26/2022 • 43 minutes, 13 seconds
Eloquent Silence
In this poetic talk, Fushin James Bristol reflects on the role of silence in zen practice and in our lives. Sharing personal stories, music knowledge, Buddhist history, and other moving […]
12/19/2022 • 36 minutes, 34 seconds
Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 4)
In Part 4 of this multipart series, John Dunne discusses some more of Nagarjuna’s policies around leadership and considers how they can create personal and world transformation. Roshi Joan Halifax […]
12/16/2022 • 1 hour, 36 minutes, 2 seconds
Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 3)
In Part 3 of this multipart series, Joan Dunne delves into ancient Indian Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna’s work The Ratnavali or The Jewel Garland which offers counsel to kings or all […]
12/15/2022 • 1 hour, 8 minutes, 31 seconds
Joan Halifax: Rohatsu: Green Dharma (Part 1)
Sensei Kaz Tanahashi and Roshi Joan Halifax open the first full day of Rohatsu Green Dharma sesshin with their dharma talk on Indra’s Net and what it means to hold […]
12/12/2022 • 34 minutes, 6 seconds
Dorotea Mendoza: Show, Don’t Tell: How the Practice of Writing Can Teach us About Engagement and Service
In this wonderful talk, Dorotea Mendoza “walks the talk” of showing rather than telling by sharing some of her personal experiences, e.g. how she misses the Philippines, the country of […]
12/5/2022 • 38 minutes, 58 seconds
John Dunne & Joan Halifax: Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this multi-part series, Roshi Joan Halifax considers the qualities of a leader as modeled and taught by the Buddha. Roshi speaks of the Buddha as a […]
11/28/2022 • 48 minutes, 49 seconds
John Dunne & Joan Halifax: Buddhist Visions of Leadership 2022 (Part 1)
Series Description: Upaya’s Abbot and social activist Roshi Joan Halifax and the wonderful Buddhist scholar Dr. John Dunne guide participants through a unique and rich exploration of Buddhist visions of […]
11/25/2022 • 48 minutes, 5 seconds
Monshin Nannette Overley: Always Maintain a Joyful Mind
Sensei Monshin Nannette Overley explores the provoking Lojong slogan “Always maintain a joyful mind.” She examines perspectives on joy that go beyond our cultural view of “happy happy joy joy.” […]
11/21/2022 • 42 minutes, 35 seconds
John Dunne: Bodhisattva Lineage
“Without the lineage, we are like people without fire and we’re going to be out of luck.” Professor John Dunne speaks about the importance of the Buddhist lineage and how […]
11/14/2022 • 41 minutes, 29 seconds
Wendy Johnson: A Harvest of Dharma and Ecology
Sensei Wendy Johnson gives a characteristically energizing, inspiring, and poetic talk on ecology and Dharma practice. She discusses the process and practice of planting and harvesting Upaya’s garden this past year […]
11/7/2022 • 48 minutes, 48 seconds
Sensei Noah Kodo Roen: Effortless Freedom
Sensei Noah Kodo Roen reports on his first year of fatherhood and what he’s learned from his daughter Skyla. Try to imagine what it would be like to be a […]
10/31/2022 • 44 minutes, 39 seconds
Rev. angel Kyodo Williams: Training the Mind to Transform (9 of 9)
In this final episode of Training the Mind to Transform, Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Roshi, invites program participants to share any insights from their conversations in small groups, reminding us […]
10/29/2022 • 32 minutes, 27 seconds
Rev. angel Kyodo Williams: Training the Mind to Transform (8 of 9)
Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Roshi, invites participants in her Training the Mind to Transform program to discuss their experiences with Lojong training thus far. She prescribes certain slogans for particular difficulties, […]
