The Zen Studies Podcast

Jan 17 2025 302 ep. 29 mins 3.2k
The Zen Studies Podcast artwork

Learn about traditional Zen and Buddhist teachings, practices, and history through episodes recorded specifically for podcast listeners. Host Domyo Burk is a Soto Zen priest and teacher.

  Religion & Spirituality
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291 - Keizan's Denkoroku Lead Chapter: Shakyamuni's "I and All Beings"

Jan 17 2025 43 mins  
In Episode 272, I discussed the third chapter of Zen Master Keizan’s book The Denkoroku, or the Record of the Transmission of Illumination. In the interest of thoroughness, I figured I’d start back at chapter one, with Shakyamuni Buddha’s “I and All Beings.” This text explores the nature of enlightenment and the tension between individuality and non-separation.

290 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field 8 – Realization: Direct Experience of Reality-with-a-Capital-R

Dec 28 2024 38 mins  
The eighth Field of Zen Practice is Realization, gaining a direct, personal experience of the truth. Realization helps you respond appropriately, allowing you to live by choice instead of by karma. Even more importantly, it gives you a larger perspective that can result in equanimity, even joy. There are different levels of truth, and the Dharma – Reality-with-a-Capital-R – is

289 - Ten Fields of Zen, Field 7 – Opening Your Heart: Self-Acceptance and Non-Separation (2 of 2)

Dec 18 2024 31 mins  
This episode is the second half of the seventh chapter of my book-in-progress, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. Listen to/read the previous episode (288) first, where I talk about the importance of Opening Your Heart and how that effort is viewed in the Buddhist tradition. In that episode I also discussed the four Brahmaviharas – goodwill, compassion, sympatheti

288 - 10 Fields of Zen, Field 7 – Opening Your Heart: Self-Acceptance and Non-Separation (1 of 2)

Nov 29 2024 36 mins  
The seventh Field of Zen Practice is Opening Your Heart. Working explicitly to open your heart not only benefits other living beings, it puts you in accord with the Dharma and supports all other aspects of your practice. You work on radical self-acceptance to make Awakening and compassion possible. You work on real and personal relationships with other beings – overcoming your so

287 - A Few Useful Teachings for Tumultuous Times

Nov 24 2024 11 mins  
In a time of political divisiveness, many of us look to the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha for solace, strength, and guidance. I offer a few Dharma teachings I have found useful for practicing in tumultuous times.

286 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Six – Ending Dukkha: Taking Care of this Precious Life (2 of 2)

Nov 16 2024 27 mins  
This episode is the second part of the sixth chapter of my book-in-progress, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. In the last episode, I offered seven points about the role of Dukkha in our life and practice and discussed the first five points. In this episode I’ll finish the discussion with point #6: Buddhism offers a holistic approach to alleviating Dukkha, includ

285 – Ten Fields of Zen, Field Six – Ending Dukkha: Taking Care of this Precious Life (1 of 2)

Oct 31 2024 24 mins  
The sixth Field of Zen Practice is ending Dukkha (this is part of my book, The Ten Fields of Zen Practice: A Primer for Practitioners). While physical and emotional pain, discomfort, and longing are an inevitable part of human life, Dukkha is existential angst we add to such experiences, ranging from subtle uneasiness to acute anguish. It drives our unhealthy or harmful behaviors,

284 - Reflections on Continuous Practice and Dogen's “Gyoji” (2 of 2)

Oct 24 2024 23 mins  
It’s challenging to make our Dharma practice continuous – maintaining awareness and appropriate conduct each moment of our lives. In his essay Gyoji, or “Continuous Practice,” Zen Master Dogen doesn’t offer practical tips for mindfulness and pure conduct in everyday life, but instead challenges our limited ideas about what practice is. In this episode (part 2), I continue

283 - Reflections on Continuous Practice and Dogen's “Gyoji” (1 of 2)

Oct 02 2024 30 mins  
Our goal in practice is to live in accord with the truth, or the Dharma - not only while sitting in meditation or studying Buddhism, but every moment of our lives. In other words, we strive to make our practice continuous. It can be extremely challenging to maintain mindfulness and good behavior all the time. How can we make our practice more continuous? Not surprisingly, in his e

282 – Cutting Moral Corners: Is Buddhism Compatible with 21st-Century Life? (2 of 2)

Sep 21 2024 21 mins  
This is part two of my discussion “Cutting Moral Corners: Is Buddhism Compatible with 21st-Century Life?” In Part 1 I talked about the moral stress that arises from living a modern life, where almost every decision we make becomes a moral choice. I discussed how home leaving – or monasticism – was early Buddhism’s prescription for avoiding moral stress, and then how the M