Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Samm spins us an ancient Zen love tragedy (that might even have a happy ending?), and helps us heal the one breakup we urgently need to mend, the splits in our selves and souls. What parts of our realities are we unable or unwilling to see? Have we ever been truly awake, or been safe enough to get an honest night’s sleep? When is or is it not time to go off to the mountains and never come back, jump off a moonlit cliff? Find out here!

Dave gives us a brass tacks intro to Zen and ACZC for beginners of all experience levels while making the case that Zen is the funniest world religion. Are we the only sincerely sarcastic spirituality? What’s the ACZC prescription for a full life of lay practice, and why should we follow it? Is this the way to grow into our best life and weirdest selves?? Find out here!

Patrick takes on the world and people that rile us up, and how to sit down and face the wall with them without actually turning our backs. Does paying attention mean being outraged? Can we practice peace without facilitating harm? Is the history of Zen an inspiring example of finding balance in conflict or a warning about misused mindfulness?? Find out here!

Sara delivers us a timely pep talk on how to find sustainable energy in an exhausting world. What’s the difference between grinding energy and joyful effort? How do we cultivate energy in zazen when all we’re doing is noticing? What exactly is a good use of our efforts and will we know it when we find it?? Find out here!

Dave tries to figure out what Zen meant when they said inanimate objects talk to us, and how to stay sustainably weird in a society that (for some reason) expects us to be reasonable productive members of it. What level of function do we owe our friends and families, and what does it cost us to play along? What kind of wonder do we lose in an age of reason, and is it possible to live in a world of rational magic? We talk to plants, but can you empathize with a tree, argue with a vacuum, talk to a computer?? Find out here!