The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei – ZMM – 9/27/26 – Drawing on Dogen’s teaching that all beings are Buddha nature, Hogen Sensei asks how we bring this truth to life through practice. What inner resources do we draw on in difficult times, and where do they come from? In facing illness, navigating relationships, and making moral choices, how do we bring forth wisdom and compassion amid uncertainty? How do we meet whatever life brings as an expression of our true nature?

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 9/26/26 – Drawing on Dogen’s Bussho, Shugen Roshi explores the seemingly contradictory teachings that all beings are, have, or have no Buddha nature. If Buddha nature isn’t something we can possess or acquire, what are we realizing through practice? These teachings invite us to loosen our grip on fixed ideas and discover for ourselves what they point to. Through a story of simple hospitality becoming a lifelong friendship, we see how ordinary acts of kindness and generosity give this practice life. Can we trust the path and meet our difficulties as opportunities to practice?

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZMM – 9/25/26 – In this Fusatsu talk, Hojin Sensei explores renewing our bodhisattva vows and practicing loving-kindness through the Three Pure Precepts. What does it mean to live by vow rather than be driven by our habitual karma? When we’re hurt or in conflict, can we see ourselves and others as more than our worst actions? Through humility, curiosity, and practice within the Sangha, we can acknowledge harm and learn to respond differently. Atonement offers a way to move through guilt and shame, renewing our commitment to compassion and service.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 9/24/26 – The Buddha realized that all beings are capable of awakening to their true nature. Dogen echoed this truth by saying that all beings are Buddha nature, emphasizing that this is our very nature, not something we can gain or lose. If we could “have” Buddha nature, then we could also “not have” it. This subtle shift in emphasis opens up an extraordinary way of understanding this truth about ourselves and all beings. We simply need to realize it for ourselves.

Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei – ZMM – 9/23/26 – The path of the bodhisattva is not always a convenient one, and probably not as we imagine it to be. We may struggle; it may feel prickly. So how do we stay on the path of unburdening ourselves and waking up? Transformation means getting very clear about what hinders us—about the inner conditions that keep us from being truly and completely available. It is through transforming ourselves in this way that we become free to offer ourselves freely to others.