Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/19/25 - We may aspire to enlightenment, or we may simply have faith in this path that seems to be leading us in a good direction. Enlightenment can seem a far away concept from the daily struggles of being human, but that sense of distance comes from seeking something outside of ourselves. The bright, luminous mind of enlightenment, Roshi reminds us, is always so much closer than we can imagine. (Fall 2025 Ango - Genjokoan Series of Talks - Part 7)
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Tending the Lamp
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/12/25 - Passing this lamp that the Buddha lit, it falls to the next generation to tend that lamp for the next generation, and for generations to come. Building something new, whether a temple or a community as Daido Roshi and others from the Monastery’s early years have done, over time it’s the vow itself that comes alive. On this 45th Anniversary of ZMM, Shugen Roshi celebrates all those who helped to put down good roots here. When each of us arrive at the place of practice, the vows of our ancestors unfold.
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Firewood Does Not Become Ash
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 10/05/25 - The opportunity our lives offer is simply to live—not in the past, nor the future, but now—and this requires a measure of both faith and appreciation for all that is present, right now. Rather than living in memory and recollection, or in our hopes and fears, Dogen’s Genjokoan emphasizes that the dharma state of any phenomenon is just this, right now. - Fall 2025 Ango - Genjokoan Series of Talks - Part 6
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Genjokoan Dharma Encounter
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei - ZMM - 9/28/25 - Manifesting absolute reality—awakened reality—in everyday life is Genjokoan. In this lively Dharma Encounter with Hogen Sensei, the awakened reality of everyday life is explored as our fundamental practice. Sensei says “true realization manifests as compassionate action in the world; that’s the bottom line,” and asks that we each consider how we enter this ordinary, everyday actualization of compassion. (Dharma Encounter at the September 2025 Mountains and Rivers Sesshin)
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Not Separate From Yourself
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 9/27/25 - Zazen is a powerful practice for entering an intimate relationship with ourselves. Without adding anything extra, we have available at all times our true mind, our buddha nature, perfect and complete. But how to work with it skillfully? How to let go of all the suffering we carry, and re-create, moment by moment? Drawing from Dogen’s Genjokoan, Shugen Roshi takes up the opportunity this radical intimacy offers. - Fall 2025 Ango - Genjokoan Series of Talks - Part 5
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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