The Zen Mountain Monastery Podcast

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 10/25/26 – Referring to Zhaozhou’s koan, “Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature?”, and Dogen’s teachings in Busshō, this Dharma Encounter explores how both “yes” and “no” can be doorways to understanding our true nature. Rather than treating these responses as opposing answers, Shugen Roshi encourages us to move beyond conceptual thinking and the habits of grasping and aversion. If Buddha Nature is the fundamental nature of all beings, how do we understand our doubts, imperfections, and reactive patterns? Can we recognize Buddha Nature in our very body that ages, suffers, and dies, rather than seeing it as something separate from our everyday experience? Shugen Roshi invites the sangha to reflect on these questions and come forward to share their own experiences, insights, and questions in the spirit of Dharma Encounter.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 10/24/26 – Delving into the well-known koan of “Zhaozou’s Dog,” Shugen Roshi explores the importance of seeing one’s self-nature clearly, without the baggage and habits of our defensiveness. This early step in koan training helps us train our minds in letting go of the illusions of “self” and “others” directly and intimately. With this foundation in practice, we can go further in exploring how self-nature and buddha nature function in our lives. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 18 – Zhaozhou’s Dog.)

Ron Hogen Green, Sensei – ZMM – 10/23/26 – How do our vows become visible through renewing them in the shared ceremony of Fusatsu? Hogen Sensei encourages us to use the words of the ceremony and the invocation of the Buddhas and ancestors to fully enter and engage them. We can practice seeing where we are still under the spell of our delusions—the root of our suffering—and turn this practice of atonement as an offering for awakening to all beings.

Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Osho – ZMM – 10/21/26  – Master Hongzhi offered practice instructions for zazen which place us directly in contact with our awakened nature. “The field of boundless emptiness which exists from the very beginning,” are words which can inspire as well as encourage. As Gokan Osho says, we can see that there is work to be done, there is something to see clearly, and with these instructions we can enter into and study our lives deeply.

Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei – ZMM – 10/18/26 – While concepts and ideas help us to learn about and understand our world, they also have a way of limiting our ability to experience things as they really are. Don’t keep yourself in a state of numbness or emotional distance from whatever is arising, but study and practice with a full and capable heart. (From the Gateless Gate, Case 27 – Neither Mind Nor Buddha.)