September 2024
September 8: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin goes going back to the early days of Zen with Bodhidharma – a fascinating character of history and myth. He’s got some good questions for us.
September 1: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin sums up the last eight talks with a reflection on “The Future is Community – The Way of Community Zen.” He points a way forward that places community, bridging and belonging at the center of our practice.
August 2024
August 25: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin continued the series, What’s at the Heart of Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community? with a talk about the zigzag nature of lives and how we have not choice but to act – to conduct ourselves – as we move through all of its twists and turns. What guides us?
August 18: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin talks about spiritual friendship at the core of our practice. We come together as spiritual friends, encouraging and challenging each other to show up for a world on fire.
August 11: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin explored the place of “care” or “appamada.” He explores how our practice at Bread Loaf Mountain is a continuous pilgrimage into the final words of the Buddha as he lay dying: “Things fall apart; move with care.” We apologize that we only recorded the Q&A of this Zen talk.
August 4: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin explored the Zen verse: “The Dharma is vast and lovely; We now have a chance to hear it, study it, and practice it; We vow to realize its true meaning.” What is “Dharma”? What does it mean for each of us to have the opportunity to live it? How do we hold everything we encounter with two hands, and honor its intrinsic worth and dignity? And how do we bring something true into the world?
July 2024
July 28: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin continues his talks on the Three Hearts with a reflection on the Vast or Magnanimous Heart-Mind. This heart welcomes all experiences—even the difficult ones and challenging people—as part of the wondrous, mysterious experience of life, interconnected with all other lives. The Magnanimous Heart “lets everyone in.”
July 21: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin continues the BLMZC Foundation series with a focus on Dogen’s Grandmother’s Heart-Mind. This is the caring elder’s heart—the one who “plants a tree and nurtures it, knowing they won’t see it fully grown.” It’s the heart that helps others flourish without expecting anything in return.
July 14: In this Dharma Reflection, Joshin begins a series of eight talks on the foundational teachings of our practice at Bread Loaf Mountain Zen. He introduces our community’s culture and, as promised in June, starts exploring the Three Heart-Minds that Dogen writes about in “Instructions to the Cook.” There’s a possibility that “Three Hearts” may become the name of our new meditation hall when we dedicate the building in 2025. Joshin focuses on the role of the Joyful Heart-Mind in shaping our practice environment.
