Here you find the recordings of the Dharma Talks of Sensei Joshin Byrnes starting from July 14, 2024.
The Dharma Talk is a time to hear and discuss the benefits of Zen in our everyday lives.
October 2025
October 15: Recording Joshin and Kendo
October 1: “The Dharma of Entanglement” Joshin
September 2025
September 24: “Meeting the Buddha of Difference” Joshin
September 10: “Your Powerball Life” Joshin
August 2025
August 27: “Self, Not Self, No Self” Joshin
August 13: “The Beauty & Power of Form” Joshin and Daikan Nelson
July 2025
July 30: “The Root and Route of Buddha Nature” Joshin
June 2025
June 5: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about hospitality and our practice
May 2025
May 14: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about Jizo and the Caring Rebellion
April 2025
April 20: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about thresholds in our lives.
April 6: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about Stupidity
March 2025
March 23: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about how to practice in this difficult world.
March 2: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about he truth of suffering
February 2025
February 23: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about The Daring Dream of Having No Enemies
February 2: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about continuous practice as an ever-present force everywhere, even in those whose actions we resist.
December 2024
December 15: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about Words, Words, Words.
December 8: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about Wonder.
December 1: In this Dharma Talk Joshin talked about the process of bridging connections with each other.
November 2024
November 17: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin talked with the sangha about “How to say no”.
November 10: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin talked with the sangha about how to integrate changing situations into our lives.
November 3: In this Dharma Reflection Joshin, Kendo and Eisho went in a conversation with the sangha about the upcoming elections.
October 2024
October 27: In this Dharma Talk Joshin continued the conversation with the sangha about the spiritual path. This week he talked about the ceremonies for transmission.
October 20: In this Dharma Talk Joshin, Kendo and Eisho continued the conversation with the sangha about the spiritual path. This week they talked about spiritual friendship, personal lineage, and our lives.
October 13: In this Dharma Talk Joshin, Kendo and Eisho went in a conversation with the sangha about the spiritual path.
October 6: In this Dharma Talk Joshin and Eisho went in a conversation with the sangha about the path of practice.
September 2024
September 8: In this Dharma Talk 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 Talk 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 Talk 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 Talk 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 Talk 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 Talk 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 Talk 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 Talk, 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.