Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Goblin Mode (Bad Habits) w/ Chris Arnett

Chris takes a Buddhist look at burn out and bad habits and how and why we choose to make things worse when we know so much better. Zen can shed light on our choices, but does it care to actually improve them? What should a responsible person look like? Are stale christmas cookies for breakfast the problem, or is judging stale christmas cookies for breakfast the problem?? Find out here!

Non Compete Clause (Buddha and Democracy) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave tells the story of the time Buddha preserved democracy for 2000 years and started a radical social revolution that not only didn’t get anyone hurt or killed, but had the kings and power brokers of the day falling over themselves to support what he was doing. How did he pull that off without making enemies of the powers he was challenging? Can we learn to wield selfless goallessness effectively? What are we really trying to win and who are we really trying to convince?? Find out here!

Drunkards, Dharma, Scum & Sangha (Cooking) w/ Henry Zander

A well seasoned line cook takes a gig in the Zen kitchen and dishes us up a moving report on the dirt and dharma inherent to the work. How does the pure land of work practice stack up to the grizzled world of restaurant work? Is the spirit of service to give up our needs or serve ourselves first? Is there time for Buddhism in a Zen kitchen? Find out here!

It’s All Uji, Baby (The Time Being) w/ Dave Cuomo

Dave rings in the new year with a spirited rendition of Dogen’s Time Being and a wholehearted dissection of the idea and experience of time. Is time just an unreal concept, or the be all and end all of everything? (Yes) Do we need to learn to lighten up or learn to take ourselves far more seriously? (Yes!) Can we fulfill all our wildest aspirations without falling prey to our own agendas?? (Let’s find out…) Find out here!

Ordinarily Extraordinary (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Beth Kaiserman

Great sangha friend Beth Kaiserman brings us the story of what she’s doing and why she’s here; a story about spirituality for the irreligious and making a practice out of expressing yourself from the cushion to the page to the stage, even when deep down we might get the sneaking suspicion there’s nothing to explain. Who did we learn our resistance to authority from? Is it ever possible to truly do nothing? Can we, or should we even try to, make ourselves legible?? Find out here!

Dark mind, Radiant heart (Rohatsu) w/ Sara Campbell

In a rousing exhortation for retreat, Sara takes on the impossible question of what exactly happened to Buddha the night he sat too long under a tree and apparently fixed everything. Is Buddha’s enlightenment for everybody, or is that just an ego’s fantasy? Why is a sense of belonging often such a foreign concept? What are we bursting to say after days of learning to silently communicate?? Find out here!

Tiny Revolutions (Transmission) w/ Dave Cuomo

“ The revolution is in the individual spirit, or it is nowhere. It is for all or it is nothing. If it is seen as having an end, it will never truly begin.” Ursula Le Guin 

 

Dave passes the caretaker torch and talks about dharma transmission, continuous practice, and never ending revolutions. Can we honor the past without being doomed to repeat it? Were the great masters of the past ever supposed to be role models? Are our charismatic teachers what’s holding us back? Find out here!

Kerplunk! (Zen and the Art of Art) w/ Matthew Sherling

ACZC’s favorite poet in residence Matthew gives us a talk on Zen, creativity, and art and the many frictions and harmonies between them. Can we train spontaneity? Does Zen’s famous skepticism of the written word discourage or liberate our writing? If we’re so focused on letting our thoughts go, will we still be able to grab the good ones and get them on the page?? Find out here!

The Golden Tone (Nostalgia) w/ Sara Campbell

“You can go home again, so long as you understand that home is a place where you have never been.” - Ursula Le Guin

 

Sara kicks off the holiday season with a Zen look at nostalgia, going home, and living the past right here in the present moment. How do we honor where we’ve been without missing where we are? Does trying to live in the present mean we’re avoiding the past? Is the past a place never to be met again, or does it always exist everywhere?? Find out here!!

An Unwanted Koan (What Am I Doing Here??) w/ Resa Alboher

“She said, ‘This isn’t the koan you wanted.’ And I thought about that. What do you do with a koan you don't want? Usually, if it's a koan, you didn't want it.” - Resa Alboher

 

Long time sangha stalwart and dear friend Resa Alboher brings us the epic adventure of what brought her to ACZC across continents, decades of earth shaking world events, and moments of life altering personal ones as well. What do we with the koan we didn’t want? How do we sit still when lying down is all we can actually manage? And just what was the Buddhist scene in Moscow like at the fall of the USSR?? Find out here!