Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

Dave Cuomo - Inconceivable! (The Vimalakirti Sutra - pt 2)

"The freedom, or liberation, she’s talking about is one that all of us inherently possess, and one that only we can grant to our selves. And it’s also a freedom that no one could ever take away from you no matter what they do..." - Dave Cuomo

The thrilling conclusion to our two part series on the Vimalakirti sutra! Dave continues the story with the classic goddess chapter, where everyone's favorite no BS goddess gives Sariputra the business for his worst ideas on gender roles and enlightenment. Also, we get Dogen's hot take on the whole sutra, a visit from some benevolent sweet smelling aliens, heavenly take out is ordered, and so much more!

Dave Cuomo - Thank You For Being (The Vimalakirti Sutra - pt 1)

In this extended two part podcast, Dave brings us a thorough cliff notes reading  of the Vimalakirti Sutra! An epic story of right and wrong complete with miracles and magic, bodhisattvas breaking all the rules, benevolent aliens, devils disguised as gods, snarky gender bending goddesses, and through it all Buddha finally answering the question of why the world is so screwed up and whether or not there's anything we can do about it. The plot revolves around our hero Vimalakirti, everyone’s favorite enlightened layman, who is suffering from a mysterious illness that just might be the root cause of all sickness and suffering in the world! Will he get better? Will we get to the heart of suffering and end it once and for all? Let’s find out… 

Erik Andersen - The Poor Way

In an lightly amusing and deeply enlightening talk, Erik takes us on a very deep dive into a very short story as he gives us a close reading of Prajnatara’s classic three sentence tale of a very poor practice. Along the way we discuss the Zen shortcut to to truly mindful breathing, how to properly speed read the scriptures (hey look, there they go again!), self care, Zen mysticism, lion's dens, elephants, and fox tracks (oh my!)

Emily Eslami - On Shaky Ground (The Precepts pt 1 - Historical Background)

In the long awaited premier to Emily's new in depth series on the precepts, she takes us on a wild ride through 2500 years of making and breaking the rules, as we whittle an unwieldy set of hundreds of vows down to the familiar 16 that we Zennies know and love today. Join us as we find Buddha laying down the law about the proper relationship one should have with a monkey (respectful of course...) and when the appropriate time to wear owl feathers is (sadly, never). And then we catch up with Dogen as he makes his way to China and has his monkhood (gasp!) questioned by the emperor himself for an apparent lack of concern for said owl feathers and monkey rules. Along the way we question what it means to make impossible vows (everything!) and ultimately who we answer to when we break them (only ourselves!).

Emily Eslami - Old Bones, Dull Brains (Ceaseless Practice pt 2!)

Emily brings us Dogen at his most poignant and poetic as he gives us a rousing pep talk for practice, complete with inspiring stories and exhortations on giving up everything except for all of the bounty you already possess in every moment. Fame and profit? Who needs it. The body? No big deal! Its the endless path of existential ease, and Dogen and Emily are the perfect team to inspire us to it.

Dave Cuomo - Stillness Screaming

Dave opens up his own inquiry into the precepts with a deep look at the sounds of silence that ultimately animate everything we do. Dragon's moan, persimmon's speak, and a snake loses its head in a free wheeling talk filled with poetry that reads like koans, koans that read like poetry, and to top it all off Dave throws in some personal stories of the times when doing it wrong had a peculiar way of turning out perfectly right. Does practicing stillness mean we have to be quiet? (Yeah, no...) Does a practice of not knowing mean we can't tell right from wrong? (No! But sort of kind of yes?) Is Zen actually amoral? (Ok, that one's an easy no.) Let's discuss!

Sara Campbell - The Fuzzy That Is Neither Warm Nor Cold (What Am Doing Here??)

In a glowing reminder of what exactly we're doing here and why we do it, Sara generously shares her personal practice story of turning her back on church and finding the sacred that lies just beyond the strange. She tells us about losing trust in yourself only to realize yourself as part of something much, much bigger. And, in a tradition admittedly short on coddling, she reminds us about the community of freak and geeks that kept her coming back and the warm fuzzies that have a way of sneaking in through the cracks when you're not even looking. And if you love blog like newsletters and great writing, be sure to check out and subscribe to Sara’s newsletter, Tiny Revolutions at tinyrevolutions.substack.com!

Dave Cuomo - Is This Working??

Dave tries to answer the question of whether our zazen is actually working with an in depth look at Dongshan's Five Ranks and the last time Soto Zen accidentally created a gradated system for practice.

Cat Kilmer - What Am I Doing Here?? (Love & Reality)

In our ongoing series of sangha members sharing their personal practice stories, Cat Kilmer takes us on a quest of love and non duality through ashrams, yoga studios, and heartbreaks to find revelations, disillusionments, and an ultimately simple little truth beckoning to us from the wall.

Emily Eslami - Ceaseless Practice

In another timely talk, Emily tackles Dogen's "Ceaseless Practice," where Dogen opens up in personal terms about his own struggles with the frustrations of an endless practice. How is giving up practice is still part of practice? What do they mean "let go of letting go of attachments" and can we still love our loved ones? How does our practice create the whole universe?? How can we make friends with time and play video games like the whole world depends on it??? Join us for a loving look at these days of monotony we will never see again.