Angel City Zen Center - Beginners Only Podcast

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.

Dave Cuomo - Having Once Paused (History of Zen - Ikkyu)

In a special History of Zen, Dave turns to the life and poetry of Ikkyu to try to answer the question of how Zen has historically responded to times of crisis. In Ikkyu’s case the answer was great art, bad behavior, and a desperate need to get to the ultimate truth of a world that felt like it had left any such thing behind. Join us as Dave brings us his compelling life story along with some bawdy and beautiful poetry, including an extended reading from Stephen Berg's classic free verse translations "Crow With No Mouth."

Emily Eslami - Equanimity

“Why crave happiness, why push away the sadness. Why not just let everything be? We put so much energy into resisting the things we have no control over (which is actually everything), it’s a little silly.” - Emily Eslami

Erik Andersen - Emptiness and Compassion (We're All In This Together)

Our favorite in house psychiatrist, Erik, gives a perfect combination of ancient Zen and modern expert advice for managing a time of stress & anxiety.

Jason Dodge - What Am I Doing Here?

Jason Dodge tells us the story of what he’s doing and why he’s here, while just maybe we learn something about those things for ourselves. In an especially warm and fuzzy installment, the sangha doubles down and shares their own stories too!

Dave Cuomo - Blinding Darkness

Dave gives us an in depth look into the Buddhist creation myth. it's the question Buddha famously  refused to answer (except of course for when he changed his mind). It's a beginning in an ending and a story with no beginning and no ending. It's a story of nothing that confused itself for something, and was cursed to wander for endless kalpas trying to forget that one pesky thought. What the hell are we talking about?? We're talking about the story of everything! No one said it was going to be simple, but it's a good yarn and the sangha goes all in and laughs along with the ridiculousness of life, the universe, and everything, because in the end, what else can you do?