Talks

Buddha’s Birthday – Koshin Cain – 9 May 2021

celebrate Maya's birth of Siddhartha Gautama, some 2500 years ago, in the Lumbini Gardens of northern India. ...

Countable Breaths – Tim Taigen Tattu – 2 May 2021

Tim trained under Shodo Harada Roshi at the Tahoma Sogenji Zen Monastery on Whidbey Island. Subsequently he was a founding member and one of the first...

The Buddha holds up a flower – Koshin Cain – 25 April 2021

The flower wouldn’t have meant much unless the Buddha had held it up.  Silence isn’t golden unless it’s in the context of noise.  The two...

The Vimalakirti Sutra chapter 7 – Elizabeth Fitterer – 5 April 2021

How Bodhisattvas comfort and instruct other Bodhisattvas who are ill – Hogen Bays – 4 April 2021

Vimalakirti Sutra chapters 5 and 6 – Koshin Cain – 29 March 2021

Vimalakirti Ilness and other Lessons in Nonduality – Tetsuzen Jason Wirth – 28 March 2021

The Vimalakirti Sutra chapters 2 and 3

Flowers make no distinctions -Eko Jeff Kelley – 21 March 2021

The Vimalakirti Sutra in China – Elizabeth Fitterer – 15 March 2021

The Magic and Majesty of the Vimalakirti Sutra – Koshin Cain – 14 March 2021

Opening session of the 2021 intensive practice period...

Our Ethical Journey as a Sangha – Ethics Committee – 7 March 2021

Zen at the Movies – Giko David Rubin – 21 February 2021

What to watch while we watch and other insights from Giko...

The Contours of Suffering and Loss

Questions and Answers with Genko Cathy Blackman – 7 February 2021

Q&A between teacher Genko and the PSZC sangha...

Past and Future Cut Off – Jeff Kelley – 24 January 2021

Buddha Nature – Koshin Cain – 31 January 2021

Day Sit dharma talk – Genko Cathy Blackman – 23 January 2021

A second music – Koshin Cain – 17 January 2021

Equanimity and Resilience in the Age of Covid – Dr. Anthony Back – 27 December 2020

Anthony Back, MD is a professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Back is...

Historical Patterns and Popular Misconceptions – Dr. Christopher Ives – 20 December 2020

Christopher Ives is Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College. In his scholarship he focuses on ethics in Zen Buddhism, and currently he is working...

Stillness Unborn / Movement Unceasing – Jeff Tipp – 13 December 2020

Enlightenment Lightening – Koshin Cain – 6 December 2020

As we understand the way things are, our load is lightened....

Gratitude – Eshin Godfrey – 29 November 2020

No Merit Attitude – Koshin Cain – 22 November 2020

Emperor Wu built temples and gave generously to sangha, but Bodhidharma tells him he gets no merit whatsoever for it.  Generosity is the first of...

Don’t Know Mind – Genko Kathy Blackman – 15 November 2020

Every Day is a Good Day – by Koshin Cain – 8 November 2020

We’ve all had bad days, so what is Zen Master Ummon saying when he says,  “Every day is a good day”?    ...

Impermanence – Seigaku Kigen Ekeson – 25 October 2020

Seigaku Kigen Ekeson, Osho, is the Abbot of the  Bodhidharma Zendo in Vienna. He began koan practice 1987. He studied with Joshu Sasaki Roshi at Rinzai-ji, and...

Fall Sesshin – Down the Mountain – Koshin Cain – 18 October 2020

Sunday morning dharma talk...

Fall Sesshin – Give Yourself Completely – Koshin Cain – 17 October 2020

Saturday evening dharma talk...

Fall Sesshin – Lessons on Cold Mountain – Koshin Cain – 17 October 2020

Saturday morning talk...

Fall Sesshin – The Road to Cold Mountain – Koshin Cain – 16 October 2020

Fall Sesshin Friday morning...

Impermanence – by Koshin Cain – 11 October 2020

Impermanence is an obvious fact of life.  But is it important?  Why do we single it out in Buddhism? We practice with impermanence because a...

The Road to Cold Mountain – Red Pine (Bill Porter) – 4 October 2020

Bill Porter (literary name Red Pine) is one of the world’s leading translators and scholars of Chinese literary and religious texts, including sutras and poems....

Great Vow Zen Monastery Abbott Hogen Bays – 27 September 2020

Ordination Ceremony – 20 September 2020

Puget Sound Zen Center's first ever ordination ceremony led by Koshin Cain...

Humility and Confidence – Koshin Cain – 13 September 2020

Learning to lose oneself in zazen meditation is a humbling experience. Learning to rely on no-self instills a quiet confidence - not the confidence of...

The Keel of Equanimity – Koshin Cain – 6 September 2020

During tumultuous times equanimity is a quality that helps us remain centered, see more clearly, and act more wisely. Buddhism values this kind of composure...

Enlightenment and Ecology: Nature in early Buddhist Teachings – Dr. Joe marino, PhD, 30 August 2020

Joe Marino is a lecturer at  University of Washington. He will discuss metaphors and similes in early Buddhist sūtras, and their role in teaching Buddhist concepts....

Compassion – Jiun Hosen @ BodhiManda Zen Center – 23 August 2020

Jiun Hosen is Abbess at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, New Mexico...

The Meaning of Ordination – Koshin Cain – 16 August 2020

What does ordination mean historically in the Buddhist tradition?  How has its meaning changed?   What does it mean to be lay ordained today at...

Interview with Yuiho Kirchner about his 50 years as a monk in Japan and what Zen is like in Japan these days – Koshin Cain – 3 August 2020

A Winter’s Journey:  Time out at enso house and Bodhi Manda – Sissel Johannesen 28 June 2020

Cultivating, Abandoning and Letting Go – Brian Lesage, 21 June 2020

This talk will share frameworks used in Theravada meditation practice in a way that is relevant to our lives, our spiritual practice and the world...

Wisdom as Substance of Mind – Gendo Allyn Field – 14 June 2020

Ancient teacher Huineng ( Eno in Japanese) is credited with these words: "Going and coming freely, the substance of mind without blockage - this is...

Annual Sangha Meeting – 7 June 2020

Zen and Global Warming – Josh Lawler 31 May 2020

Josh Lawler is conservation biologist who has worked on forecasting climate impacts on plants and animals for the last 20 years. He'll talk a bit...

The Mind is Without Hindrance – Kanshin Allison Tait – 24 May 2020

Allison has been the resident teacher of Seattle Soto Zen since 2019. She received the lay precepts from Zoketsu Norman Fischer in 2010. Allison was ordained...

New Beginnings – Genko Kathy Blackman – 17 May 2020

Genko Kathy Blackman is an Adjunct Teacher at the Puget Sound Zen Center. She in the Rinzai Zen tradition under Genki Takabayashi Roshi at Chobo-Ji...

Eshin Godfrey – Nature Always Cycles – 10 May 2020

Eshin Hoju Godfrey is the guiding teacher and Osho of the Zen Centre of Vancouver. He trained under Sasaki Roshi, becoming a monk in 1982. Later...

Giko David Rubin – Rooster Zen

Shingen Jan Gaensslen – The Zen Principle of Resurrection

Jeff Tipp – Every Mind is the True Way

Ethics committee annual report session

Spring sesshin 3: Genko Kathy Blackman – Inspiration

Genko dharma talk (Zoom recording) on Sunday 19 April, third day of the online spring sesshin...

Spring Sesshin 2 – Verifying Faith – Koshin Cain

Koshin's dharma talk (Zoom recording) on Saturday 18 April, second day of the online spring sesshin...

Spring Sesshin: Bright Faith – Genko Kathy Blackman

Genko dharma talk (Zoom recording) on Friday 17 April, first day of the online spring sesshin...

The Heart Sutra: Nothing is Certain, Everything is Free – Nomon Tim Burnett

April 5 - Nomon Tim Burnett - The Heart Sutra:  Nothing is Certain, Everything is Free.  Nomon is Guiding Teacher of the Red Cedar Zen...

Empty of What? – Koshin Cain

March 29 -  Koshin: “Empty of What?”   Shunyata, or Emptiness, is central to Zen practice, and one of it's most misunderstood concepts. How can...

On the Compassion of Emptiness – Dr. Jason Tetsuzen Wirth

"Oh, Shariputra, Have You Not Heard? On the Compassion of Emptiness." Dr. Jason Tetsuzen Wirth is professor of philosophy at Seattle University.  He was ordained a...

To Lure and to Shock – Elizabeth Fitterer

We'll look at the Heart Sutra as a text-what was its purpose as part of the larger Prajnaparamita collection of sutras? What can it tell...

Meditation 101 – Koshin Cain

How do we meditate in Zen? What are some techniques we can use for quieting down? What does posture have to do with it? In...

Practicing Our (No)Selves

Ritual is central to every religious tradition known to us. Buddhist traditions are no exception.Even in the most streamlined of Zen traditions, meditation occurs in...

One Moon (Buddha’s Death Day Commemoration)

There’s a Zen story about a non-Buddhist who questions the Buddha.  The Buddha doesn’t say a word, and the non-Buddhist comes away with a deep...

Finding (and Taking) Refuge

On February 9, 2020  Keri Pederson spoke at the PSZC on Finding (and Taking) Refuge: Reflections on trust, safety, and belonging in practice. Keri has...

Tokusan Carries His Bowls – The Last Word of Zen

Wes Borden discusses Case #13 of the Mumonkan: Tokusan Carries His Bowls - The Last Word of Zen on Feb. 2, 2020 at the PSZC....

Becoming Ordinary

Nansen famously told Joshu, “Ordinary mind is the way.” What did he mean, and what does it tell us about our practice? Koshin Chris Cain...

Becoming a Person With Nothing to Do

Zen Master Rinzai told his students to become people with nothing to do.  How does that work? On January 19, 2020 - Rinzai’s Death Day...

Starting Over

Zen practice teaches us to see things anew, but first we have to learn to drop our everyday habitual way of seeing things.  There’s a...

Fierce Vulnerability: Two Hands of Nonviolence

Marcie Rubardt on Dec. 29, 2019 explores at PSZC what it means to act from a firm and “fierce” commitment to STOP what is wrong...

Sun Faced Buddha, Moon Faced Buddha

'Sun-Faced Buddha, Moon-Faced Buddha: A Different Light.' Genko poses the question, Enlightenment - what's time got to do with it? On Sunday, December 15, 2019,...

Enlightenment Day – What did the Buddha have to overcome to reach enlightenment?

What happened under that Bodhi Tree 2500 years ago, and what can it teach those of us who sit under different trees?  Koshin Chris Cain...

Sanskrit Show and Tell

Elizabeth Fitterer talks about the Sanskrit language, its place in history and religious philosophy, the struggles and joys of being a Sanskrit student, and how...