Recorded August 29, 2007
Speakers: Roshi Joan Halifax, Irene Kyojo Bakker, Beate Stolte-Overtheil, Jean
Wilkins, Jisen MacFarland

Several Upaya priests reflect upon the buddhist precepts and elaborate on several themes arising from the Jukai ceremony including: letting go into our natural goodness, summoning the courage to live an ethical life, comparing dualistic, absolute and transcendant views of the precepts through koans, and deep transition as an aspect of commitment.

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Recorded August 22, 2007
Speaker: Roshi Joan Halifax

Roshi Joan Halifax gives this talk during the intensive Bodhidharma sesshin. She talks about stripping away adornments, the importance of mutuality, panoramic perspective, and the practice of shikantaza. She relates Bodhidharma’s journey as a metaphor for our own lives.

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Recorded August 15, 2007
Speaker: Irene Kyojo Bakker

Irene Kyojo Bakker speaks about the ways in which Zen ritual, liturgy and gestures serve to connect us to everything. How practice perfecting the craft of Zen creates skillful means through its emphasis on precision and gentleness, and dissolves the individual into a sangha body.

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Recorded August 8, 2007
Speaker: Natalie Goldberg

Natalie Goldberg, well known author and Dharma holder, tells us a real life story about her experience of an unusual fugue state and her inability to ‘resolve’ what happened to her.

She has been trying to write an essay about the experience but feels that her understanding of what happened is blocked. She asks the listeners to help her explore the story by choosing whatever she said that had ‘energy’ for them. She points out the connections between dreams, koans, and insights and emphasizes the embodying component of knowing deeply.

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Recorded August 1, 2007
Speaker: Roshi Joan Halifax

In this talk, Roshi reflects upon her recent 65th birthday, her long history of collaboration with the Lindesfarne Fellows and the importance of mentoring ourselves and others so that those doing important work in the world can create continuity. She discusses developmental changes occurring in both persons and systems. She uses a koan to illustrate our tendency to get stuck in our personal story, thus creating unnecessary drama that negatively affects us and those around us.