Ep 115 - Zen and Forms (Dharma Talk)

Our guest for this episode Muhō Noelke. He is perhaps best known for having been the abbot of the  Antai-ji Soto Zen monastery in Japan.  He received dharma transmission from Miyaura Rōshi and now lives Osaka, where he leads a Zen group that meets every Sunday in Osaka castle park (except when it is raining).  He has a popular channel on Youtube called  “Zen meditation with Muho”.More on Muho:https://www.youtube.com/@MuhoZenOnline Zen training and Podcasts:https://simplicityzen.com 

 In this talk from the Fall 2026 Simplicity Zen Practice Period, head student (shuso) Mushin explores the topic of Zen and forms. Online Zen training and podcasts: https://simplicityzen/com 

Sensei Jissai Prince-Cherry was born in 1967 in North Carolina, served eight years in the U.S. Air Force and earned a degree in Industrial Engineering from Southern Illinois University. After nearly 15 years in the field, she turned her full attention to a life dedicated to the Buddhadharma. She began practicing Zen in 1994. In addition to the traditional Zen training she received at the Rochester Zen Center, she also made pilgrimages to a Rinzai Zen monastery in Japan for residential practice and sesshin. Ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest in 2022, she received the name, “Jissai” (pronounced JEE-sigh), which means “true encounter.” In 2025, after nearly 30 years of training with her teacher, Roshi Bodhin (“Cold Heed”) Kjolhede, she was formally sanctioned by him as a fully authorized Zen teacher.  Jissai-sensei lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she leads the Louisville Zen Center. She also serves as a teacher for the Rochester Zen Center.https://www.louisvillezen.org/Online Zen training and podcast:https://simplicityzen.com 

Jon Joseph Roshi is a teacher in the Pacific Zen Institute lineage and is the guiding teacher at San Mateo Zen Community in California. Jon studied with Yamada Koun, Roshi in Japan and John Tarrant, Roshi in California.  Jon was given initial permission to teach in 2012 and in 2016 he received full dharma transmission.More about Jon:https://www.sanmateozen.org Online Zen training and podcast:https://simplicityzen.com

Rick McDaniel was raised in Indiana and moved to Canada in 1967, where he earned an MA and Ph. D. in the Literature of the Developing World.  He has worked for many tears as a University Professor and he was the creator of the YMCA Peace Medallion and he also founded Cultures Boutique, the first fair trade store in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Rick became interested in Zen practice in 1971 and eventually studied with Albert Low of the Montreal Zen Center. He is the author of eight books on the subject. His most recent, Further Zen Conversations, was released by the Sumeru Press in 2023. At the request of Albert Low, Rick started the Fredericton Zen Sitting Group which meets weekly in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Rick is perhaps best known to Zen practitioners as a frequently profiler of North American Zen Teachers which can be found on the rbmcdaniel.ca websiteFor more about Rick and his work, please see:https://rbmcdaniel.ca/For online Zen training and information:http://scienceofzen.org/   

Paul Gyodo Agostinelli, Sensei is the Founder and Spiritual Leader of Eon Zen Center.  He is the founder of Zen at Work, which is a professional and life coaching consultancy. He received Dharma Transmission in 2015, after 25 years of Zen practice, from his teachers Shishin Wick, Roshi and Shinko Perez, Roshi, founders of the Great Mountain Zen Center.       More about Pal can be found at: https://www.eonzen.orghttps://www.zenatwork.orghttps://www.onebodysangha.orgNewsletter: https://thezenshift.substack.com/The Game of Zen (podcast): https://open.spotify.com/show/2bjnPE66RC1bCL6h7i68jt?si=91fd55a8fabe40a6 Online Zen training and podcasts:https://simplicityzen.com 

In this dharma talk by Berry Crawford we will examine these lines from the XinXin Ming: In oneness and equality, Confusion vanishes of itself. Stop activity and return to stillness, And that stillness will be even more active. Merely stagnating in duality, How can you recognize oneness? For more Zen interviews, dharma talks and online Zen training, visit: https://simplicityzen.com/ Gambo Kyogan Berry first started practicing Zen meditation in 1992. He lived at the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center and practiced as a resident there in the mid-1990s. Afterward, he practiced with Diane “Eshin” Rizzetto at the Ordinary Mind Zen School, founded by Joko Beck. Later, he became a student of John “Shoji” Sorenson, under whom he eventually received shiho (2022) and Inka Shomei (2025) in the lineage of Soto priest Soyu Matsuoka Roshi. He has also completed the Open Mind Zen koan curriculum under Russell “Kyofu Seikyo” Mitchell and was given dharma transmission in that lineage in 2025. Berry is a member of the “Doan-ryo” at the Valley Streams Zen Sangha and of the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Dharma Center. 

Tess Beasley is a Zen koan teacher and dharma heir of John Tarrant Roshi and serves as President for the Board of Directors for the Pacific Zen Institute. She holds a PhD in Jungian and Archetypal Psychology and is particularly interested in the ways Zen and depth psychology complement each other to kindle creativity and transformation. More on Tess and PZI: https://www.pacificzen.org/ Online Zen Training and Education: https://simplicityzen.com 

 In this dharma talk by Berry Crawford we will examine these lines from the XinXin Ming: The Supreme Way is not difficult If only you do not pick and choose. Neither love nor hate, And you will clearly understand. For more Zen interviews, dharma talks and online Zen training, visit: https://simplicityzen.com/ 

 A way seeking mind talk is when a Zen student shares how they became interested and involved in Zen practice. For Zen podcasts and training: https://simplicityzen.com