Practice Period - Existential Uncertainty

Shinmon Michael Newton asks: When did a sense of wonder first stir in you? What kinds of questions do you have on the back-burner of your mind? _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Shinmon Michael Newton suggests that an unanswered question is alive with everything, active and illuminated as thunder. Not knowing is the wisdom of not forcing reality into an answer. In our world flooded by digital noise, in what way is silence still a disruptive revolutionary power? _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Myoshin Kate McCandless explores the wheel of karma and our human concern about the suffering of those who have died. How are they and what are the karmic consequences of their choices in life? At this time of year, how do communities enact care for those no longer with us? Can you notice when a disparaging thought arises? _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Unmon Jacob offers the second talk in his capacity as shuso. He asks: can we dynamically work between knowing and not knowing in order to support our ethics? _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Myoshin Kate McCandless discusses Zen's ambivalence towards the wild fox."Do not ignore cause and effect". _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Shinmon Michael Newton suggests that unknowing or not knowing have always been part of the human condition. Practicing with "I don't know" can strengthen attention, deepen humility and cultivate compassion.  _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Anchoring in the Koans of Knowing and Not Knowing, Myoshin Kate McCandless asks that we open to curiosity and not cling to our fixed views of each other. All we know is always partial, subject to change, and provisional. _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Unmon Jacob Butula, shuso for the Practice Period, offers a Way-Seeking Mind Talk - a traditional talk in Zen Buddhism where a practitioner reflects on their personal life story and the causes and conditions that brought them to Zen practice.“We don’t know what we don’t know. It is important to create the capacity for the changes that inevitably come.”  _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

Shinmon Michael Newton introduces the theme for Practice Period: Koans of Knowing and Not Knowing - Practicing with Uncertainty. Even though we often act as though the ground beneath us is firm, we all live with the uncertainty of what the future holds. Each person is encouraged to take responsibility for their own practice and to commit to meeting their own life.  _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].

With awareness of interdependence, a grateful heart grows. Shinmon Michael Newton asks: What is gratitude? How often does it arise in your life? In what way does our zazen practice strengthen our integrity? _____________________________________________________________These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work at mountainrainzen.org/donate. A full archive of recorded teachings going back over ten years is free and accessible on our website.For questions and comments, contact [email protected].