A Year of Zen podcast

A Year of Zen

Bonnie Myotai Treace

Daily (well, almost!) writing prompts, exercises, inspiration and commentary by Zen teacher Bonnie Myotai Treace. Author of A Year of Zen (pub October 2020), as well as many other books and articles, Sensei offers brief daily encouragement to practice one’s life with wisdom, compassion and creativity.

46 Episodes

The Unknowable
11/6/2020
8:32
A practice for the days when we are drenched, (perhaps drowning!) in the unknowable. Bonnie Myotai reflects on the heartbreak of recognizing many around us have given the okay to suffering and cruelty, and the spiritual imperative to simply practice, regardless.
The True Person
10/31/2020
5:18
A Halloween episode...with Mater Rinzai!
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Die While You Live: Freedom from Self and Utter Responsibility
10/30/2020
6:03
What is it to let the ego’s predominance recede, and practice a life in which “all is good”? With a nod to 16th C Zen master Shido Munan, we explore the humility and balance of an awakening life.
Fear in Practice
10/28/2020
11:35
Bonnie Myotai offers a reflection on fear, the absolute self, and facing the lions around us. Reading from Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, teaching from Daido Roshi, and a writing/contemplation inspired by a pig and a chicken.
Cool Loneliness: Alone at the Bottom of Too Many Stairs
10/24/2020
14:40
October 24th’s episode considers loneliness and spiritual practice. A bit of teaching from Pema Chodron, a memory of a hard night in NYC, and a writing/contemplation exercise.
Rustling Leaves
10/22/2020
1:58
The evening rooster calls out as Bonnie Myotai gives an autumn writing/contemplation prompt.
Epitaph for Today: Say a Word of Zen
10/15/2020
2:58
Bonnie Myotai takes us back to the cemetery to write our epitaph, and explore what message our life may leave .
A Little Knife: The Evening Gatha in Autumn
10/13/2020
7:41
Bonnie Myotai invites a contemplation of the “drying, wrinkling, falling” autumn of our lives. She remembers the first night she heard the Evening Gatha, and Maezumi Roshi teaching her about “the little knife” at its heart.
People Will Talk
10/10/2020
10:16
In Episode 38 Bonnie Myotai offers a reflection on how the shift happens from always looking to be loved to looking for how we can be loving. A bit of Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes of the Broken-hearted,” getting an “I’m Wrong” tee shirt, and how not to turn spiritual practice into a plate of cold liver. You read that right...!
Vast Ocean and Crashing Waves
10/9/2020
10:28
Episode 37 finds us contemplating both ocean and waves, absolute and relative. Bonnie Myotai offers a poem of Thich Nhat Hanh’s and a writing prompt.

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