Latest Suffering Buddhism Podcast Episodes


SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Return To The Intention To See The Truth - 12-31-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 30, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
You don’t have to be a Buddhist, but this is so important: you need to find the truth, to be aware, to donate your awareness to everything. You can’t maintain it. There’s no correct way to do this. Just return. Awareness doesn’t go anywhere. https://youtu.be/0B7p83GHdh0

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Mountains & Rivers XXXIV - 12-27-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 26, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
In this Q & A format, a student asks, “What is the meaning of our precept of no attaching to fruition (fulfillment)?” Sokuzan answers, “See how you’re attached to outcomes. It’s about observing the attachment, not some kind of a standard that you have not live up to.” https://youtu.be/er7-o6RCWgg

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Mountains & Rivers XXXIII - 12-24-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 23, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
These questions from students include, “What is the meaning of the sixteenth Karmapa’s teaching that nothing happens?” What appears to be happening is an illusion. There are many ways to talk about this apparent singularity that doesn’t last. https://youtu.be/CjTvfQuY0Vo

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Mountains & Rivers XXXII - 12-20-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 19, 2023 00:00 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Sokuzan answers more questions from sangha in this Q and A formatted talk: What creates other? “Fear.” What creates fear? “Believing your thoughts and emotions.” https://youtu.be/QW1TBBgx-nI

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Mountains & Rivers XXXI - 12-17-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 16, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
A student asks: “If we don’t do anything with what’s arising, does that mean we're not functioning out of what’s arising?” If you see what is actually happening, you won’t do much: no commentary, just receive whatever shows up. https://youtu.be/Qr9L5lRMWmw

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Mountains & Rivers XXX - 12-13-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 12, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
If whatever shows up is what we need to see, does that include pushing away what’s showing up? What is the difference between meditation and sitting still? Sokuzan answers students questions about practice and meditation. https://youtu.be/iApaJciDuwM

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Mountains & Rivers XXIX - 12/10/23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 09, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Questions from sangha include how to keep going on the path, and, "What is perception without a self?" Consciousness masquerades as a self. https://youtu.be/tlnizqfwkBU

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Beyond Understanding - 12-03-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - December 03, 2023 00:00 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
https://youtu.be/hpm34zAUBCY

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Don't Think About It - 11-29-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - November 28, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
You don’t have to stop your thoughts, but you do have to relate to them clearly and sanely. A teaching that might help you do that is alternating sense awareness practice (ASAP). This is about including, in particular the five sense fields of touch, sight, hearing, smelling and tasting. https://y...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Projecting Confusion - 11-26-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - November 25, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
The projecting part is thinking things occur because of our interpretation of the situation. We conclude without really looking beyond our thoughts about it. Only awareness sees beyond thought. Thought is trapped by thought. https://youtu.be/G3ruIm_Uqz0

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Ego Algorithms - 11-19-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - November 18, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
These are opinions or structures we use to protect self-centeredness and to reify and reinforce that we are someone going somewhere and doing something, which is also ego. The impulse is to stop it. Just try to be aware of what’s happening rather than trying to control it. https://youtu.be/qhw3tZ...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Commenting On What Arises - 11-15-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - November 14, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Something happens and instead of just receiving what that is, we comment on it: thinking, judging, concluding. Rarely do we receive something as it is, unless it’s so intense, we can’t help but receive it. It’s not about getting rid of anything; it’s about awareness. https://youtu.be/vc8g21FbGjI

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Knowing Beyond Thoughts - 11-12-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - November 11, 2023 00:00 - 57 minutes ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
A reading from the Majima Nikaya, the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, speaks about the bondage and shackles of of theorizing. The Buddha said, “It does not lead to nirvana; This is the danger I perceive in these views, which makes me discard them all.“ https://youtu.be/1QTfjFiqwPI

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Empty Of Self Empty Of Other - 11-05-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - November 04, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Empty of Other is a third turning teaching. The otherness is what confuses the self-centeredness and gives the illusion that you have some say so about things. That doesn’t mean there isn’t something here, but it’s not a centralized entity, a ‘me’ with some kind of credential. Bodies come and go ...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Just Observe - 11-02-23 by Sokzuan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 31, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
It’s very important to just observe. We never can look at what something actually is. We add on things; what that is and, and almost imperceptibly, the person who is looking at it. We create an individual over and over again. Not only is what it looking at is unreal but that which is being looked...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Therapy And Meditation - 10-29-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 26, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
A subject that comes up with students that there is often misunderstanding about is therapy, and how it relates to meditation. There are many ways to get into the structure of the way in which you’re confusing yourself. A good therapist will meet you, “where you’re at.” https://youtu.be/w1Ngynkd8VA

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Confusion Is Not Confused - 10-25-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 23, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Observe the Confusion. If you try to fix it, change it or cover it up, you’ll miss what it actually is because you’re running away from what you think it is. It is not separate from you and also not the same as you. If you see confusion clearly, this is wisdom. https://youtu.be/OwFGbmqFOtY

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

When Concepts Rule - 10-22-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 21, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Concepts rule when you grasp onto your thoughts and ideas and the emotional dynamics that are reinforced by that structure. Just watch the movement that arises around any particular story. https://youtu.be/DtlqaY-_wDI

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Why Meditate? - 10-18-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 17, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
I’m not trying to convert you to Buddhism. You can just meditate without doing that. If you don’t meditate, you are at the mercy of your passion, aggression, and ignorance, your self deception. If you know about it, it starts to come apart. If you don’t know about it, it will run your life. https...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

The Vow - 10-15-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 14, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
The vow to be with all things, or to save all beings, is the third of the three pure precepts. This means putting others before yourself and it is very hard to do. Don’t disrespect people’s confusion by correcting them. Anything that arises, give it the benefit of the doubt. https://youtu.be/Wy6D...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Don't Maintain - 10-11-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 10, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Just observe. Everything is fluctuating and changing so much that if you try to maintain a standard or a rule, everything crystallizes into something that has no oxygen and doesn’t breathe or move with everything else that is dependently arisen. Don’t maintain, just return. https://youtu.be/N6lIJ...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Illusion Speaks - 10-08-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 07, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
This illusion is speaking to you. There’s no way I can lie to you and no way I can tell you the truth; YOU have to see it. The very nature of illusion is to grasp at relative truth, duality. There is no solid character that is substantial. Anytime you grasp at something you take all of its light ...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

My Teachers - 10-04-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - October 03, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
If you want to be an educator, practice meeting people ‘where they are at.’ Every single person is completely unique. Sokuzan talks about the teachers who responded to what was showing up in his mind stream rather than some authority about what was being taught. You don’t have to know, you don’t ...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Teacher And Student - 10-01-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - September 30, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Sokuzan talks about his relationship to his teachers, and how the relationship to a teacher might show up for you. An insightful teacher will know who they are teaching. The student is one who understands what it means to be a student. It’s important to be genuine, honest and sincere with each ot...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

The Foundation Needs To Be Awareness - 09-27-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - September 26, 2023 00:00 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
There has to be a sky in order to have clouds. There has to be a foundation, and here it starts with Shikantaza. It’s not the importance of what arises in the sense fields, it is the space in which it occurs. See what arises in that fundamental space without doing anything with it. https://youtu....

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

An Illusion Cannot Be Corrected - 09-24-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - September 23, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
If you think everything around you is real, you’ll continue to torture yourself with the illusion that you’re deluded by. You don’t have to get rid of the illusion; just see that it’s not real. It won’t be a conclusion. If you see through the illusion, you’ll just see yourself. https://youtu.be/6...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Inescapable Landslides - 09-20-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - September 19, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
Even though the landslides are inescapable we fight against them anyway. One of the the landslides is the one in your mind that started before you were born. The source is unfindable. Your job as someone who is a meditator on a spiritual path is to observe that movement in your mind stream and se...

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Without Location - 09-17-23 by Sokuzan - sokukoji.org

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - September 17, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
https://youtu.be/rTjvhkv5NRQ

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery artwork

Discussing Dogen's Shobogenzo

SokukoJi Buddhist Temple Monastery - September 12, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 19 ratings
The poem from the Shobogenzo chapter ‘Flowers in the Sky’ was written by Zhang Zhuo upon his enlightenment. It begins, “Radiant light serenely illuminates the sands of the Ganges.” Talking about the mind of awakening is very difficult. The poem ends: “Nirvana and birth-and-death are both flowers ...