A. Jesse Jiryu Davis's dharma talks

<p>This is a dharma talk I gave at the Village Zendo December 12, 2024, about my mother's brain surgery and end-of-life decisions. Here's the video and a transcript.</p>

<p>You can find yourself in a critical situation without warning. Is Zen practice preparing you?</p> <p>Here's a dharma talk I gave to the Village Zendo on September 5, 2024, about the classic koan, "Nansen kills the...

<p>Bodhisattvas smile, though they hear the suffering cries of the world. You should smile too! A Zen talk I gave against doomerism.</p>

<p>Rich countries and drug firms act selfishly the COVID pandemic. Selfishness is natural, but we can strengthen our universal goodwill through training.</p>

<p>The United States as we know it will someday come to an end. It's shocking to see how vulnerable our democracy is, but as Buddhists we aren't surprised: Buddha told us that nothing lasts, and we can't rely on...

<p>Buddhists must respond to the current political crisis, just as abolitionists like Frederick Douglass did in the 19th Century. A talk at the Village Zendo, September 3, 2020.</p>

<p>Our leaders are plainly untrustworthy. And when we hear about toilet paper hoarders, or protestors storming the Michigan governor's office, or covidiots crowding together on beaches, we stop trusting each other, too...

<p>Japanese Americans founded our practice, and they preserved and adapted it to life in the internment camps during WWII. Today we must adapt our practice in a crisis, are we up to the challenge?</p>

<p>Panic obliterates the self. We need a strong self to face fear in meditation and all of life. Dharma at the Village Zendo, February 23, 2020.</p> <p>Photo: Sam Bald...

<p>On a visit to some Buddhists incarcerated on a jail barge, I had to improvise how to practice Zen, just like we always have to improvise our practice.</p>

<p>Everyone deserves a place where we can practice together. Everyone deserves the opportunity for redemption. A talk I gave at the Village Zendo on December 5, 2019.</p>

<p>Meditation can transform your life, but it only works if you sit regularly. You can establish a strong, serious practice following these five methods.</p> <p>Recorded October 3, 2019, and the Village Zendo.</p>

<p>When you do something with attention, your self merges with your activity. Watch how the self shifts and moves, and you'll start to see through the illusion of ego.</p>

<p>We waste our lives chasing temporary, superficial things, and our disappointment leads to grief. Here's a practice that loosens greed's grip on our minds, and frees us to appreciate this moment.</p>

<p>When we practice mindfulness of what we're experiencing here and now, we can be at peace and free of worry. But we can go much deeper than that. Buddha taught that we can see through our greedy, self-centered...