Shining Bright Lotus Meditation Society

03/16/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_87EeDxkoJg

Ekai Roshi explains the Zen koan “Does this clear, deep heart-mind come and go?” and emphasizes that while awakened awareness (clear, deep heart-mind) is eve...

03/07/2026

We're live streaming today's practice

Our mission is to foster a diverse, inclusive community, dedicated to awakening through Buddhist teachings promoting personal and interpersonal healing with ...

02/23/2026

Very excited to be offering a four month training in Mondo Zen Facilitation starting March 8th,

Foundations of Mondo Zen Facilitation A 4-Month Advanced Training Program to Teach Mondo Zen & Lead Mondo Zen Facilitation and Live Mondo Zenwith Ekai Joel Kreisberg & Emyo Darlene TatarynMarch 8th - June 22nd, 2026 Apply Now A Personal Invitation from Ekai Joel Kreisberg Roshi What is Foundations o...

02/11/2026

We're preparing to sink into the Mondo Koans of Jun Po Roshi. "Our angst is our liberation"

This introEkai Joel Kreisberg offers and introduction to the Mondo Zen Facilitation through and intensive look at the Thirteen koans of Jun Po Roshi. After a...

02/01/2026

https://ekaijoelkreisberg.substack.com/p/mondo-zen-facilitation-learning-to

Becoming a Mondo Zen Facilitator

01/26/2026

Atta Dipa and Prayer - Heisoku Maik Bain https://youtu.be/TkEqFsVyK5A

You are this light pure selfless awareness.
Rely upon selfless awareness.
Do not rely upon concepts of self and other that
appear.
Do not depend upon beliefs, sensations, and
emotions, which arise and fall away.
Meditative awareness, clear intention, acting
wisely, compassionately and skillfully are this
practice.
Rely upon this only!
Rely upon this ceaselessly!

- Hollow Bones Sutra Book

01/24/2026

Why there are no victims - Kenshin Cian Whalley https://shiningbrightlotus.podbean.com/e/why-there-are-no-victims-kenshin-cian-whalley/

Kenshin Cian reflects on a lifetime of examining the difference between real victimization and the identity of victimhood, sharing how early childhood trauma shaped his unconscious patterns in relationships. Through Mondo Zen practice, shadow work, and metacognitive awareness, he realized that while harm is real, the ongoing story of being a victim is a choice shaped by conditioned parts of the self. He describes catching himself strategically allowing suffering to influence outcomes, seeing clearly that a deeper awareness was always present and choosing. Recognizing this “choice point” allowed him to step out of the victim–rescuer–persecutor cycle, reclaim his disowned power, and respond from presence rather than trauma-driven parts.

01/17/2026

Be the Best Form of Yourself - Jozen Jonathon Fielder Interview https://shiningbrightlotus.podbean.com/e/be-the-best-form-of-yourself-jozen-jonathon-fielder/

A brief profile of Zen priest and martial arts teacher Jozen Jonathon Fielder, tracing his path from yoga and diverse Buddhist traditions to Rinzai Zen, Hollow Bones ordination, and the integration of Zen practice with martial arts through his teaching and the emerging Iron Mountain Zendo.

01/13/2026

Koan Seven - Call and Respond From this Awareness - Emyo Darlene Tataryn https://youtu.be/Yux_rPkuENM
Emyo Darlene Tataryn offers her unique teachings on Jun Po Roshi's Mondo koans. She takes students all the way through the first seven koans in this teaching.
The Heart of Zen FPP24 - Sunday Sit - October 27, 2024

01/09/2026

Seven Bodhisattvas - Shakyamuni - Emyo Darlene Tataryn https://shiningbrightlotus.podbean.com/e/spp25-seven-bodhisattvas-shakyamuni-emyo-darlene-tataryn/

On April 5, 2025, Emyo began the exploration of Bodhisattva archetypes with Shakyamuni. The journey from Prince Siddhartha to the Awakened One offers insights for all the bodhisattva archetypes.

Our mission is to foster a diverse, inclusive community, dedicated to awakening through Buddhist teachings promoting personal and interpersonal healing with ethical compassionate action.

https://www.shiningbrightlotus.org/

01/05/2026

Spirituality and Spiritual Identity - Roshi Ekai Joel Kreisberg https://youtu.be/d0OX2m9FwI4

The talk introduces a six-week Shining Bright Lotus series on Junpo Roshi and Keith Martin-Smith’s When the Buddha Needs Therapy, exploring how Buddhism can meet modern psychological and emotional realities. It focuses on spiritual identity, the blending of meditation and therapy, and the difference between concrete practices, subtle emotional and conceptual life, and awakened awareness itself. Emphasizing Junpo’s innovation of emotional koans, the talk frames emotional triggers as opportunities for compassion, maturity, and integration. Buddhism is presented not just as meditation, but as a holistic path of meditation, ethics, and study, all oriented toward relieving suffering and embodying the bodhisattva vow in everyday life.

01/02/2026

Can you choose enlightenment? - Kogen Keith Martin-Smith https://shiningbrightlotus.podbean.com/e/can-you-choose-enlightenment-kogen-keith-martin-smith/

Keith Martin-Smith reflects on writing When the Buddha Needs Therapy as a way of distilling what he learned from his teacher Junpo, who passed soon after the book was finished, leaving Keith to continue his path without a direct guide. Over the past four and a half years, he found his way back into training through new teachers and by studying Hakuin, the Rinzai master who revitalized Zen by emphasizing embodied practice, rigorous discipline, and the integration of awakening into everyday life. Keith describes Hakuin’s teachings on the four ways of knowing, the need for great faith, great doubt, and great determination, and the danger of mistaking partial insight for complete awakening. He shares Hakuin’s metaphors—like the fire lotus, blooming stronger in the flames of ordinary life—and the bamboo tube with the trapped rat, illustrating that true awakening cannot be chosen conceptually but emerges when one realizes there is no way forward, no way back, and no place to remain.