A. Jesse Jiryu Davis's dharma talks

Zen talks by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis, senior student at the Village Zendo and the New Paltz Zen Center.

Keep the Dharma Wheel Rolling 06/21/2026

Keep the Dharma Wheel Rolling A dharma talk I gave during the New Palz Zen Center's June retreat, a few days before our sangha member Monshin gave her first talk. I was just back from a trip to Nepal and India, and I described how the rituals, symbols, and language we use today go back at least 5000 years in India and Europe. We have a duty today to preserve our ancestors' tradition and to innovate, even though someday Buddhism will be forgotten and the whole universe destroyed. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/41713430

The Kid Is Not My Son 05/13/2026

The Kid Is Not My Son My father’s dishonesty was frustrating and disappointing to many people, but I think he got the worst of it. Here’s a dharma talk I gave to New Paltz Zen Center and Village Zendo on May 10, 2026. https://emptysqua.re/blog/the-kid-is-not-my-son/ /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/41272760

Speak Up If You're Stuck in a Zazen Rut 08/19/2025

Speak Up If You're Stuck in a Zazen Rut Certain topics seem off-limits in Zen, like: What’s the goal of meditation? How do I get better at it? What is everyone else experiencing when they sit? I spoke at the about getting stuck at a plateau in meditation skill, and about Zen communities’ reluctance to discuss peak experiences, progress, and goals. Here's a written version: /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/37878145

Which Beings Are Sentient? 01/25/2025

Which Beings Are Sentient? Which animals are sentient, and how can we liberate them from suffering? I review the philosopher Jonathan Birch's book "The Edge of Sentience" and shares good news about humanity's moral progress regarding animal welfare. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/35007120

Is an Enlightened Person Afraid of Illness and Death? 12/25/2024

Is an Enlightened Person Afraid of Illness and Death? 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. . /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/34613850

Are You Prepared To Save A Life? 12/25/2024

Are You Prepared To Save A Life? You can find yourself in a critical situation without warning. Is Zen practice preparing you? Here’s a dharma talk I gave to the on September 5, 2024, about the classic koan, “Nansen kills the cat.” . /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/34613835

Bodhisattvas Always Smile 03/22/2024

Bodhisattvas Always Smile Bodhisattvas smile, though they hear the suffering cries of the world. You should smile too! A Zen talk I gave against doomerism. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/30494988

Give Something Away to a Stranger 02/08/2021

Give Something Away to a Stranger Rich countries and drug firms act selfishly the COVID pandemic. Selfishness is natural, but we can strengthen our universal goodwill through training. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/17868740

These Unreliable United States 11/10/2020

These Unreliable United States 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 anything except the truth revealed by our own practice. A talk at the Village Zendo, November 8, 2020. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/16761593

American Religion in America's Time of Crisis 11/10/2020

American Religion in America's Time of Crisis 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. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/16761302

Who Can You Trust? 05/16/2020

Who Can You Trust? 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. But there is someone we can trust. Listen to find out. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/14444417

How Buddhism Survived The Japanese Internment 04/13/2020

How Buddhism Survived The Japanese Internment 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? /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/13960499

How Not To Panic 02/15/2020

How Not To Panic 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. Photo: Sam Bald /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/13162421

You Look So Zen 01/03/2020

You Look So Zen 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. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/12600332

When The Buddha Met A Murderer 12/16/2019

When The Buddha Met A Murderer 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. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/12412601

Five Ways to Establish a Rock-Solid Meditation Habit 10/23/2019

Five Ways to Establish a Rock-Solid Meditation Habit Meditation can transform your life, but it only works if you sit regularly. You can establish a strong, serious practice following these five methods. Recorded October 3, 2019, and the Village Zendo. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/11752592

How To Dissolve The Self 10/09/2019

How To Dissolve The Self 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. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/11570831

How To Be Free From Greed 08/01/2019

How To Be Free From Greed 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. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/10733075

Are the Six Senses True Reality, Or Not? 05/24/2019

Are the Six Senses True Reality, Or Not? 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 delusions and clearly comprehend the truth of our lives. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/9907058

Meaningless Striving 01/31/2019

Meaningless Striving Each new year, Americans resolve to work harder and be more austere, for no reason. Let's stop torturing ourselves. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/8468126

The Day That Yunmen Broke His Foot 12/11/2018

The Day That Yunmen Broke His Foot The old stories all have the same punchline: the monk was suddenly enlightened. What really happens when we have an experience of insight? Transcript: https://emptysqua.re/blog/the-day-yunmen-broke-his-foot/ /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/7873142

Rules for Hyenas 12/11/2018

Rules for Hyenas If we treat the Zen precepts as a set of rules to obey, that's just conformity. Let's use them instead as a tool for busting the hierarchy! Transcript: https://emptysqua.re/blog/rules-for-hyenas/ /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/7872770

The Meteor 08/28/2018

The Meteor What if you knew you had 30 minutes to live? Would you want to be awakened? /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/6978788

Why Did Master Rinzai Slap Jo? 04/15/2018

Why Did Master Rinzai Slap Jo? In the Blue Cliff Record, Case 32, a monk named Jo asks Master Rinzai, "What is the essence of Buddhism?" In response, Rinzai grabs the monk and slaps him. Why? In this talk I explain what all this hitting and slapping is about in Zen. There's a lesson in this story, about sustaining our own meditation practice over the long haul. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/6483149

The Real Shit Stick 01/27/2018

The Real Shit Stick A monk asked Unmon, "What is Buddha?" Unmon replied, "A dry shit stick." Why? Where is Buddha in this regular, shitty, unsatisfactory experience? I've heard a thousand times that ordinary mind is Buddha. Here, I try to explain how to actually practice this truth. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/6195313

Running in Circles 12/26/2017

Running in Circles Running a half marathon, serving a prison term, practicing Zen for a lifetime: I'm trying to learn how people make friends with time, and how to appreciate each moment within an eon. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/6089038

Why Generosity Turns To Rage, And What To Do About It 11/04/2017

Why Generosity Turns To Rage, And What To Do About It So often, I find myself lashing out at someone I intended to help. The expectation that my generosity would require only a certain amount of effort, and would lead to a predictable payoff, is the culprit. How can I practice a Beginner's Mind that has no expectations? /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/5910493

Living While Dying is Tasty 08/01/2017

Living While Dying is Tasty My mother plans to die at 85. What will that final year be like? /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/5598487

Your Nerve Plant 07/07/2017

Your Nerve Plant To focus the mind, you first have to understand and accept the mechanism of mind-wandering. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/5515655

Memorial Day 05/29/2017

Memorial Day My father-in-law is a soldier and my mother is a peace activist. On Memorial Day weekend, 2017, I describe how Buddha's Middle Way allows us both to honor veterans and to oppose war. /episode/index/show/emptysquare/id/5399327

A. Jesse Jiryu Davis's dharma talks

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