Recent Temple Talks

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 8/9/26 – The Buddha said that all conditioned things—all things that begin to exist at a particular time—are impermanent, and will eventually decay and disappear. Aging is normal. Illness is normal. Death is normal. Yes, I will be separated from what I hold near and dear. My only real possessions are my actions. This is normal for everyone, no matter where we are. Is Buddhism, then, pessimistic—negative for bringing these facts to our attention? No. Hojin Sensei elucidates the difference between destructive pessimism and the wise acceptance of impermanence, quoting Rebecca Solnit, who offers this insight: “Pessimism is like a sinking ship. Even when we are faced with the possibility of hope and action, we dismiss hope as, ‘These people are naive. I know what’s going to happen. I know the real deal. This is gonna sink.’” She says, “It’s kind of like not even being able to see lifeboats that are bobbing all around us.” To see impermanence clearly is not to give up hope. It is to open ourselves to creation.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – 8/2/26 – “A bird flies in the sky, and no matter how far it flies, there is no end to the air.” Following a retreat at the temple, Avian Traces, Hojin Sensei speaks about being with her mother recently in her dying process, and a bird showing up on the windowsill making contact. She links this with other stories of birds and the fact that birds have been showing up in the Buddhist teachings going back to the time of the Buddha.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 6/14/26 – The Buddha said, “All things are ultimately liberated; they have no abiding place.” In this koan, the teenage Satsujo, completely devoted to practicing the Dharma, was sitting in her room when her father peeked in and saw her seated on a copy of the Lotus Sutra. Shocked, he shouted, “What are you doing sitting on this precious scripture?” Satsujo replied, “How is this wonderful sutra different from my ass? Quickly! What is this body-heart-mind before thoughts of sacred and profane arise?” Hojin Sensei uses this encounter to invite us to question the familiar divisions and fixed ideas in which we can become stuck—those habits of mind that separate sacred from ordinary and can become a source of confusion and suffering. (From Hidden Lamp: Stories from Awakened Women #72 – “Satsujo Sits on the Lotus Sutra”. Japan, 18th century.)

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 6/13/26 – When inquiry is alive within us, every thought we think can end with a question mark — perhaps even an exclamation mark — rather than a period. There is freedom in this openness, in loosening our fixed certainty and allowing experience to remain alive and fresh. Hojin Sensei explores a passage from the Diamond Sutra: “Develop a mind that abides nowhere.”

Degna Chikei Levister, MRO Senior Lay Student – ZCNYC – 5/31/26 – Inspired by Howard Thurman’s invitation to listen for “the sound of the genuine” within, this talk explores how Zen practice reveals what obscures our deepest knowing and cultivates the stillness, clarity, and courage to meet life directly. Through reflections on the Heart Sutra, equanimity, emotional life, social engagement, and the practice of beginning again, Chikei investigates how genuine presence becomes the ground of moral clarity, compassion, and freedom.

Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 5/24/26 – In a life of practice, we do not wait until we “feel worthy” to begin the Way. How often do we postpone practice because we feel unready? Following the Precepts II retreat at the temple, Hojin highlights the importance of starting where we are and turning toward making awakening possible. We plant beneficial seeds in our lives by practicing how we want to live, even imperfectly, and by accepting what life delivers and facing what we need to face. In doing so, we learn to bear what must be borne in order to make genuine shifts in our lives, free ourselves from suffering, and become a benefit to others. (From the Hidden Lamp #91: Uppalavana and the Precepts)