About this Talk

In this talk, Hōgen Josh Lawler explores “The Wisdom of Nature” through personal experiences, scientific research, and Buddhist teachings. He describes moments in nature that brought calm and a sense of connection, and he reviews studies suggesting that time in natural settings can reduce stress and improve mood and recovery.

He also discusses how trees, forests, flowers, and other natural images appear in Buddhist texts and stories, including references to the Buddha, koans, and Dogen’s “Mountains and Waters Sutra.” The talk closes with a poem by Mary Oliver about slowing down and resting in nature.

About this Talk

In this talk, Eko discusses the constructs of the compassionate mind and describes compassion as both feeling suffering and responding skillfully to it. The talk encourages listeners to view others without fixed assumptions, including the practice of seeing each person as a bodhisattva whose purpose is to awaken us.

Eko also covers devotional practice with bodhisattvas such as Manjushri and Kuan Yin, relating bowing to awakening and to one’s own unrealized qualities. A major focus is Tonglen, or exchanging self for other, presented as a breathing practice of taking in suffering and sending out peace and equanimity.

Examples from a fawn and from a father-daughter story are used to illustrate how Tonglen can change one’s relationship to suffering. Eko says the practice can help focus the mind, loosen self-centeredness, and reduce the sense of separation.

About this Talk

In this lecture, Koshin uses a UFC cage match and America’s 250th anniversary as a starting point to discuss outrage, attention, and hyper-masculinity, then contrasts this with an American ideal rooted in human dignity, cooperation, and well-being. He also turns to Buddhism and Zen, focusing on the Buddha’s transformation of the wheel symbol into the wheel of Dharma and the shift from domination toward wisdom, compassion, and non-violence.

A major theme is the mind’s tendency to divide the world into good and bad, us and them, which he connects to psychology, family systems theory, social media, and political thinking. He presents zazen and samadhi as practices that help unify the mind, and argues that meaningful power and change come from self-cultivation and connected action rather than control over others.