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Be Here Now Network Guest Podcast

Be Here Now Network Guest Podcast

By: Be Here Now Network
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The Be Here Now Network Guest Podcast features dharma talks from a rotating lineup of contributors like: Roshi Joan Halifax, Mirabai Starr, Gil Fronsdal, Mirabai Bush, and so many more!


© Be Here Now Network Spirituality
Episodes
  • Ep. 227 - Simplicity on the Soto Zen Path with Rev. Chimyo Atkinson & Vincent Moore

    Ep. 227 - Simplicity on the Soto Zen Path with Rev. Chimyo Atkinson & Vincent Moore
    Oct 2 2025

    Exploring the Soto Zen path, Rev. Chimyo Atkinson and Vincent Moore reflect on inclusivity, feminine wisdom, and the beauty of simplicity.

    This episode is from the series Paths of Practice. Click here to subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts!

    Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

    In this episode, Rev. Chimyo and Vinvent Moore chat about:

    • Building a Zen Buddhist community in the Southern United States
    • Rev Chimyo’s profound experience volunteering at a prison as a Zen priest
    • How Rev Chimyo was first introduced to meditation and Buddhism
    • The beautiful serenity within taking pause, being still, and doing a Zen practice
    • Finding reality in the present moment and realizing that everything else is made up in our minds
    • Walking the Soto Zen path and finding depth within simple practices
    • Great Tree Zen Women’s Temple and holding space specifically for women in the Buddhist world
    • Paying attention to what feminine energy can bring to Buddhist practice and temples
    • Inclusive spiritual practice and focusing on the shared elements of life
    • The calm and connection that can be discovered through Zen labor
    • Loving others and loving the dharma, wishing peace for all people
    • Doing all daily tasks with the dharma in our hearts and minds

    About Rev. Chimyo Atkinson:

    Rev. Chimyo Atkinson is a Soto Zen priest that serves the Great Tree Zen Women’s Temple in Alexander, NC, as well as sanghas and centers throughout the United States and internationally. Rev. Chimyo was ordained by Rev. Teijo Munnich in 2007 and received Dharma Transmission in 2015. She received monastic training at Great Tree Temple and completed two Sotoshu International training periods (angos) in Japan in 2010 and 2011, two additional angos at Aichi Senmon Nisodo in Nagoya in 2012 and one ango at Ryumonji Monastery in Iowa in 2014. Chimyo served as Head of Practice at Great Tree Zen Women’s Temple and volunteered with the sangha at Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institute until 2020. For more information, please visit: https://chimyoatkinson.org/

    About Vincent Moore:

    Vincent Moore is a media specialist and creative consultant at Good for Nothing Ideas based in San Francisco, California. Vincent has over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry as a producer, performer, and writer in stage, film, and television and wrote a children's book titled, You're a Rubber Duck. He also has a master's degree in Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies with a Certificate in Soto Zen Studies. Vincent is also the creator and host of the podcast, Paths of Practice, which features interviews with Buddhists from all over the world. For more information about his work, please visit: www.goodfornothingideas.com

    “Just stop, and give not just the breath but the whole being to that stillness, that stop. Be in reality for a minute, for 40 minutes, if you can handle it, 60 minutes. Be in that stop. Experience it. Know there’s reality. Everything else you’re making it up as you go along.” –Rev. Chimyo Atkinson

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Ep. 226 - The Deathless with Buddhist Teacher, Gil Fronsdal

    Ep. 226 - The Deathless with Buddhist Teacher, Gil Fronsdal
    Sep 25 2025

    Buddhist teacher Gil Fronsdal explores the concept of the deathless and examines ways to experience life without clinging to impermanent things.

    Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

    In this episode of the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil discusses:

    • What the Buddha said about attaining the deathless
    • Seeking after things that are eternal rather than prone to aging and impermanence
    • Three forms of clinging/craving that lead us to suffering: beliefs, becoming, and sensual pleasure
    • Considering if there is a ‘you’ beyond thought
    • Letting go of our attachments to concepts
    • How a fixation on ‘becoming somebody’ prevents us from being
    • Avoidance of the reality of suffering due to personal discomfort
    • Developing mindfulness over time and having compassion for ourselves when we notice grasping
    • The timeless present and the end of separation
    • Attentiveness as the path to the deathless
    • The American notion of freedom versus the Eastern notion of liberation
    • The ultimate goal of Buddhism: to be open-handed, to have a mind without grasping

    About Gil Fronsdal:

    Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

    This recording was originally published on Dharmaseed.org

    “The deathless is a synonym for Nirvana, for enlightenment, the great peace, the great happiness, for that which is unconditioned, the unborn, the ultimate security, the ultimate safety.” – Gil Fronsdal

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Ep. 225 - Ram Dass Fellowship: Teachings for Turbulent Times with Amy Buetens & Julie Weinstein, Hosted by Jackie Dobrinska

    Ep. 225 - Ram Dass Fellowship: Teachings for Turbulent Times with Amy Buetens & Julie Weinstein, Hosted by Jackie Dobrinska
    Sep 18 2025
    Highlighting the fact that we can define our own reality, Amy Buetens & Julie Weinstein pull from the wisdom of Ram Dass to discuss navigating turbulent times.Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode, hosted by Jackie Dobrinska, Amy Buetens & Julie Weinstein discuss:Utilizing beginner's mind as a tool for approaching the chaos of our worldKeeping our hearts open in hell and holding multiple truths at once.Embracing change and uncertainty rather than seeing it as a threatIncreasing our equanimity in order to support ourselves and others Being in the presence of suffering without creating more sufferingLooking at what is as a heartfelt service to ourselves and humanityMeditation as an opportunity to explore our identity Teen mental health struggles and overwhelm from the weight of the worldCompassionate action and working towards the end of sufferingRam Dass’s recurring examples of self-love and self-acceptanceLeaving room for all of life’s unknown possibilities, the full spectrum of joy and sufferingGrab a copy of You are the Universe, an impactful graphic novel arranged and illustrated by Amy & Julie. This vibrant hand-drawn book chronicles the unconventional journey and self-discovery of Ram Dass. About Amy Buetens:Amy Buetens is an artist, illustrator, and art educator. She is a certified integrative thanatologist and death educator. Her work includes performing final rites of passage, and she serves as a leader in her Jewish burial society. She has been a dedicated student of Ram Dass for over 20 years, and is a co-leader for the Love Serve Remember Foundation’s International Women’s Satsang and leads her local Ram Dass Fellowship."At the same time as there is this negative news, let's also keep in mind this is an incredible time of blessings. We can hold multiple truths at once. This is a time of great joy, there are advances in science and technology, public and global health. There are so many things we could count our blessings for, and I think Ram Dass would encourage us all to spend time to think about balancing both with a neutral perspective, seeing it just the way it is.” – Amy BuetensAbout Julie Weinstein:Julie Weinstein’s professional career is devoted to advancing environmental and social justice. She also serves as both a Jewish and Buddhist chaplain in the jails, within the justice movement and for people experiencing loss, grief and trauma. She is a death educator, burial society leader, and artist, and is pursuing ordination as a rabbi. She’s been practicing Ram Dass’s teachings for over two decades, and co-leads community initiatives for the Love Serve Remember Foundation.“Watching Ram Dass as this wise sage in complete bliss, saying over and over again, ‘I am loving awareness’. To know that it is possible to go from such self-loathing or self-hatred to complete bliss and believing that he is pure loving awareness, and also wanting that for us too. It gives a lot of us hope when we’re struggling with our own identity, sexuality, shortcomings.” - Julie WeinsteinAbout The Host, Jackie Dobrinska:Jackie Dobrinska is the Director of Education, Community & Inclusion for Ram Dass’ Love, Serve, Remember Foundation and the current host of Ram Dass’ Here & Now podcast. She is also a teacher, coach, and spiritual director with the privilege of marrying two decades of mystical studies with 15 years of expertise in holistic wellness. As an inter-spiritual minister, Jackie was ordained in Creation Spirituality in 2016 and has also studied extensively in several other lineages – the plant-medicine-based Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, Sri Vidya Tantra, Western European Shamanism, Christian Mysticism, the Wise Woman Tradition, and others. Today, in addition to building courses and community for LSRF, she leads workshops and coaches individuals to discover, nourish and live from their most authentic selves.“You and I are the force for the transformation in the world. We are the consciousness that will define the nature of the reality we are moving into. Shifting our consciousness has the power to change our inner and outer universe. That’s why you work on yourself. That’s what help you offer. You work on yourself through everything in your life.”– Ram DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
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