What is here before the mind contracts around thought, identity, or effort? This talk points to the moment prior to grasping—where awareness is open, unconfined, and quietly alive—and offers guidance on recognizing and resting in that simplicity.

In this talk, Kodo reflects on Faith in Mind as a teaching on living with uncertainty and relinquishing judgment, comparison, and fixed views. Drawing on Dōgen, early Buddhist teachings, and reflections from contemporary teachers, she explores how practice shifts us from self-centered thinking into direct awareness, where impermanence is lived rather than conceptualized. Through sustained meditation, ethical living, and sangha engagement, we gradually loosen the grip of the small self and discover a boundless, compassionate mind capable of meeting life’s difficulties with clarity, purpose, and care for others.

In this wide-ranging talk, Jogen explores spaciousness as a direct and liberating dimension of Zen practice, drawing from his own experience and from Zen and Dzogchen teachings. He reflects on how awareness of space—physical, experiential, and unconfined—can soften fixation, interrupt grasping, and provide refuge amid pain, anxiety, and self-contraction. Through stories, humor, and guided practice, he offers practical ways to cultivate intimacy with space in meditation and daily life, emphasizing that spaciousness is not an altered state but an ever-present ground that welcomes all experience and allows wisdom, compassion, and ease to arise naturally.