Podcast
Interesting Times Zen
Hosted by Interesting Times Zen · EN
From the Vallejo Zen Center in Vallejo, California, this is "To Practice In Interesting Times" with Zenki Mary Mocine, a periodic discussion of Zen practice and how it aligns with an ever increasingly turbulent political world.
Zenki ("Total Joy") Mary Mocine has been involved in Zen practice since 1988 and is currently the Abbess of the Vallejo Zen Center in Vallejo California. http://vallejozencenter.org
4episodes
Episodes
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To Practice In Interesting Times 06 - Election Day
Nov 5, 201600:49:48Tap to summarizeWe felt that we had something left to say before this election wraps up; clearly with a bang rather than a whimper. At the Zendo, we are in the midst of our Fall Practice Period and Mary is preparing to go poll watch in Nevada. So we carved some time and had at it. I apologize for the rough sound quality, but in the interest of getting this out in time for interested folks to hear it before Election Day, I decided to go with it and put it out, sonic warts and all. Don't worry, it's not your player. We discuss the wound that seems at the heart of America. The wound that this election has, not gently, illuminated. We look for a way to not be angry. Mary discusses methods towards not hating when that is a hard thing to reason.
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How Do We Grieve For Orlando?
Jul 1, 201600:38:23Tap to summarizePer Mary's request we open with a poem by Marge Piercy, "To Be of Use". How do we deal with a tragedy like Orlando? What actions do we take that can possibly mean anything? Perhaps we just talk with each other, grieve together and try and understand how we all can be more useful. A quiet discussion.
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To Practice In Interesting Times 04 - The Greatest and Primary Fallout
Jun 11, 201600:41:05Tap to summarizeThis week is a little less practice and a little more politics as the primaries decided to crescendo and a major anti-war icon passed away since our last recording. We try to take it all in, understand it and I beg the Abbess to make me feel better about it all. (Spoiler alert,,, It's not that easy.)
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To Practice In Interesting Times 03 - What If We're Wrong?
Apr 21, 201600:42:18Tap to summarizeThe Abbess sent me this quote, "History is not just facts and events. History is also a pain in the heart and we repeat history until we are able to make another's pain in the heart our own." - Professor Julius Lester. What is history? We think we understand it's lessons, but do we? From Jefferson to Trump, what do we think we know and what if we're just wrong?
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