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Nate discusses Right Mindfulness, the nature of the mind, and consciousness and how — amidst all the rhetoric and jargon — mindfulness may have nothing to do with paying attention.

2026-11-08 | Dharma Talk | Mindfulness | Nate Smalley by Appamada

2026-11-3 I Inquiry I An Army of Mercy I Flint Sparks by Appamada

Following an exploration begun recently by Nate, this week’s talk will focus on two aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path: right livelihood and right effort. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Buddha had some pretty specific instructions to the members of his sangha for each of these "steps." From studying the precepts at Appamada, Joel knows that what looks like narrow paths actually open up to a whole lifetime of inquiry and action. He explores them with us.

Why right speech and right action? Might we call it kind speech and kind action? But to what avail? What preciousness guides us?

The Sculptor Who Dug His Own Museum In a hermitage on Saja Mountain, Dae-chul Kang spent ten years carving a sacred grotto by hand—a space where spiritual searching and the raw material of earth converge. https://moca-ny.org/2025/08/13/the-sculptor-who-dug-his-own-museum/

2026-10-18 | Dharma Talk | Eightfold Path: Right View and Right Intention | Nate Smalley by Appamada

2026-10-13 I Inquiry I Fear and the Bodhisattva vow I Joel Barna by Appamada

2026-10-6 I Inquiry I Befriending Your Mind I Josh Gifford by Appamada

What if the Buddha’s first teaching wasn’t something to believe, but something to enact? Before the “noble truths” hardened into doctrine, the Buddha handed five skeptical friends four tasks: embrace life as it is, let the grasping be, notice when it falls quiet, and act from there. This talk, drawing on Stephen Batchelor, opens our practice-period series on the Eightfold Path. Each week, Appamada’s teachers will take up a different strand. What happens when you stop believing in the path and start walking it?

In a Way-Seeking Mind talk, a sangha member shares their personal narrative, key turning points, and how the Dharma has moved in their life. Susan will reflect on the experiences that brought her to Zen practice and how it continues to shape her path.

2026-09-29 I Inquiry I The Authenticity Trap I Nate Smalley by Appamada

Flint shares quotes from Roshi Joan Halifax's essays "Zazen: The Intimacy of the Infinite" and "Only One Lamp: The Single Reality of Shikantaza and Ekō Henshō." Flint also explores the Four Practice Principles with the following words: Caught in the self-centered dream, only suffering; (Ordinary thinking and feeling, enchanted by constructs; ordinary suffering) holding to self-centered thoughts, exactly the dream. (Determined to work it out within ordinary enchantment; a repeating dream) Each moment, life as it is, the only teacher; (Big Mind is on your side, always with you, always showing you What Is) being just this moment, compassion’s way. (Silent, illuminated, wise and compassionate, each moment unfolds as a gift)

2026-09-22 I Inquiry I The Old Woman of Mount Wutai I Trudy Johnston by Appamada

Ellen brought us together in the Appamada zendo to explore "not-twoness." What does it mean, and even more importantly, how do we live it?