Dharma Talks

Debra Seido Martin is Zen West's Guiding Teacher. She was transmitted in 2009 by Kyogen Carlson, late Abbott of Dharma Rain Zen Center. Seido is an organic farmer and psychotherapist devoted to the wild and giving space of practice and grace of the land. She carries forward her teacher’s directive to “ordain into your life.”

Four Foundations: Mindful of Joy

The seven factors of awakening are wholesome mind states that we can cultivate: mindfulness, investigation, energy, tranquility, concentration, equanimity, and unconditional joy. Joy is important because we don’t last when practice is a grim chore. Really pay attention—reinhabit the body. Notice moments of everyday joy. This opens the heart, paving the way for an experience of joy that doesn’t depend on pleasure or circumstance. Unconditional joy may be simply an absence of t

Apr 16