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.”

Keep Going

Practice is rooted in the big questions: who am I? Do I have a purpose? How do I take my place in a disastrous world? Suzuki Roshi’s “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” offers two metaphors of encouragement, Mind Weeds and the Four Horses. Whatever unwanted plants spring up in the mind, however trainable this particular animal, whether Zen practitioner or apprentice farmer, let life spring from the big questions, and keep going.

May 7