Dharma talks from Clouds In Water Zen Center
by Clouds in Water Zen Center
Welcome to the Clouds in Water Zen Center Dharma Talks podcast! We post our Sunday dharma talks from various speakers, including talks from 202o to the present. Clouds in Water is a vibrant and inclusive community in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition, with a mission to awaken the heart of great wisdom and compassion. Founded in 1994, we regularly offer meditation, classes, and retreats. We are located in the historic Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, and everywhere via Zoom. We welcome people of all backgrounds and faiths. If you enjoy listening and would like to make a donation, please visit our website.
Episodes
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Belonging... and Bridging Across Differences by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/10/25. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body…
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Freedom is Coming by Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher
Date: 2026/10/18. Speaker: Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myo-O is a fully ordained Soto Zen priest, having received transmission in 2012 from Dokai Georgesen, Guiding Teacher at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. She began Zen practice in 1975 with Katagiri Roshi, who was...
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Friday Night Zen Panel
Date: 2026/10/11. Speakers: Friday Night Zen Panel. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Friday Night Zen is a meditation group for people in early adulthood. We meet at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul on the first and third Friday of each month, for meditation and discussion/sharing on the...
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Healing the Destitute Child by Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin
Date: 2026/10/04. Speaker: Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received Dharma Transmission as a lay Dharma teacher in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She received priest ordination in 2026. Myoshin is enthusiastic about the myriad ways...
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The Purpose of Practice and the Practice of Purpose by Rev. Taizan Alford
Date: 2026/09/27. Speaker: Rev. Taizan Alford. At Clouds in Water Zen Center / Mexico. Taizan was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. He received Dharma Transmission from Sosan in 2024 and has full authority to teach in the Soto Zen tradition.…
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Work the Problem by Rev. Fukutoku Morishita
Date: 2026/09/13. Speaker: Rev. Ann Fukutoku Morishita. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Fukutoku has practiced Soto Zen Buddhism for the past 18 years, and is a member of the teacher-ryo (team) at Clouds. In May of 2026 she received Dharma Transmission from Rev. Myo-on, Susan Hagler. Prior to...
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Song of Zazen & Supporting Each Other in Community by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/09/06. Speaker: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen,...
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Dharma Quests & Emergent Theologies by Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain
Date: 2026/08/30. Speaker: Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Jinzū is a novice priest, teacher, and Communications and Marketing Director at Clouds in Water Zen Center. They serve on the teacher-ryo (team). As a queer, trans, disabled, BIPOC priest, Jinzū believes that Sōtō…
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Sitting With All Beings by Rev. Kikan Michael Howard
Date: 2026/08/23. Speaker: Rev. Kikan Michael Howard. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. The chant can be found on page 17 of the Clouds in Water Zen Center Chant Book. Kikan Michael Howard started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is an...
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Reflections On Leading Teen Practice As a Koan and a Dharma Gate by Rev. Keika Karín San Juan and Jake Nagasawa
Date: 2026/08/16. Speakers: Rev. Keika Karín San Juan and Prof. Jake Nagasawa. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Jake was born and raised on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and is Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies at Macalester College. He received his PhD and MA in Religious Studies from the...
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Panel Discussion with Reckon With Participations
Date: 2026/08/02. Speakers: Rev. Sosan Flynn (she/her), Rev. Taizan Alford (he/him), Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin (she/her), Shishin Leonard Madsen (he/him), Steve Plachinski (he/him), Kaizen Julie Warner (she/her). At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Participants talk about how they are practicing…
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The Practice of Cessation and Clear Observation by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/07/26. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body...
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Tomoe Katagiri 49th Day Memorial - What Is Bardo? by Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler
Date: 2026/07/19. Speaker: Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. MyoOn began her Zen practice in 1980 at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (MZMC). She was ordained in 2003 by Tim Burkett and received Dharma transmission from Dokai Georgesen in 2018. She has had the opportunity to...
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Honoring Our Ancestors: Obon Dharma Talk, Singing, and Dancing Ceremony
Date: 2026/07/12. Speakers: Rev. Sōsan Theresa Flynn, Rev. Shozoku Nomura, and Prof. Jake Nagasawa. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. The ceremony included singing and dancing. Link to song: Sanbo Gowasan. Link to videos of the dances: Tankō Bushi (Mining Song/ Obon Dance) and Tokyo Ondo. Sōsan has...
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Zen in the Timeplace of Collapse by Rev. Jinzū Minna Jain
Date: 2026/07/05. Speaker: Rev. Jinzū Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Jinzū is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator residing on the lands of the Dakhóta Oyáte, in South Minneapolis. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzū has been…
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A Special Pride Month Dharma Talk
Date: 2026/06/28. Speakers: Rev. Koji Acquaviva, Rev. Korin LaJoy, Rev. Jinzū Minna Jain, and Yūgen Haley Webb. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Koji is the current Tanto (director of practice) and on the teaching team at Clouds in Water, as well as the guiding teacher of Cedar Rapids Zen Center…
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The Joy of Having Nothing to Attain by Rev. Kattō Laura Phillips
Date: 2026/06/21. Speaker: Rev. Kattō Laura Phillips. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Kattō started practicing Zen at Clouds in Water in 1997. When she moved to Stillwater, MN to focus on family life she joined a meditation community there called Zen Bridge. She later returned to Clouds for study,...
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Enter the Cave: How to bring resolve, courage, and sincerity to collective Buddhist practice by Rev. Keika Karín Aguilar- San Juan
Date: 2026/07/14. Speaker: Rev. Keika Karín Aguilar- San Juan. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Keika came to Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2005 and served on the Board for more than a decade before being ordained as a novice priest by Sosan Flynn in 2024. Areas of interest include Buddhist...
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The Dharma of Genders by Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin
Date: 2026/07/07. Speaker: Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received Dharma Transmission as a lay Dharma teacher in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She received priest ordination in 2026. Myoshin is enthusiastic about the myriad ways...
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Ancestral Herbalism and Gathas of Nature by Joanna Hill and Rev. Rin LaJoy
Date: 2026/05/24. Speakers: Joanna Hill and Rev. Dr. Rin LaJoy. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Joanna Hill is from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota. My clan is the Bullhead (Wawaazisii) which is one of the five original clans of the Anishinaabe People. The Wawaazisii clan people are...
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Practicing In The Moment With The Ingredients Of Our Lives: Talk For Buddha's Birthday by Rev. Sosan Flynn
Date: 2026/05/17. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Sosan Theresa Flynn. Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body awareness in…
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The Five Aggregates and a Wasp by Rev. Fukutoku Ann Morishita
Date: 2026/05/10. Speaker: Rev. Fukutoku Ann Morishita. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Fukutoku is a Sōto Zen priest in training at Clouds in Water Zen Center. She has practiced Soto Zen Buddhism for the past 15 years. In May of 2021, Fukutoku took home leaving vows with Rev. Sojun, Diane Martin…
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Buddhist Teachings : A Prescription for Healing by Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler
Date: 2026/05/03. Speaker: Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. MyoOn began her Zen practice in 1980 at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (MZMC). She was ordained in 2003 by Tim Burkett and received Dharma transmission from Dokai Georgesen in 2018. She has had the opportunity to...
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Giving and the Practice of Generosity by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/04/26. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōtō Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body awareness in...
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Wandering Boundless and Free by Rev. Jūken Zach Fehst
Date: 2026/04/19. Speaker: Rev. Jūken Zach Fehst. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. After first encountering the Dharma and studying meditation while living in South Korea in 2006, Jūken entered the path of formal practice in 2014 as a member of the Brooklyn Zen Center, and was ordained a priest by...
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Touching the Earth by Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher
Date: 2026/04/12. Speaker: Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myo-O is a fully ordained Sōtō Zen priest, having received transmission in 2012 from Dokai Georgesen. She began Zen practice in 1975 with Katagiri Roshi, who was her root teacher, and studied with him until his...
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What Does Life Ask Of Us by Rev. Shodo Spring
Date: 2026/04/05. Speaker: Rev. Shodo Spring. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Shodo Spring has belonged to the natural world for as long as she can remember. She grew up running half-wild in the fields and woods of northeastern Ohio, with early mornings on the shore of Lake Erie and long days...
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Way Seeking Mind Talk by Anita MacDonald
Date: 2026/03/29. Speaker: Dr. Anita MacDonald. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Anita MacDonald is a daughter of a Filipino immigrant, professor of Women's studies, and a Marxist professor of philosophy with mixed European ancestry. She was raised essentially as an atheist, though briefly…
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Plum Blossoms Don’t Know Spring: Practicing with Don’t Know Mind by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/03/22. Speaker: Rev. Sōsan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen,...
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The Ground Beneath Our Feet by Rev. Sōkyo Jido Chee Xiong
Date: 2026/03/15. Speaker: Rev. Sōkyo Jido Chee Xiong. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sōkyo Chee started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2017. In 2021 he received jukai, lay ordination, and in 2025 he was ordained as a Priest-in-Training. He has experience working with Communities of...
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Let Doubt be a Refuge by Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain
Date: 2026/03/08. Speaker: Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Jinzu is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty-five years and is a novice...
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Bodhidharma and the Next Right Thing by Rev. Taizan Alford
Date: 2026/03/01. Speaker: Rev. Taizan Alford. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Taizan was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. He received Dharma transmission from Sosan in 2024 and has full authority to teach in the Soto Zen tradition. Taizan's…
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A Way Seeking Talk In Three Parts by Eishō Felicia Sy
Date: 2026/02/22. Speaker: Eishō Felicia Sy. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Part 1: All We Need Is Love: The Dharma According to John Lennon Part 2: How My Troubled Childhood Made Me Want To Be A Buddhist Part 3: The Dharma of Kikan's Knees Dr. Felicia Washington Sy is a licensed independent...
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In Gladness and In Safety by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/02/15. Speaker: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen,...
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The Bodhisattva Practice of Resisting Fascism by Rev. Koji Acquaviva
Date: 2026/02/08. Speaker: Koji Acquaviva. At Clouds and Water Zen Center. Koji Acquaviva is a Soto Zen priest and teacher. He began practicing Zen at the age of twenty at the San Francisco Zen Center where he was a resident student for ten years. He co-founded the Mid City Zen Center of New...
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The 7 Essential Dharmas: Principles of Unity and Good Governance by Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler
Date: 2026/02/01. Speaker: Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myo On Susan Hagler began her Zen practice in the autumn of 1980 at MZMC. She went there to find a place to meditate and hit the jackpot when encountering Katagiri-roshi and the MZMC sangha. From then to now Myo On...
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Our Practice In The Midst Of Resistance
Date: 2026/01/25. Speakers: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn, Rev. Jūken Zach Fehst, Rev. Keika Karín San Juan, Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. The panel is preceded by a guided meditation. Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission...
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Repentance and Taking Refuge by Rev. Kikan Michael Howard
Date: 2026-01-18. Speaker: Rev. Kikan Michael Howard. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Kikan started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is a member of the Teacher-Ryo at Clouds. Kikan is an independent app developer, a licensed…
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Living the Precepts by Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin
Date: 2026/01/11. Speaker: Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and...
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Everything Is Medicine by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2026/01/04. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Note: The discussion between members was edited out. Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in...
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This Very Moment by Rev. Kyoku Tracey Walen
Date: 2025/12/28. Speaker: Senior Dharma Teacher Rev. Kyoku Tracey Walen. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Kyoku resides at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN, and spends one week a month in the Twin Cities teaching at Clouds in Water Zen Center and seeing students. Kyoku was ordained as…
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Practicing with Your Dharma Mirror by Rev. Shozoku Yoko Nomura
Date: 2025/12/21. Speaker: Rev. Shozoku Yoko Nomura. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Note: The discussion between members was edited out. Shozoku came to the US to study at a college and is now a proud Minnesotan. In 2008, she started learning mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, and coming…
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Zen Practice When the Whole World is Disease by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2025/12/14. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body…
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Under the Rose Apple Tree by Myoshin Diane Benjamin
Date: 2025/12/07. Speaker: Lay Teacher Myoshin Diane Benjamin. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myoshin is a lay dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social...
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Peace and War, Lessons from the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh by Rev. Keika Karín San Juan
Date: 2025/11/30. Speaker: Rev. Keika Karín San Juan. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Keika came to Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2005 and served on the Board for more than a decade before being ordained as a novice priest by Sosan Flynn in 2024. Areas of interest include Buddhist liberation...
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Cultivating Zazen in this Moment by Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn
Date: 2025/11/23. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in...
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Question and Answer on Prayer, Study and Meditation by Koji Acquaviva
Date: 2025/11/16. Speaker: Rev. Koji Acquaviva. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Koji Acquaviva began practicing Zen at the age of twenty at the San Francisco Zen Center where they were a resident student for ten years. Before moving to the Twin Cities, they served as resident priest of Mid City…
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Finding Refuge in Compassion by Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher
Date: 2025/11/09. Speaker: Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myo-O is a fully ordained Sōtō Zen priest, having received transmission in 2012 from Dokai Georgesen. She began Zen practice in 1975 with Katagiri Roshi, who was her root teacher, and studied with him until his...
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Transforming the Karma of These Times by Jinzu Minna Jain
Date: 2025/11/02. Speaker: Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Jinzu is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty-five years and is a novice...
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Block. Build. Be. by Myoshin Diane Benjamin
Date: 2025/10/26. Speaker: Myoshin Diane Benjamin. Location: Clouds in Water Zen Center. Myoshin is a lay Dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social…
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About this show
Welcome to the Clouds in Water Zen Center Dharma Talks podcast! We post our Sunday dharma talks from various speakers, including talks from 202o to the present.
Clouds in Water is a vibrant and inclusive community in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition, with a mission to awaken the heart of great wisdom and compassion.
Founded in 1994, we regularly offer meditation, classes, and retreats. We are located in the historic Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, and everywhere via Zoom. We welcome people of all backgrounds and faiths.
If you enjoy listening and would like to make a donation, please visit our website.
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Clouds in Water Zen Center
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