Setting Down Our Greed | Koshin Paley Ellison

Episode von Zencare Podcast von New York Zen Center · 23. September 2026 · 29 min

"The teacher's role is not to give you what you want. Their role is to help you set down your greed, so that you're joyful no matter what happens."

On the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, Koshin Sensei reflects on accountability: to ourselves, to each other, and to our practice.

He shares a classic Zen story: a young student named Tangan keeps asking his teacher, Sengai, for permission to leave and study elsewhere, and every time he gets a smack on the head. When permission finally comes, Sengai gives him one last smack. Koshin explores why this is actually a story about love. A teacher's job isn't to make us feel approved of, but to never give up on who we really are.

Drawing on Leonard Cohen's “Who by Fire,” inspired by a traditional Yom Kippur prayer, and on the Zen practice of daily atonement, Koshin asks simple but challenging questions. Do our thoughts, words, and actions match? Where are we going through the motions instead of truly living our practice? And who are we leaving out because we're certain, scared, or ashamed?

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