Recorded talks and guided meditations from various events.
"Omitting None": The LovingKindness Practice Challenge
Audio recording of a recent Dharma talk for the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Center, March 15, 2026. Available on the Internet Archive here.
Things That Matter: What Is the Most Important Thing?
Audio recording of a recent Dharma talk for the Sacramento Buddhist Group, January 18, 2026. Available on the Internet Archive here.
This Dharma talk, given the day before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2026, references a famous quote: "My life begins to end the day I become silent about things that matter,” attributed to Dr. King. "As I see it, we as a people are standing atop a watershed, now in January 2026 in California, in the U.S.," Mushim says to the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group. She continues, "Robert Reich, retired Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, co-founder of Inequality Media, former US Secretary of Labor posted 3 days ago on LinkedIn: 'All of us need to realize the danger we are facing right now. A dictatorship knows no bounds.'" In reality, as Mushim says in this talk, Dr. King is quoted as saying, "A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true." This real quotation comes from a sermon in Selma, Alabama, on 8 March 1965, the day after "Bloody Sunday," on which civil rights protesters were attacked and beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
In this Dharma talk, Mushim continues, "Sangha friends, friends of spiritual community, of sacred community, let us deepen our inquiry together, in this potent moment of meditation, of congregating as like-minded spiritual friends. What is it that matters most? And what shall we do?
"Be Like Water": BIPOC Critical Thinking, Right Speech, and Solidarity in 2026
Audio recording of a recent Dharma talk for Spirit Rock Meditation Center's BIPOC Voices Sunday morning Dharma talk series, January 11, 2026. Available on Dharma Seed here.
Revolutionary Practice in 2026 - Curiosity, Playfulness & BIPOC Joy!
Audio recording of a recent Dharma talk for Spirit Rock Meditation Center, BIPOC Voices online Sunday morning classes, November 9, 2025.
Image by dara nilrothanak from Pixabay
WHAT’S ZEN GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Dharma talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on September 13, 2025.
WHAT’S ZEN GOT TO DO WITH IT? Fascism, grieving, and keeping our eyes on the prize -- Mushim Patricia Ikeda 's 9/13/2025 Dharma talk at Berkeley Zen Center -- audio recording now available at https://berkeleyzencenter.org/dharma-talk/whats-zen-got-to-do-with-it or http://bit.ly/48MbaCs. I have begun a series of "rude Dharma talks" with calls to spiritual inquiry and discernment processes followed by action in these times of i c e arrests and unlawful detainment, attempted erasure of the histories of Black and indigenous U.S. citizens by the federal government, and, well, in one word: fascism. There's no way to speak politely about any of this, but neither do we have to traumatize one another even more. And we are ALL grieving, deeply, deeply grieving innumerable losses. How, then, when urgent action is needed, AND grief is taking its own bitter and sweet time to move through us, do we keep our eyes on the Prize of profound collective liberation and relief from suffering, from a Mahayana Buddhist point of view? Listen to this recording if you like, and please, open compassionate conversations within your own communities! Let us all, as Assata Shakur said, become "weapons of mass construction."
[photo: Mushim Patricia Ikeda, Buddhist teacher, pointing at The Prize, a photo of the head of a Sakyamuni Buddha figure taped onto a small bucket. She calls this a "bupekkha," meaning a bucket of upekkha. Upekkha or upeksha is the Buddhist word for Equanimity. You can make your own! Whatever is driving you batshit crazy with frustration and rage and anxiety right now, write it down, draw it, or just think about it, then put it into your bupekkha and LET GO OF IT, for your own mental health and for your friends and family. Strategic action and wise action are good. Taking out our frustrations on people around us and on social media maybe not so much. To make it even better, the bucket is part of a set I ordered online that can be used at wedding receptions, filled with ice and chilled champagne bottles, for celebration dinners.]
What Is Renunciation & Why Is It Important?
Dharma talk for the San Jose Insight Meditation Sangha on July 2, 2025.
Three Messages for Thriving: Cultivating a Durable Spiritual Practice
Dharma talk by Mushim, for Spirit Rock Meditation Center: BIPOC Voices - Series, June 29, 2025. A talk I just gave for Black, Indigenous and Peoples of Color. As I often say, I've had very few "religious" experiences. This was definitely one of them: In mid-March 2020, a few days before the Covid-19 global pandemic lockdown, "shelter in place" in California was instituted, as panicked people thronged Costco buying up all the toilet paper and steaks, I sat on my bed, stunned and overwhelmed. Just like in the movies (but better, since this was real life), an inner voice / God / the Universe / Spirit said, in loud and no-nonsense tones: "THREE THINGS (to get you through whatever is coming)." In this talk, I reveal the three messages, which were invaluable for getting me through the pandemic and are still just as good today, five years plus later, as I navigate the social, political, and environmental crises of 2025. -- Mushim https://sr.dharmaseed.org/talks/player/91106.html
[image by Peter Schmidt from Pixabay]
Grow Up in the Dharma (Opening Dharma podcast - May 2025)
Mushim in conversation with Rev. Liên Shutt on how mature practice can help us deal with the current conditions of our world.
https://accesstozen.org/podcast/2025/5/6/grow-up-in-the-dharma-with-mushim-patricia-ikeda
"Curious and Creative: Mindfulness Meditation Is Investigation," guided meditation and Dharma talk by Mushim Patricia Ikeda, June 23, 2024, for Spirit Rock Meditation Center
"Curious and Creative: Mindfulness Meditation Is Investigation," Dharmaseed audio recording of guided meditation and Dharma talk by Mushim Patricia Ikeda, June 23, 2024, for Spirit Rock Meditation Center 's BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Peoples of Color) Voices Sunday morning gatherings. Sometimes people get stuck in their meditation practices because they're mechanically although with commitment doing the same things over and over again. Can we become curious and open in order to go deeper, and for spiritual and other insights to arise? Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Burmese monk and vipassana meditation teacher says, " You don't need to believe anything you don't intellectually understand. Just keep investigating. Just keep learning from your personal experience." https://dharmaseed.org/talks/84693/
[Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash]
"The Infinite Everyday: Zen and Oneness," talk by Mushim Ikeda
for the June 2023 Mystics Summit from The Shift Network
This interview is part of the 2023 Mystics Summit, a free online event. For more information, please visit https://mysticssummit.com. This recording is a copyright of The Shift Network.
All rights reserved. It is posted here with permission of The Shift Network.
Being Open to What Works for You with Mushim Ikeda
Lion's Roar podcast
From Mushim:
”I'm mostly interested in what actually works in a pragmatic way, including in my spiritual practice. This Lion's Roar podcast emerged spontaneously from a Zoom conversation with their digital editor Rod Meade Sperry. We were talking Dharma and I began talking about being proactive in preparing for my death and making a (meandering) bee line toward the Vajrayana. Rod hit the "Recording" button just for fun and we had an unplanned and robust conversation.”
Mushim is a writer, poet, longtime Buddhism and mindfulness teacher, and Community Director at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, California. She has played a key role in developing a fragrance-free policy at the center, and it is an excellent model and resource for organizations of all kinds.
In our conversation, Mushim speaks speak about:
How the fragrance-free policy was created.
Challenges the center encountered.
How other groups and organizations can adopt fragrance-free policies.
Oftentimes Buddhism can take a tough love, no nonsense approach to happiness by saying, if you want to be happier, sometimes you need to face hard truths.
In today's episode we’re going to talk about a Buddhist list called The Three Characteristics. These are the three non-negotiable truths about reality, which you have to see and understand in order to be happy. Granted, when looked at from a certain angle, these truths, or characteristics of reality can suck at times. But do you want to see the truth of things or not? Do you want to be happier or not?
Our guide through these three characteristics is the mighty Mushim Patricia Ikeda. Mushim has a background in both monastic and lay Buddhist practice and is a core teacher and community director at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California. This is her second appearance on the show.
Content Warning: This episode briefly mentions child loss.
In this episode we talk about:
The three characteristics, alternatively known as the three Dharma seals
Our conflicted relationship to change
Our brain’s tendency to focus on the negative
Practices that can help with handling change more effectively
How not taking your thoughts so personally can build your resilience
And why Mushim believes that universal non-discriminating love is synonymous with Nirvana
Wise Discernment: Making Tough Compassionate Choices
Mushim gives a talk at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
From lionsroar.com.
This episode of The Lion’s Roar podcast features Buddhist teacher and writer Mushim Patricia Ikeda and psychologist Rick Hanson, author of Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness.
Mushim Patricia Ikeda examines how spiritual work can help us generate wholeness, joy, ease, and even ancestral healing. Then, Rick Hanson guides a short meditation to rewire your brain for the better.
Dan Harris (of ABC Nightline and Good Morning America) interviews Mushim on his Ten Percent Happier Podcast! Listen to Mushim discuss how to handle anger, uncertainty, and self-loathing!
The Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Podcast: A conversation with Mushim Patricia Ikeda.
In this episode, David interviews Mushim Patricia Ikeda—a poet, Buddhist teacher, and social change activist. Mushim teaches at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, California, where she leads an award-winning yearlong mindfulness program called Practice in Transformative Action. In their conversation, David and Mushim talk about her inclusivity work at EBMC, the pandemic, and the relevance of trauma-informed practice within mindfulness and social change work.
Dharma talk given to East Bay Meditation Center, People of Color Sangha on November 20th, 2014.
Dharma talk by Mushim, “The Whole of the Spiritual Life and How to Be Happy: The place of meditation in the larger Buddhist path, the Eightfold Path, the Marga." The Buddha said that the whole of the spiritual life is spiritual friendship. How so? Here's my take on it.
Held at the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Center, July 28, 2019
To hear the other podcasts in this series, go to http://raceconvo.com/, Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People from Simma Lieberman, the Inclusionist.
Current political and environmental conditions are creating massive stress -- how do we maintain grounded, deal with fear and anger, and move toward spiritual and social change goals? Talk given by Mushim at the July 1-7, 2018 People of Color silent meditation retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center in the Carson National Forest in the mountains outside of Taos, New Mexico. The theme of the retreat was the Brahmaviharas (Divine Abodes), also called the Four Immeasurables in Buddhist teachings and practice.
Photo by Will van Wingerden on Unsplash
What are the deeper states of Buddhist meditative concentration? And will they do us any good? Audio recording of Dharma talk by Mushim Patricia Ikeda, given at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center on March 3, 2018.
Awakin.org call: Taking the Great Vow Not to Burn Out
Listen to the Awakin.org conference call on Taking The Great Vow To Not Burn Out on January 14th, 2017.
Click here to listen or click the title above to listen.
Dharma talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on July 7, 2016
Talk-It-Out Radio with host Fresh! White interviewing Mushim Patricia Ikeda.
KPFB 89.3 Berkeley / Sundays 2:00pm / Airdate: July 17, 2016
Talk-It-Out Radio with host Fresh! White interviewing Mushim Patricia Ikeda.
KPFB 89.3 Berkeley / Sundays 2:00pm / Airdate: July 10, 2016
Mushim gives a talk about becoming Buddhas together at the Insight Meditation Center on June 12, 2016
Mushim gives a talk at the acramento Buddhist Meditation Group on April 16, 201
Mushim gives a talk on racial justice and awakened society in the United States. From the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group.
This dharma talk brings up the idea of "bold compassion" and how we can cultivate that in our lives as people of color. This talk was done at the Sweetwater Zen Center in San Diego, CA.
This guided meditation was done during the People of Color Mindfulness Retreat at the Sweetwater Zen Center in San DIego, CA.
This talk explores the practice of mindfulness as a tool for self-care, stress management, and resiliency. Learn different ways to apply these practices in our everyday lives to create balance and cultivate joy amidst life's challenges. Recorded at the Malcolm X Library in San Diego, CA.