Brooklyn Zen Center

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Emergent Buddha-nature, Emergent Awakening: Dharma Talk by Charlie Korin Pokorny (09/12/2026)

Emergent Buddha-nature, Emergent Awakening: Dharma Talk by Charlie Korin Pokorny (09/12/2026)6 oct

Recorded on September 12, 2026, at Boundless Mind Temple in Brooklyn, NY

Welcoming the sangha back after the August break, Charlie Korin Pokorny, BZC Dharma Teacher, explores awakening through the teachings of 13th-century Sōtō Zen founder Dōgen. Themes include Buddha nature as a dynamic, impermanent process rather than a fixed essence; awakening as "doing" rather than seeing; intimate illumination as befriending one's experience; time as inseparable from existence; and Buddha nature expressed in every act of kindness as an ethic of care.

Charlie Sensei also introduces BZC's fall practice period, "Liberating Response: Engaged Practice in Ourselves and in the World." Over 12 weeks, the program explores six topics (location, class, race, gender and sexuality, immigration and indigeneity, and earth justice), alternating between internal and external dimensions. Offerings include Saturday talks, Wednesday evening dharma shares, a one-day sit, three- and five-day sesshins, and a six-week online class on B.R. Ambedkar and Navayana Buddhism. The talk frames the four noble truths as emergent and living, with boundless relationality bringing boundless shared responsibility.

The BZC Podcast is offered free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive.

If these teachings have benefited your life, please consider supporting the program with a donation (suggested $2-7/episode, or whatever feels right for you!). You can donate to Brooklyn Zen Center at brooklynzen.org under ‘Giving.’ Thank you for your generosity!