From the Urban Dharma Mail Bag:

"My name is William and I come from just outside Glasgow in the west of Scotland. The main reason for me sending you this e-mail is to thank you for the superb pod casts you have been publishing, its a real pleasure to here anyone (but especially a Buddhist monk) talking about Buddhism in plain English and also relating it to the present day." - William, Scotland

"I have read a few beginning books on Buddhism but have gained little from them, often by the time they get to the meat of their text I am bored to death. Your podcast is a breath of fresh air, I listened to every episode over the course of a long weekend and have become inspired to start meditation. Please continue to do what you do." - Chad, USA

"I just wanted to thank Rev. Kusala Bhikshu for his very informative podcasts. I am a beginner Buddhist living in a small town with no Buddhist community. I've found it very hard to get the answers to some lingering questions I had after reading books for beginner Buddhists. Your podcasts have answered so many of my questions and taught me so much more. You have definitely inspired me to take Buddhism and my practice of it more seriously. I sincerely thank you for your work and look forward to your next podcast." - Stephanie, Canada

"Thanks for the great talks on your podcast. Your dharma talks gives one really a feeling of belonging to the bigger whole even when living in the extreme south of Africa. Keep up the great work. May you be happy." - Zhi Zhui (Dharma name), South Africa

Gethsemani III “Monasticism and the Environment,” was the theme of the third Buddhist/Catholic encounter sponsored by Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and held at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky May 27-31, 2008. Forty Buddhists and Catholics, most of them monastic men and women, gathered at this renowned Trappist abbey to reflect on and share with one another the environmental wisdom to be found in their monastic teachings and practices.

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Flash Video of the Closing Environmental Monastic Statement.
The G-3 particpants walked from the Abbey Gethsemani to
Thomas Merton's hermitage to read the statement. Two
songs by Rev. Heng Sure make up the sound track.

Flash Video (10 min) - Click Here

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The Destructive Effects of Modern Technology
On the Environment and Society
As Seen by Thomas Merton

#1 / MP3 / 10 mb / 47 min / Click Here

Father Ezekiel Lotz OSB
Mount Angel Abbey, Saint Benedict, Oregon

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The world in which we live
What Is Science Telling Us Today

#2 / Part 1 / MP3 / 12 mb / 53 min / Click-Here

#2 / Part 2 / MP3 / 18 mb / 1 hr 19 min / Click-Here

*Dr. Stephanie Kaza's - "Power Point Presentation in PDF" - 6.1 mb / Click Here

Dr. Stephanie Kaza
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont

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Buddhist and Christian understandings
of the world and our place in it: religious vision and ethical
choices Interrelatedness, Interdependence, Dependent Origination

#3 / MP3 / 5 mb / 23 min / Click Here

Ajahn Punnadhammo
Arrow River Hermitage, Thunder Bay, Ontario

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The World as Created, Fallen, and Redeemed

#4 / MP3 / 8 mb / 35 min / Click Here

Father James Wiseman OSB
Saint Anselm’s Abbey, Washington DC

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How monastic rules speak of the world and our life in it:
Bringing new awareness to ancient yet living documents. The Patimokkha/Pratimoksha
(Theravada) and The Ten Major and Forty-eight Subsidiary Bodhisattva Precepts
From the “Net of Brahma” Sutra (Mahayana)

#5 / MP3 / 10 mb / 45 min / Click Here

Rev. Heng Sure
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, Berkeley, California

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The Rule of Benedict

# 6 / MP3 / 5 mb / 22 min / Click Here

Sister Judith Sutera OSB
Mount Saint Scholastica Monastery, Atchison, Kansas

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Monasticism vis-à-vis the consumer society:
The Monastic Instinct to Revere, to Conserve,
To Be Content with Little, and to Share

#7 / MP3 / 9 mb / 41 min / Click Here

Rev. Eko Little
Shasta Abbey, Mount Shasta, California

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Simplicity of Life

# 8 / MP3 / 8 mb / 37 min / Click Here

Father Charles Cummings, OCSO
Holy Trinity Monastery, Huntsville, Utah

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Bad Practices Hidden or Justified by Ideology

#9 / MP3 / 11 mb / 50 min / Click Here

Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni
Dhammadharini Vihara, Freemont, California

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Bad Practices Hidden or Justified by Ideology

#10 / MP3 / 6 mb / 25 min / Click Here

Father Hugh Feiss OSB
Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, Idaho

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The environmental practices of American monastic
communities... Good Practices, Ancient and Emerging

#11 / MP3 / 10 mb / 44 min / Click Here

Ven. Thubten Semkye
Sravasti Abbey, Newport, Washington

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The environmental practices of American monastic
communities... Good Practices, Ancient and Emerging

#12 / MP3 / 6 mb / 26 min / Click Here

Sister Renée Branigan OSB
Sacred Heart Monastery, Richardton, North Dakota

On Being a Monk - Part 9 - Posted 11/2006 - 31 min - MP3 - 7.1 MB // My interview with Ven. Ajahn Sudanto a monk from the Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, the first monastery in the United States to be established by followers of Ajahn Chah. Efforts to establish this California monastery moved slowly until 1995. As Ven. Master Hsüan Hua, abbot of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, located in Ukiah, California, approached his death, he instructed his disciples to deed over to Ajahn Chah's disciples 120 acres of forest in Redwood Valley, fifteen miles north of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. On several occasions Master Hua had made a point of stating that it had been the dream of his life to bring the northern and southern traditions of Buddhism back together again. - http://www.abhayagiri.org/

On Being a Monk - Part 8 - Posted 11/2006 - 1 hr 3 min - MP3 - 14.5 MB // My Interview with Rev. Heng Sure the Abbot of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in Berkeley, CA. Both Rev. Heng Sureand myself attended the second "Monks in the West" Conference... We found some free time and did this interview... Rev. Heng Sure talked about the conference, celibacy and his first CD of original Buddhist folk songs... More on Rev. Heng Sure at - http://paramita.typepad.com/ - and - Music in the Dharma

Making A Difference - Part 3 - Posted 10/2006 - 49 min - MP3 - 11.4 MB // My interview with Rev. Sandra Yarlott, Director of the UCLA Medical Center Spiritual Care Dept... Rev. Yarlott speaks on the challenges of running a Spiritual Care Dept. in Los Angeles... The importance of training new hospital chaplains and some of the religious issues patients face in getting well or dying. For more information on the UCLA Medical Center - Spiritual Care Dept

Making A Difference - Part 2 - Posted 9/2006 - 1hr 11min - MP3 - 16.3 MB // My interview with Dr. Ananda W.P. Guruge, Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of the International Academy of Buddhism at the University of the West in Rosemead, CA. Dr. Guruge was kind and gracious in allowing me to interview him and consented to do another interview in the near future. His web site is: www.Ananda-Guruge.com

On Being a Monk - Part 7 - Posted 8/2006 - 1hr 21min - MP3 - 18.7 MB // My interview with Rev. Nori Ito a priest at The Los Angeles Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple. We talk about his life and work as a priest at a Pure Land Temple in Los Angeles. Growing up in Los Angeles as a Buddhist Japanese American, his school years, meeting his wife and his Buddhist ordination. How he started a Buddhist club at Occidental College, his work with the Los Angeles Buddhist/Catholic Dialogue and taking students to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to introduce them to the horrors of the atomic bomb and nuclear war. Web Site: Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple

Making A Difference - Posted 7/2006 - 41min - MP3 - 9.4 MB // My interview with Ericka Bryant the owner of True Yoga in Thousand Oaks, California. She talks about how she came to yoga, religion and spirituality, a 16 day yoga retreat she just returned from and how to start a yoga practice. Rev. Kusala speaks the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month at True Yoga from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM.

On Being a Monk - Part 6 - Posted 6/2006 - 1hr 04min - MP3 - 14.5 MB // My interview with Father Alexei Smith... Director of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Office of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Father Alexei and his office is the resource most used by the Archbishop and the various offices of the Archdiocese in matters of ecumenical and interreligious issues. You can find out more about Father Alexei and his work with the L.A. Buddhist/Catholic Dialogue at: Los Angeles Buddhist/Catholic Dialogue

On Being a Monk - Part 5c - Posted 6/2006 - 1hr 01min - MP3 - 14 MB // This is part 3 of 3... My interview with Roshi Wendy 'Egyoku' Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Since 1967, ZCLA / Buddha Essence Temple has provided the teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism to all who come and go through its temple gate. The core practice is zazen. Visit the ZCLA web site at: www.zencenter.org

On Being a Monk - Part 5b - Posted 6/2006 - 1hr 43min - MP3 - 19.4 MB // This is part 2 of 3... My interview with Roshi Wendy 'Egyoku' Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Since 1967, ZCLA / Buddha Essence Temple has provided the teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism to all who come and go through its temple gate. The core practice is zazen. Visit the ZCLA web site at: www.zencenter.org

On Being a Monk - Part 5a - Posted 6/2006 - 43min - MP3 - 9.9 MB // This is part 1 of 3... My interview with Roshi Wendy 'Egyoku' Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Since 1967, ZCLA / Buddha Essence Temple has provided the teachings and practice of Zen Buddhism to all who come and go through its temple gate. The core practice is zazen. Visit the ZCLA web site at: www.zencenter.org

On Being a Monk - Part 4 - Posted 4/2006 - 1hr 16min - MP3 - 17.5 MB My interview with Ven. Tenzin Kacho a Tibetan Buddhist nun on being a Buddhist, a nun and a hospital chaplain. On April 1, 2006 I went to Long Beach, California to interview my friend Ven. Tenzin Kacho. The interview turned out to be a little longer than expected, but her journey as a nun is filled with so many interesting twists and turns it could have been three times as long. Her temple web site is (www.tdling.com)

On Being a Monk - Part 3 - Posted 3/2006 - 33min - MP3 - 7.5 MB // My interview with the web master of BuddhaNet.net Ven. Pannyavaro on being a Buddhist, a monk, a web master and his new project "Bodhi Tree" monastery and retreat center. I first met Ven. Pannyavaro in 1998 at the World Fellowship of Buddhist conference in Australia and again a few weeks ago at UCLA. I asked him if I could interview him about his web site, his new project "Bodhi Tree," how he found Buddhism and why he became a monk. Many thanks to Ven. Pannyavaro for his time, his wisdom and his web site. (www.BuddhaNet.net)

On Being a Monk - Part 2 - Posted 3/2006 - 52min - MP3 - 10.8 MB // My interview with Rev. Eko Little the abbot of Shasta Abbey a Zen Buddhist monastery, on what it's like to be a Buddhist, a monk and the abbot. Many thanks to Rev. Eko for his time and wisdom. For more on Shasta Abbey please visit: (www.ShastaAbbey.org) also see (Monastic Conference)