Emptiness, Unknowing and the Dark

Emptiness, Unknowing and the Dark

Author: Amy Kisei February 7, 2022 Duration: 24:37

In this dharma talk Kisei explore's the phrase from Hongzhi in Silent Illumination:


If serenity neglects illumination; murkiness leads to wasted dharma.


This life is a play of emptiness and illumination, yin & yang. When the emptiness side (which also can be defined as silence, serenity, darkness, unknowing) gets off balance--what happens to our lives? our practice? our awakening?


This talk is a deep exploration of the ins and outs of emptiness. 



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amykisei.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted by Zen teacher Amy Kisei, Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the World is a quiet space for exploring what it means to be truly awake in a living, dreaming world. Rather than treating spiritual practice as a retreat from daily life, this podcast gently examines how the core insights of Zen-interconnection, non-separation, and our original nature of freedom-are intimately woven into our dreams, our relationship with the earth, and our sense of soul. Each episode feels like a thoughtful conversation, where ancient teachings meet the raw material of our inner lives and the ecological world around us. You’ll hear Kisei’s reflections on how dreamwork can be a surprising ally on the path of awakening, revealing our deep entanglement with the cosmos. The aim here isn’t abstract philosophy, but a palpable sense of how these liberating perspectives can reshape our experience of reality itself. Tuning into this podcast offers a rare blend of grounded spirituality, where the soul of the world speaks through both silence and symbol, inviting a more creative and loving engagement with existence. It’s for anyone curious about how the heart of Zen Buddhism illuminates our most profound connections.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 95

Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the World
Podcast Episodes
Getting Unstuck [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:33
I have been contemplating being stuck. You know that feeling that something else should be happening. Something more, or different, or better. The sense that whatever is happening is somehow wrong, or bad, or amiss in so…
Meeting the Ancestors [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:41
Greetings Friends,I am returning from a 10-day stay at my former home—Great Vow Zen Monastery. While I was there I had the opportunity to co-lead a sesshin (weeklong silent meditation retreat). The sesshin’s theme was Th…
Conversations in a Dream [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:17
Are you dreaming? How is your experience, like a dream?In one sense, the words you are reading, the sounds you are hearing, the thoughts racing through your mind and the ones seeming to linger in the background, the worr…
Dream as Medicine, Dream as Love [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:17
Dream as Analogy for RealityThis world is psychoactive. So much so that we don’t even realize how are fundamental beliefs and unquestioned assumptions shape our sense of who we are and what the world is.One of those assu…
What's Real? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:46
What is real? What is true?These questions are fundamental to the spiritual path, to the path of awakening.There is much confusion in our world right now. Blatant lies or mis-truths are being thrown around about immigran…
Ryonen Scars Her Face [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:19
Hello Friends,Happy April 1st! Here we are, its Aries Season, it’s Spring, Mercury and Venus have both been retrograde for a while now (which can give a certain feeling of friction or underworld journey to our days), the…
Will it be destroyed? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:20
Book of Serenity #30: Dasui's Aeonic FireA monk asked Dasui: When the fire at the end of an aeon rages through and the whole universe is destroyed, is this destroyed or not?Dasui said: Destroyed.The monk said: Then it go…
Dharma Practice in times of Uncertainty [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:43
Greetings friends~As we be together in this political moment, I wanted to offer some of the dharma teachings and practices that I have been leaning into. One of which is sharing poetry, so first a poem.For When People As…
Prajna Paramita's Great NO! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:00
As we began 2025, I returned to the teachings of the Heart of Great Perfection Wisdom Sutra. In times of chaos, something in me turns toward what is most true. The Heart Sutra is one such text that invites this kind of t…
coming home to ourselves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:21
Greetings Friends,I remember when I first entered a space dedicated to dharma practice, after sitting in the zendo that first night my body felt like I was home.Which was strange because the building and atmosphere was s…