This talk is the seventh and last talk given during Boulder Zen Center's seven-day December Sesshin. It raises questions about the relationship between being on retreat and practicing in the context of daily life. To address these questions, it shows how the Bodhisattva ideal of Mahayana Buddhism goes beyond the idea of transcendence in Early Buddhism. To live as a Bodhisattva is to be committed to this world and its problems while continuously practicing non-grasping and non-resisting. The imperturbability, we cultivate through zazen doesn't mean we're never disturbed; it means we're not disturbed by being disturbed—time and again for the rest of our lives. Taken to its logical conclusion, being a Bodhisattva means to use each moment, whatever it is, as material for awakening with all beings.

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Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.