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Tenney and Megan give the opening night talks at our March 2024 Desert Rain Zen Desert Sunrise Refuge Retreat, suggesting some ways we can let ourselves fall open to what’s already available, on offer.

“There is someone at peace, / walking in the Tao . . . “ (Yongjia Xuanjue, “Song of Realizing the Way”)

(talks given March 19, 2024 at the Redemptorist Renewal Center out at Picture Rocks in Tucson)

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About us:

Desert Rain Zen is located in Tucson, Arizona. But almost all our activities take place on Zoom or as hybrid events, so you don't need to live here to practice with us.

Desert Rain Zen podcasts are free. If you'd like to support our podcasting and other activities, you can make a tax-deductible donation on our website at https://www.desertrainzen.org/donate.html

For more information you can email us at desertrainzen@gmail.com or find us at https://www.desertrainzen.org/ and on Facebook.

You can also find additional teachings and updated information about Tenney's various activities at tenneynathanson.com

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Sarah gives the talk on the fourth night of our retreat.

A group conversation follows Sarah’s talk.

(talk given October 16, 2025 at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, New Mexico)

*

About us:

Desert Rain Zen is located in Tucson, Arizona. But almost all our activities take place on Zoom or as hybrid events, so you don't need to live here to practice with us.

Desert Rain Zen podcasts are free. If you'd like to support our podcasting and other activities, you can make a tax-deductible donation on our website at https://www.desertrainzen.org/donate.html

For more information you can email us at desertrainzen@gmail.com or find us at https://www.desertrainzen.org/ and on Facebook.

You can also find additional teachings and updated information about Tenney's various activities at https://tenneynathanson.com/

Send us a text

Tenney gives the talk on the second night of our retreat. Beginning by exploring various translations of the “Golden Wind” koan and the different feel they give to Yunmen’s response to the student, Tenney brings the case into relation to Wallace Stevens’s poem “The Snow Man.” Then, via consideration of commentaries on the case by Xuedo, Yuanwu, Hakuin, and Tenkei, dragons get into the mix. This leads, courtesy of a suggestion made by Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi in a recorded talk on the case, to an exploration of dragon imagery and energies in Dogen’s fascicle “Dragon Song.”

A group conversation follows Tenney’s talk.

(talk given October 14, 2025 at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, New Mexico)

*

About us:

Desert Rain Zen is located in Tucson, Arizona. But almost all our activities take place on Zoom or as hybrid events, so you don't need to live here to practice with us.

Desert Rain Zen podcasts are free. If you'd like to support our podcasting and other activities, you can make a tax-deductible donation on our website at https://www.desertrainzen.org/donate.html

For more information you can email us at desertrainzen@gmail.com or find us at https://www.desertrainzen.org/ and on Facebook.

You can also find additional teachings and updated information about Tenney's various activities at https://tenneynathanson.com/