The World Through Zen Eyes Podcast

MyongAhn Sunim & Dr. Ruben Lambert
  • 5.0 (4)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

What we do?Once a week we take a look at the going-ons of the world and say something about ‘em.The goal?None, really. Just trying to make heads and tails of the great world roar of Ooommmmmm. Why?To try ‘n keep a modicum of personal sanity. And stay off both the meds and the cool aid.The point? Points are sharp and therefore violent. We just go around, and round….and round.Disclaimer:The views, perspectives, and humor of the speakers and guests of this podcast do not necessarily represent the those of any associated organizations, businesses, or groups, social, religious,cultural or otherwise. The entirety of the podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Topics discussed and views expressed do not constitute medical advice. As the saying goes “Opinions are like bellybuttons, everybody’s got one”.

  1. MAR 27

    Ep. 35 - A Question About Questions

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion A Zen question isn’t a polite request for information. It’s a blade that can cut straight into the habits that keep us stuck. We talk about the role of questions in Zen Buddhism, from the way sutras begin with someone asking the Buddha, to the strange training stories where a teacher makes you “earn” the right to ask. Why would a master demand effort like 3,000 bows, or tell you to show up at 3 a.m.? We unpack what that kind of obstacle is really testing: sincerity, commitment, and whether you want freedom from suffering or just a comforting explanation. Along the way, we explore what it means to “question the question” and why the source of a question matters as much as the words. We also dig into teacher-student dynamics in spiritual practice. Modern skepticism has real reasons, but if we only seek confirmation of what we already believe, we stop learning. We share Zen training moments where answers are immediate, inconvenient, or even seemingly contradictory, not as word games, but as a way to stop ego posturing and interrupt mind-made stories. Then we connect it to the Buddha’s poisoned arrow teaching and the problem of information overload: more knowledge is not always more wisdom, especially when it feeds anxiety, greed, and mental noise. We close with classic Zen methods like koans, the idea of questions as generosity to others, and the memorable heaven-and-hell challenge that reveals how fast the mind builds its own prison. If you’ve been craving clarity through mindfulness, meditation, or Zen practice, this is a practical reset on what to ask, how to ask it, and what a real answer should do. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the question you’re working on right now. Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    50 min

  2. MAR 20 ·  BONUS

    Bonus Track #7: Cats of the Mind

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion Your mind can make a shadow feel like a fact. We start with a deceptively simple rule from a spiritual teacher about driving and turn it into a Zen-sized key for modern life: greet each moment as if it is the first time, before habit tells you it already knows how everything ends. That shift sounds small, but it changes how we learn, how we love, and how we meet an ordinary day without sliding into “just Wednesday.”  We also dig into a concrete morning practice that reshapes your baseline: when you first wake up, can you see a new day instead of reaching for the phone, the weather, or the news? This is mindfulness as mental hygiene, a way to “air out” complacency and rebuild the kind of awe that makes life feel wide again. Along the way, we talk about how anxiety, depression, and worry can furnish the inner room of the mind until the window is wallpapered over.  A childhood story about searching for a lost black cat shows how quickly perception bends under longing and fear. From there we connect Buddhist language like “flowers in the sky” to what many of us recognize as rumination, catastrophizing, and the sense that our thoughts are unquestionably real. The turning point is meditation: not a clever hack, but breath counting and returning again and again, training attention to stop getting abducted by mental noise and to discover real spaciousness.  If you want a practical meditation practice, a clearer understanding of habit loops, and a grounded way to work with stress and intrusive thoughts, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who overthinks, leave a review, and tell us: what thought pattern are you ready to stop treating as truth? Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    35 min

  3. FEB 27

    Ep. 34 - Relationships - Becoming Each Other’s Friend On The Path

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion Love isn’t broken when it changes; it’s speaking a new dialect. We open a listener’s letter about long‑term relationships and use a Zen lens to rethink what keeps couples close over time. Instead of treating impermanence as doom, we explore it as the engine of growth—why trying to freeze your partner in the honeymoon phase backfires, and how accepting seasons can make bonds stronger, not weaker. We dig into the early chemistry of romance, the projections that paint a fantasy, and the sharp pain of losing an idea rather than a person. From there, we name the “administrative marriage” that consumes many households: conversations reduced to tasks, calendars, and kid logistics. You’ll hear concrete ways to revive friendship—unpressured talks, shared curiosity, and small rituals that bring back play without abandoning responsibility. We also map the big transitions: the squeeze of raising kids while supporting aging parents, and the empty nest that can feel like a cliff or a second honeymoon depending on how you’ve tended the connection. Ego and ownership show up in subtle ways: my spouse as a project, my needs as the law. We offer a different stance—service, reciprocity, and the practice of becoming doban, friends on the path. That means walking each other toward less suffering and more wisdom, not just trading comfort on good days. By balancing novelty with stability and honoring multiple dimensions—physical affection, friendship, shared duties, and spiritual growth—you build the kind of resilient love that bends without breaking. If this conversation gives you language for your own season, share it with someone who could use it, subscribe for future episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. Have a question you want us to tackle next? Send it our way and let’s explore it together. Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    54 min

  4. JAN 16

    Ep. 33 - New Year Revolution

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion What if “new year, new you” is the wrong frame—and what you really need is a revolution against your own autopilot? We open the door with a tour of many new years—solar, lunar, and the 24 seasonal nodes—and show how older cultures tied renewal to nature’s rhythms, community responsibility, and gratitude for the chain that feeds us. Those rituals weren’t quaint; they were operating instructions for a sane life, where appreciation and awareness weren’t optional but essential. From there, we tackle the modern drift into convenience and distance: running taps, effortless heat, stocked fridges. When stakes are hidden, attention fades, and we only wake up during extremes—injury, conflict, crisis. We share practical Zen tools to reverse that drift, bringing focus back to the ordinary moments where choice actually lives: a turn signal, a breath, a step. That presence is the tiny hinge that swings big doors. Our central claim is bold and simple: trade resolutions for a personal revolution. The opponent is within—fixed views, reflexive reactions, and identity stories that masquerade as “just who I am.” These programs feel like thinking, but they are habits running the show while we sleep, and karma still lands whether we acted mindfully or not. We unpack how to spot these inner regimes, trace their causes, and “cut the fuse” between trigger and blowup. Drop by drop, attention fills the jar; little by little, milk sours. Your choices can compound either way. If you’ve ever asked why change slips away or feared who you’d be without your familiar struggles, this conversation offers a path: clear, compassionate, and doable. Join us for a grounded take on renewal that blends ancient seasonal wisdom, community ethics, and practical mindfulness. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s ready for their own revolution, and leave a review to help others find us. Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    50 min

  5. 12/19/2025

    Ep. 32 - There is no such thing as selfless caregiving

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion What if “selfless caring” isn’t the ideal we think it is? We return from a short hiatus with a provocative lens on compassion, questioning why so much giving feels like loss and how burnout sneaks in when the mind keeps score. Instead of turning care into a transaction—time out for thanks in—We explore a Zen-infused view where helping is not a heroic sacrifice but the natural movement of one body. Think of the candle that lights a thousand candles without dimming, and the hand that scratches an itchy knee without applause. No fanfare. No invoices. Just the right action, arising on its own.We trace the common stages of caring: starting with duty, graduating to “selfless” sacrifice, and finally stepping beyond the subtle duality that still divides helper and helped. Along the way we unpack the “calculating mind,” the hidden ledger that breeds resentment, and we contrast it with the lightness of flow—what athletes describe as being in the zone and what seasoned caregivers embody on tough nights. Heart Sutra insights help us unhook from rigid labels like gain and loss, while keeping both feet on the ground with clear boundaries and practical sense.A story from a hospital cleaner reveals the quiet power of attention that includes both floor and patient—an undercover bodhisattva at work without seeking credit. We celebrate a living sangha that responds like an organism, not a spreadsheet, and we offer simple ways to practice: notice the tally-keeper, return to what’s needed, and let gratitude be free. If you’ve ever felt drained by doing good, this conversation reframes compassion as oxygen, not fuel you must burn.If this resonated, subscribe, share it with someone who could use a lighter way to care, and leave a review to help others find the show. Got a topic you want us to explore? Send it our way. Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    1h 1m

  6. 11/07/2025

    Ep. 31 - Powerless Or Powerful: Rethinking Grief, Prayer, And What Remains

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion What if impermanence isn’t a reason to detach, but a reason to care more deeply right now? We take a clear-eyed look at grief, loss, and the practice that carries us when ideas don’t. A surprising story at a garbage dump becomes a Zen lesson: repulsion is a label, value hides in messy places, and steady effort—keep digging—reveals what cynicism would abandon. From there, we tackle the “Zen disease” of trying to end worry by hating it. Instead of fueling the loop, we lay out a practical rhythm: see it, throw it aside, and keep going. We reframe death through a simple incense metaphor and a richer view of transition over annihilation. The pain of lost access is human; the leap to helplessness is optional. Prayer matters. Even if you can’t “receive,” your “broadcast” still carries. That’s why the 49-day period is so meaningful—consistent petitions can illuminate merit, soften karma, and remind us there are no good or bad people, only actions shaped by conditions. We also open the door to the wider support network in Buddhist cosmology: guardians who prefer rescue over retribution, Jijang at the thresholds, Amitabha presiding with compassion. Much of our suffering is the friction of forcing earthbound rules onto subtler realms. A more honest stance—understand that I don’t understand—keeps us flexible, kind, and effective. Think of departure and arrival as simultaneous, like a newborn leaving water for air in a single breath, or a cut branch blooming when the tree blooms. Relationship remains. Join us to reorient grief around presence, practice, and power: care fully while it’s here, let go when it’s gone, and keep digging. If this moved you, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a steadier way to face loss. Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    52 min

  7. 11/03/2025

    Ep. 30 - Practice For The Small Losses So You’re Ready For The Big One

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion Grief can make the world feel smaller, louder, and strangely unreal. We open that tight space with a clear, compassionate tour of how Zen teachings and modern psychology help us face loss without sliding into nihilism. Rather than treating death as an ending, we talk about change as the constant of life, and how that perspective—grounded in the three seals and the four noble truths—can make love and presence more vivid, not less. We dig into the Kubler-Ross stages to show how movement, not mastery, matters. Then we get practical: element meditation as an antidote to denial, not a shortcut to “nothing matters”; the second arrow and how to step out of it; and why broken plans, traffic jams, and even a snapped hair clip are small rehearsals for adaptability. If we can practice unhooking in the little moments, we become steadier when the big moments arrive. Along the way, we tackle common misreads of “no-self,” explain why context and teachers matter, and share the mustard seed lesson that proves no house is untouched by loss. This conversation isn’t a command to care less; it’s a toolkit for caring better. Timing and tact matter when someone is raw, and philosophy without heart can wound. So we advocate for gentle exposure, daily practice, and using Buddhist insights to prepare the mind rather than trying to bend the world. The goal is simple and demanding: feel fully, avoid getting stuck, and let acceptance deepen love instead of erasing it. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review so others can find these tools. What small practice will you try today? Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    56 min

  8. 10/17/2025

    Ep. 29 - Dead Buddhas

    FAN MAIL - Send us a comment or a topic suggestion Missed us? We’re back with fresh momentum, an international precept ceremony under our belt, and a major access upgrade: live Zoom captions so students can follow teachings in their own language. We share how opening our doors wider reshapes practice—removing excuses, tightening community bonds, and letting curiosity turn into daily discipline no matter where you live. A listener’s question sparks the heart of the conversation: Are there living Buddhas, and would we know them? What makes a bodhisattva different from the rest of us who have Buddha nature? We unpack the meanings of Buddha (original nature and the historical Shakyamuni), the role of vows in Mahayana, and why waiting for enlightenment before helping others is a trap. Instead, we explore how to embody compassion and right conduct now, so the spirit of the bodhisattvas shows up in ordinary life—emails, families, and crowded schedules included. We also address a subtle danger: turning profound teachings into slogans. Calling Buddha “living” risks reducing the unborn to the realm of coming and going. Misreading emptiness as a void can feed complacency or nihilism, and spiritual ego loves to hide behind big words. Our antidote is simple and demanding: share only what you truly know, lift only what you can carry, and ask for help when the load is heavy. If each person offers a spoonful, the eleventh person eats. Practice becomes portable—like a tent you fold and move to higher ground as your understanding matures. Join us for a grounded, practical, and compassionate exploration of Buddha nature, bodhisattva vows, and the everyday moves that keep the path alive. If this resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and share the episode with a friend who could use a clear, kind nudge toward practice today. Support the show Dr. Ruben Lambert can be found at wisdomspring.com Ven. MyongAhn Sunim can be found at soshimsa.org

    48 min
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5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

What we do?Once a week we take a look at the going-ons of the world and say something about ‘em.The goal?None, really. Just trying to make heads and tails of the great world roar of Ooommmmmm. Why?To try ‘n keep a modicum of personal sanity. And stay off both the meds and the cool aid.The point? Points are sharp and therefore violent. We just go around, and round….and round.Disclaimer:The views, perspectives, and humor of the speakers and guests of this podcast do not necessarily represent the those of any associated organizations, businesses, or groups, social, religious,cultural or otherwise. The entirety of the podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Topics discussed and views expressed do not constitute medical advice. As the saying goes “Opinions are like bellybuttons, everybody’s got one”.

Information

  • Creator
    MyongAhn Sunim & Dr. Ruben Lambert
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The World Through Zen Eyes Podcast
  • Show Website
    The World Through Zen Eyes Podcast