Washing Your Bowl: The Supreme Meal: WPP2025 Sesshin Day 1

In this teaching from the first full day of the Winter Practice Period Sesshin, Roshi Joan Halifax explores the profound wisdom found in everyday practice through the lens of the koan “Wash Your Bowl”. Drawing on personal stories of her early training and the teachings of ancestors who practiced during times of great upheaval, she illuminates how true practice means working with “the ingredients we have been given” in each moment. Roshi emphasizes that awakening isn’t found in transcending daily life but in meeting each activity—whether washing bowls or putting down a zafu—with complete attention and care. Through stories of her teachers Bernie Glassman and Kobun Chino Roshi, she reminds us that practice is about becoming transparent to ourselves while finding humor and humanity in our continuous “failures” on the path. To access the resources page for this program, please sign up by clicking here.