Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin
Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva.
Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, then from 2002-2016 worked intensively with Danan Henry Roshi, founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver and a Kapleau Roshi Dharma Heir as well as a Diamond Sangha Dharma Master.
Rafe received full lay ordination in 2009, and in 2012 received inka—recognition of his successful completion of the Diamond Sangha/ Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, along with authorization to begin teaching. In 2016 he received full Dharma Transmission as an independent Zen teacher.
An award-winning author and storyteller whose work has been cited in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and USA Today, Rafe has a master’s degree in English literature and literary criticism and is a recipient of both national and state awards, including the Empire State Award for the body of his work. His writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Parabola, The Sun, and Inquiring Mind, among other journals of religion and myth. He has given talks at Zen and Dharma Centers around the US and Canada, as well as such venues as the American Museum of Natural History, Zuni Pueblo, and The Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story.
His most recent books are A Zen Life of Buddha (Sumeru 2022), The Brave Little Parrot (Wisdom Publications, 2023) and A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas (Sumeru, 2023).
Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin
The Buddha's Great Enlightenment
Recorded December 6, 2025.
December 8th is the traditional date on the Mahayana (Zen Buddhist) calendar of the Buddha's profound Enlightenment. Sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree after a long night of zazen that capped 6 years of ferocious effort, the previously sheltered ex-prince, Siddhartha Gautama, so deeply troubled by his head-on collision with impermanence, the sheer injustice of it -- finally got to the bottom of it all. After touching the Earth, he glanced up at the Morning Star and fully, completely Awoke. A Morning Star now sat beneath the Bodhi Tree. "Wonder of wonders," he exclaimed, stunned by his realization. "All living beings are Buddhas, fully endowed with wisdom and virtue. Only their ancient, unconscious habit of self-centered thinking prevents their realization of this!" The Path had been re-opened. Homage to Shakyamuni!
In today's teisho at Endless Path Zendo, Roshi Martin tells the story of the Buddha’s great enlightenment, and comments on it from a very natural perspective, as well as looking into what it means for us today.
Awake! Rejoice!
Photo: Buddha's Enlightenment Altar, Endless Path Zendo, Rohatsu 2025.
Referenced:
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JUST RELEASED: Finding Your Buddha Smile: Coming Home (To What Zen Is Really All About) by Rafe Martin (Sumeru Books, 2025)
- Books by Roshi Rafe Martin
- Talks on YouTube
- More information at endlesspathzen.org