Zen Buddhism emphasizes meditation as the means to study ourselves and understand who we truly are. The Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Buddhism (MRO) was founded in 1980 by American Zen Master John Daido Loori, Roshi. The MRO is an organization of associated temples, practice centers, and sitting groups in the United States and abroad. Daido Roshi is the abbot of the MRO's main house, Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, NY, and Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei is resident teacher at the MRO's New York City affiliate, Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple. The MRO seeks to provide modern training that integrates spiritual practice with daily life. Dharma talks are an essential aspect of Zen training, and the talks offered here were given at both Zen Mountain Monastery and the Zen Center of New York City.In the modern world, we are encouraged to be special, to be different and stand out from everyone else. Zen Buddhism has a different approach, encouraging us instead to be "nothing special". Daido Roshi declares that our lives are fine exactly the way they are; Zen is not about adding anything to our lives, it's about seeing the inherent perfection we already possess. Zen practice is a process of getting to that perfection, a means of uncovering the layers of conditioning, from families, schools, the media, that prevent us from seeing who we really are. But once we understand our true nature, we don't need to hide in a monastery or become a hermit. Zen is not about separating ourselves from the world around us, Zen is about manifesting compassion in our everyday lives, whether we are talking to our boss, planting a garden, or raising a child. The more we open up to our true nature and experience life with moment-to-moment awareness, the more we see that being ordinary is something truly extraordinary.