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 Makes a Mistake
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Recorded 08/01/2026.
What does it mean to be human? Does the form of having two feet, legs, eyes, and ears, a nose, brain, and heart sum it up? If so there are billions of us. But if by “human” we mean someone wise and compassionate, not driven by greed, anger, ignorance, or fear; someone who can be counted on when the going gets rough, then that number may be rather small. What does it take to be or become such a genuinely human, human being?
The Buddha in a distant past life was on the path of becoming fully human — that is, he was on the Way of the Bodhisattva — when a wrong choice led to an unexpected life. What did he do? How did he resolve it? What did he learn and how does knowing any of this help us? Give a listen and you’ll see why the image of a whale accompanies this teisho.
Books:
- A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas -- Rafe Martin
- Carnivore Minds -- G.A. Bradshaw
- The Three Pillars of Zen -- Philip Kapleau
- The Poetry and Prose of William Blake -- David Erdman, ed.
Photo of John Perry sperm whale sculpture by Rafe Martin
- Books by Roshi Rafe Martin
- Talks on YouTube
- More information at endlesspathzen.org