A Dharma talk (Sanskrit) or Dhamma talk (Pali) or Dharma sermon (Japanese: , Chinese: ) is a public discourse on Buddhism by a Buddhist teacher.
In TheravÃÂda Buddhism, the study of Buddhist texts and listening to Dhamma talks by monks or teachers are common and important practices.
In some Zen traditions a Dharma talk may be referred to as a teisho (). However, according to Taizan Maezumi and Bernard Glassman, a teisho is "a formal commentary by a Zen master on a koan or Zen text. In its strictest sense, teisho is non-dualistic and is thus distinguished from a Dharma talk, which is a lecture on a Buddhist topic." In this sense, a teisho is thus a formal Dharma talk. Vietnamese master ThÃÂch Nhất Hạnh says the following about Dharma talks: