It was October, 2nd, 2020, in São Paulo, Brasil. I had been doing online yoga meditation with some friends from Salvador, in the northeast part of the country. But, I was at a crossroads in my life and wanted something different, so I decided to search online for Zen meditation. I clicked on one of the search results, and all of a sudden, a beautiful homepage opened up, with warm colours that immediately spoke to my heart. There were all the things that I love in Japanese art: clean lines, space between things, and especially, room for silence … for listening to the flowers bloom. So I registered for training at Chosei Zen!

Some days later, a lot of other surprises began to unfold. First, I saw an ad for shakuhachi training in the Virtual Dojo. I was truly amazed, because this was the instrument that I had been improvising with every morning before meditation. I had begun my shakuhachi training 40 years ago in Brasil with Yuyu Yamaoka Sensei – who said women do not play this instrument, but he would teach me anyway! Yamaoka Sensei, with whom I still practice once a week, introduced me to the subtleties of traditional Japanese music. But, we never talked much about improvisation and using shakuhachi for Zen training. So, it has been really important for me to learn from and play with Joe Pittelli Sensei in this way. I realized that it was a way I had been searching for without even knowing it.

Since starting, I’ve joined Daily Zazen on most days and many of the other offerings in the Virtual Dojo, which have resulted in many meaningful experiences, including the Roshi talks, the Tai-chi training, the cleverest webinars, the Okyo chanting, and, of course, the intensive training. I feel so much affinity for and gratitude to the Chosei Zen community. Let’s support Chosei Zen in reaching all the people that they were made for in every corner of the world.