CHOSEI ZEN BLOG
Realizing We Were Made for Each Other
I realized that it was a way I had been searching for without even knowing it.
Hexagrams, Take Two
During spring keishin in April, we experimented for the second time with using hexagrams as a tool for intensive Zen training. We’re sharing some of the results to give you a flavor of our collective experience.
Remembering Why We're Here
We train because we remember our interconnectedness and take responsibility for tuning this body and whatever we’re sending out into the world.
Winter in the Virtual Dojo
With the support of the group, we all pushed beyond our limitations. For myself, I can report going beyond fatigue to a place of light and love and life.
Work in Progress
The rock that you cannot move or project that is beyond your grasp will teach you much more than the one that is within your known limits.
Nothing Like a Good Bonfire
“When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”
Being Your Own Jiki
The Virtual Dojo that arises from moment to moment is dependent on students being their own fierce jikis and supporting others to do the same.
A Tale of Shugyo
Greene Roshi weaves a beautiful story about a student of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) into a timeless tale of Shugyo.
Things Are Different At Night
I’m walking down to the ceramics kiln for my 3 am firing shift. In the circle of my headlamp’s light there are all these beautiful white flowers. Wow – how come I didn’t notice them before?
We are All Zen Women
Like Zen women of thousands of years ago, we sat zazen after waking up in our own beds, before and after making our families’ meals and attending to our children and pets. Our training became our daily life and our daily life became a way of practice.
The Virtual Dojo
Heather Meikyo Scobie Roshi tells her story about the Chosei Zen Virtual Dojo.
At Death; at 49 Days Later
There’s a meaningful phrase for the moment of death: when breath becomes air. I watched this moment for both of my parents – there is a breath and then there is no more. But there is also a lingering, something like the glowing embers in a dying beach fire.
The Vibration Story
Kushner Roshi tells a story that illustrates how the way we vibrate affects the people around us.
The First Sesshin in Spring Green
Greene Roshi describes the first sesshin at the Spring Green Dojo in May/June 2007.
Blast Off!
This online sesshin brought depth to my felt experience of the universe being freshly created moment by moment. With a meditation cushion, internet-enabled laptop, and the roof over my head, I created a dojo and a sangha, and they created me.
A Dojo of One
In Zen, you train alone. And that has been true long before we had the self-isolation needed during a pandemic.
The Inji Story
This Zen story asks us to explore what it means to be a leader or a follower.
Loss and Revelation
More often than not, the experience of loss feels like an offense. It attacks our sense of self, leaves us feeling empty, and can even paralyze us.