by SJZC Administrator | Dec 23, 2024
Discerning light in the dark and dark in the light. This is the season where we can especially appreciate this way of living beyond opposites of light and dark, good and bad. We might think of them as an either/or proposition, but when we are free to the true balance...
by SJZC Administrator | Dec 16, 2024
The precepts. Beyond precept study, reflection, and discussion, we emphasize the practice of zazen to clarify the precepts. Why? The precepts are about living in integrity, harmoniously, in tune. But what are we tuning with? We are tuning with respect to our deeper...
by SJZC Administrator | Dec 2, 2024
‘If you spend your whole life not leaving the monastery, not talking for ten years or for five years, no-one will be able to call you a mute. Do not wonder whether not-talking might be vacuous. Entry is one monastery. Getting out is one monastery. The way of the birds...
by SJZC Administrator | Nov 18, 2024
We hear the phrase “dharma gate” often in the Zen tradition, but what does it refer to? Is there a gate somewhere that we need to find and what does it let on to? “Dharma” of course refers to the teachings in the Buddha tradition. The teachings refer to all things and...
by SJZC Administrator | Nov 11, 2024
Conditions are always changing. The larger cycles of war and political disruption, marked by three poisons, don’t seem to change, though. Greed, hostility, and ignorance are as innate in the human condition as is generosity, compassion, and awake awareness. It’s up to...
