by SJZC Administrator | Aug 28, 2016
One of my most deeply rooted, and least helpful, habits was berating myself when I thought I had said or done something “wrong.” At one point I stumbled across a loving-kindness meditation in Ezra Bayda’s Beyond Happiness (see below.) I began...
by SJZC Administrator | Jul 7, 2016
Reminding Me A vulture circles. Clouds play chase, then bumper cars. Bees hunting nectar, intensely. A hot sun dismissed by a wistful wind. Sparks dance while flames laugh, Reminding me – Who stopped time today. – Rich...
by SJZC Administrator | Dec 7, 2015
Sangha Member Post: Most of the time I live as though life is a problem…like there are issues I need to solve. Of course the alternative, and the focus of Zen, is that life is a gift…and being fully in the present allows us to experience the joy of that...
by SJZC Administrator | Sep 3, 2015
Sangha Member Post: Being present has seen many stages in my practice. There was the early awareness stage when I first became aware of all the mental noise. It was quite shocking. The next stage was dominated by a sense of being trapped in a thick layer of cotton. I...
by SJZC Administrator | Aug 24, 2015
Sangha Member Post: It was a little before sunrise in the Great Vow Zen Monastery forest. I was sitting on a bench that had become a usual haunt over the week of meditation. Shortly after sitting down 2 owls started calling in the forest. I couldn’t decide if they...
by SJZC Administrator | Jul 14, 2015
Sangha Member Post: This Sunday we talked about metta so I thought I would share my practice. If you are new to metta the idea is to “offer metta” first to yourself, then to a loved one, then to a neutral acquaintance, and then to that difficult person. I...
by SJZC Administrator | Jun 28, 2015
Sangha Member post: This is my shorthand reminder as I bump along through the day. Agenda represents ego me (or little self) that has opinions about the way ‘I’ want things to go. Rather than wait for the world to get a clue, I take a breath and mental...
by SJZC Administrator | May 23, 2015
Sangha Member Post: With Zen practice, sometimes I find myself just going through the motions; sometimes I feel a peaceful integration; and sometimes I get an enlightened glimpse of living. Yesterday while doing the evening dishes a question popped up…What would it...
by SJZC Administrator | Feb 12, 2015
(a derivative of the 4 great bodhisattva vows) Daily activities are numberless, I vow free them from my judgements, ambitions, fears, and expectations with awareness and a commitment to discovering and sharing compassion and loving kindness with all. Delusions are...
by Abby Mushin Terris | Nov 3, 2014
This is a very brief description of what is meant by mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. If you want a full presentation there are many wonderful works of popular scholarship on this topic, several of which I list at the end of this piece. Also Google is an...
