CHOSEI ZEN BLOG
Okyo as Zen Training
The objective of practicing okyo is to change the way you vibrate. If you change the way you vibrate, you can change the way others and your environment vibrate as well.
Origin of Chosei Zen Shakuhachi
The reason that repetition is the best way to master any martial art, because it will lead to perfection of desired skills, since incorrectly performing a skill wastes energy and is inefficient.
Here, Read This
Tanouye Roshi looked at me, shook his head, and said, “You read too much.” Then, he surprised me handing me a book that he had been reading and saying, “Here, read this.”
Hlala Apha: Sitting here now
In Xhosa, an indigenous language spoken in South Africa, the word apha means “this location”, “this place” or “being here right now”.
Wandering Ox: A First Sesshin For Chosei Zen's Newest Dojo
Together we experienced a sesshin with a 'pioneer' feel, where nature whipped, dripped and crept around and through us. It was elemental.
Kiai: Expressions In Training
As I turn on the light switch, energy in the form of electricity flows to the bulb, which manifests as a bright light. The same is true for us.
Kiai: Expressions in Training
The lessons are all there and available, I just have to be sensitive and present for when they come up.
Flipping A Coin With No Heads Or Tails
And then my world flipped, just like a coin that has consistently landed heads up suddenly landing on tails.
Why We Train in the Virtual Dojo
The reason that the Virtual Dojo can function as a Zen dojo is because the human body is the real Zen dojo.
Zazen Strapped To A Locomotive
There came a moment during the sitting when I was no longer in my tatami room with a panoramic view of our prairie and oak savanna. Instead, I felt myself strapped to the front of a locomotive speeding down the track toward a black tunnel.
Reflections on Spring Sesshin
It’s hard to describe in words what it feels like when a group of people ceases to be made up of individuals, and starts breathing, living, and acting as one big loving heart and hara.
90-Day Training: A New Spring
Sit 30 minutes and do something vigorous that you enjoy to move your body everyday. See how it changes your life.
Fall Sesshin 2021 - Spring Green Dojo
“How do we use training in Spring Green to prepare people for the severe limitations in resources that the climate crisis is bringing closer to our doors?”
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.
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.
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?