An Invitation to Deep Listening and Authentic Sharing
Purpose & Intention
Based on an ongoing Community Practice established by our Wandering Ox dojo in the UK, we invite the broader Chosei Zen community to join together on Saturday, November 21, 2026.
The intention of this gathering is to create a spacious environment where we can deepen both our individual and collective practice through the simple, profound act of being fully present with one another. This gathering offers an opportunity to strengthen our sense of community while supporting insight, compassion, and healing through deep listening and authentic sharing.
In gathering, we come together in a spirit of openness, respect, and confidentiality—not to debate, fix, or advise, but to listen deeply and speak honestly from our own direct experience.
Framing Reflection & Prompts
To frame this inaugural community practice for the wider Chosei Zen community, Andy Robins Roshi offers the following reflection:
"This morning I opened the Chosei WhatsApp group and found myself sitting with a photograph of the shodō from Spring Green Sesshin.
As I looked, a question came to mind:
1. What do I see when I look at the shodō? and
2. What might someone else see?
A fortnight ago, at the end of our Wandering Ox sesshin at Roselidden in Cornwall, we gathered around the circular farmhouse table in the little kitchen. It is something of a tradition. Practice is over, but somehow another kind of practice begins.
We tell stories.
This time, the stories wandered out into the world.
We sat and listened.
There was nothing to solve around that table. But through one person’s story, a world most of us could not see became a little more visible.
It left me wondering:
3. What else can’t I see from where I am standing?
Across oceans and time zones, let’s recreate our Cornish kitchen table and listen to one another’s stories. After US Zazen on 21 November, I'd like us to make the table a little bigger.
Not necessarily the big stories.
The ordinary ones.
The uncomfortable ones.
The hopeful ones.
The stories of what it is like to be here, wherever here happens to be.
You don’t need to prepare anything.
Just come with whatever daily life is presenting, along with a cup of tea or coffee.
Perhaps we begin by looking.
Perhaps we continue by listening."
During our time together, we will move through the questions above.
Preparation & Joining
Please bring a cup of tea to participate in our shared opening ritual of three sips. The session will be Saturday, November 21, 2026 at 7:30-8:30 am CT right after Daily Zazen in the US. We’ll join another link that you can register to receive by email with the button below.
All are welcome!