Zen Practice: Methods, Pitfalls, Awakenings starts Sunday March 2nd at 10am-11:30am. 

This is a seven-week intensive program (March 2nd to April 13th) which will meet Sundays from 10am-11:30am in the Buddha for You Meditation Hall. We want people who are willing to commit to seven weeks of showing up. This is not a class where people can simply drop in and out. MUST Register in advance at admin@dharmabumtemple.org

“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.” ― Dogen Zenji (1200-53)

The foundation of Zen practice opens us into the process of discovering our ‘Unborn’ mind, our essential heart/mind, which was never born, never dies. Zen meditation offers a way of seeing the seamless relationship of ‘self’ and ‘other’ in present time awareness, which opens one to deeper and less obstructed avenues of life experience and moments of Awakening.

Each class will have sessions for Zen meditation, commentary of Zen View and time for Q & A on ways to integrate Zen in your daily life. Zen class themes and topics include: Awakening and satori, Paramita practice, Cultivating tanden breathing, navigating negative emotions/ trauma, impermanence and Buddha Nature, what are Zen koans and their purpose, retreat preparations etc.

The program will be led by Ken Small. Ken is a lay Zen Buddhist meditation teacher who has practiced in the Rinzai Zen tradition since the 1970's and subsequently in Tibetan Vajrayana and Dzogchen tradition. Ken teaches in a direct, engaging and at times humorous style to bring the teachings alive in your daily life. He has taught Zen, meditation and the Wisdom Traditions globally in the United States, Mexico and Europe.