Friends, For the last few years, I have been taking the month of August off for some personal time. This year, it will be September. I will be in North Carolina from August 25, 2025, through September 28th, 2025. There will be no OZS Practice sessions during this time. Our in-person and Zoom practice sessions will continue in October. I will also be scheduling our yearly fall Silent Retreat at Myakka River State Park on a Saturday in November. I […]
Dharma Talk Videos
Dharma Talk videos on YouTube are from our practice sessions.
I have no words, a walk down the road of habit
I have no words. There’s nothing I can give you that you don’t already have. There’s nothing I can add to what you already are. So we use words because we’ve forgotten who we are in our ignorance. We walk down the road of habit energy, it drags us along like a chain, and we struggle. As we go down the path of getting to know ourselves, we discover that there are options for us that we didn’t think we […]
The meaning of Zazen
Day-to-day life is filled with chasing the self outside of the self, in relation to some other. The dis-ease, dissatisfaction, and loneliness of life can never be resolved by seeking outside of the self. Early Buddhist sutras say that to depend on others is to be unstable and that the foundation of the self is only the Self. Bearing witness is the self being actualized by the reality of life. This is true awakening to just this, as it is: […]
The Actuality Of Reality
Without a map, how does the monarch butterfly migrate through reality? Beyond definition lies the actual reality of our lives.
OZS News and Views – Fall 2026
Dear friends, We have been using a moktak (traditional Korean Buddhist percussive instrument) to keep rhythm and focus during chanting. While in Asheville this past week, I purchased this old Japanese mokugyo, or wooden fish drum, a Zen Temple relic. It has a lovely sound. May it continue to serve Bodhi in its new home! Sunday Morning – Practice Session OZS Meditation on Siesta Key Beach A flag lights your way! Join Ordinary Zen Sangha for Sunrise Zen Meditation practice […]
No Dogma, No Drama
Transmitting the Dharma. How many minds do you have?
All Problems Can Be Solved When They Are Small
Interdependent origination: suffering globally and personally.
Bearing Witness Is Bodhi
The non-outflow of the six perfections. The Six Perfections (or Pāramitās) are the core practices of the bodhisattva path.
Tracks Of The Ox,
A willful nature is hard to tame. A tangle of thorny bushes: the faint murmur of running water. But here and there are footprints—is this the right path?
The Stone Lions Roar
The first Picture of the 10 Ox Herding Pictures and cultivating the way through the practice of meditation.
Jumping Out Of The Nest And Taking Flight
Taking flight in your Zazen practice.