Dear friends, Please note that Wednesday, March 11th, will be the last in-person Wednesday practice session at our Zendo until April 15th, and Sunday, March 15th, will be the last in-person Sunday practice session at our Zendo until April 19th, 2026. I will be in Asheville, North Carolina, through April 12th, 2026, and you can join me on Wednesdays and Sundays on Zoom. I look forward to continuing our practice from Asheville on Zoom. Please check the calendar for any changes. […]
Category Archives: Meditation
Zen Practice from 9:00 am to 12 pm, Saturday, March 7, 2026
A morning of Zen meditation practice from 9:00 am to 12 pm, Saturday, March 7, 2026. Join us in person at our Zendo or on Zoom for several sitting and walking meditations, with a break every hour. Tea will be served. Bring your own cushion or use ours. Chairs are also provided. Please RSVP; space is limited to 12 participants at the Zendo (unlimited attendance on Zoom). Please consider joining us at Siesta Beach at 6:30 am for our half-hour […]
Sitting like your hair is on fire
I have often said that our meditation practice is “sitting like our hair is on fire”. What does this mean? Baring witness in your Zazen, you continually add the fuel of deluded views and thinking to the fire of “Don’t Know.” Then the Lotus blooms in the fire of “Don’t Know”.
Legacy of The Record of Linji
Linji’s Enduring Influence in Ordinary Zen Sangha Practice. https://licentiapoetica.com/legacy-of-the-record-of-linji-bc1cf909190d
Beyond Ideas
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, The world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other Doesn’t make any sense. –Rumi Picking up the pieces As I get ready to head back to Sarasota from Asheville, North Carolina, on the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene, I am humbled to see how a gentle river of humanity has risen […]
Genjokoan and the four noble truths
I have some favorite writings that I return to over and over again. One of them is by Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, who is known for his great prose and his flowing, inspirational expressions of the Dharma. Genjokoan’s first four lines remind me of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. GENJŌKŌAN (1) When all dharmas are the Buddha Dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, life and death, buddhas and living beings. (2) When the ten thousand […]
News – Chong An Sunim is coming to OZS in May
‘Ignorance, intelligence, and insight – how to obtain who we are and find our true path.’ A talk with Chong An Sunim on Thursday evening, May 8, 2025, followed on Friday, May 9th, 2025, with a Zen Day at OZS. Thursday’s Dharma Talk will be from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Friday’s Zen Day will be from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. OZS is located at 4690 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, Florida 34232. The suggested donation for the talk is $10.00 […]
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 […]
Sangha Practice for New Years Day
Join us for a sangha celebration to welcome the New Year. New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1, 2025, 7:00 pm We will start with Zen meditation practice at 7:00 pm and end with celebrating the New Year with our community of practitioners. Please join us. You are welcome to bring a snack or treat to share, we will provide Tea. Please use the contact form to let us know you will be coming. All the Best, Abbot Will Rauschenberger
Wind Blows, Old Songs End, New Ones Begin
The Song of Liberation… Upcoming events: Winter Solstice Celebration at Siesta Public Beach. Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 6:30 AM New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Join us for our Evening Meditation, Dharma Talk, and Sangha Celebration. 7:00 PM.