My mission in founding OZS some 5 years ago was to provide a supportive environment in which we can directly experience the essential wisdom teachings of the Buddha through the timeless, ageless practice of what is called Zen, Chan, or Seon. Ordinary Zen Sangha (OZS) has been committed to bringing the benefits of this wisdom practice into our ordinary lives, just as they are, in this place and time. In our current situation, a time in which the whole world […]
Category Archives: Meditation
4/5/20 – Online Practice Session at OZS and Won Kwang Sa Temple
Two Zoom Sessions this Sunday starting at 9:00 am… Sunday, April 5, 2020 – Online Practice Session at OZS and Dharma Talk at Won Kwang Sa Temple Dear Sangha, OZS is inviting you to two scheduled Zoom meetings this Sunday, April 5, 2020. We are changing the start time for this Sunday to 9:00 AM and adding a second Dharma talk with Chong An Sunim at 10:00 AM from Won Kwang Sa Temple in Budapest, Hungary. We had a wonderful […]
COVID-19 response at OZS
“When the crowded Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person on the boat remained calm and centered, it was enough. It showed the way for everyone to survive.” –Thich Nhat Hanh OZS is monitoring the COVID-19 situation as it unfolds and currently remains open for practice on Wednesday evening and Sunday morning. We are promoting handwashing and sanitation, as well as bowing as greeting in lieu of […]
Nail Down Your Meditation Practice
Tilopa was a mahasiddha, a great adept, who likely lived in the region of present-day West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh around the turn of the th century. Little is known about his life, but traditional biographies tell us that he was a cowherd and showed a natural inclination for meditation and mystical experiences. Over the course of his life he became a very experienced meditator with a profound understanding of the mind. Like many of the other famed mahasiddhas from […]
Making Clouds Disappear
When I was a child, I used to play a game with friends called “making the clouds disappear.” Days that clouds were scattered and puffy were ideal. We would each pick a cloud and focus all our energy on making it disappear, and sure enough, with patience, they would disappear! What was wonderful about the game was the experience of oneness, of sky, mind, space. It was the magic of active imagination! As adults, we intellectually might grasp that this […]