News and updates – 10/1/23

Good Friends, Our ‘Silent Retreat in Nature‘ is getting closer and if you haven’t registered yet, I encourage you to do so! I want to especially congratulate those who have signed up for the precepts ceremony. The ceremony will be at the end of the retreat and I will be interviewing each participant during the day. When your time comes, someone will let you know. Nothing scary about the interview, just want to have a moment with each of the […]

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The Seeking Mind

Good to be back after a month off! Dharma Talk for 9-3-2023 All-day Silent Retreat At Myakka River State Park

All-day Silent Retreat At Myakka River State Park

Saturday, November 18, 2023 – Join us at Myakka River State Park for the Ordinary Zen Sangha all-day silent retreat! The natural setting surrounded by the beauty of nature will help us to relax, reflect, and renew ourselves. We will start promptly at 10:00 am (arrive early). There will be several sitting and walking meditations during the day, Dharma Talks, and a vegetarian/vegan potluck lunch. Tea will be served. The retreat will be over at 5:00 pm. There will also […]

Hui-neng leads us to water, but we must drink it.

Our study of the platform sutra only leads us to our own minds, nowhere else, no other Buddha. ‘Each of us must practice ourselves. No one else can do it for us. Nor can any text take our place‘ It isn’t that the teaching is direct or not, sudden or gradual. ‘The teaching is simply so. When we finally understand it, it appears direct because it is right in front of us. When we don’t understand it, it appears indirect […]

What Is It Like To Be On Retreat?

Fran Kaplan shares her retreat experience at the Springwater Center for Meditative Inquiry in upstate New York. All Day Retreat in Nature, Saturday, November 19, 2022! Join Ordinary Zen Sangha for our all-day retreat at Myakka River State Park. Mark your calendars!

The goose that wasn’t.

The goose that wasn’t. A Magician is caught up in her own magic trick! Dharma Talks from our retreat on Saturday, Oct. 2. 2021.

Buddha’s Birthday Retreat

OZS – Buddha’s Birthday Retreat Saturday, May 22, 2021, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm – A day to pause, renew, and strengthen our practice. The Retreat/workshop will be on Zoom and in person at our Zendo. Based on recent studies, according to the C.D.C., it will be safe for those of us who have been fully vaccinated to meet in person. 7:00 am to 7:30 am – Our day starts with Meditation Practice on Siesta Key Beach (weather permitting). Directions: […]