Groups > Buddhism

Zen or Chan is sitting or practice. Dhyana is the Sanskrit term. In Soto Zen we say 'just sitting'. The Great Japanese Zen teacher in the Soto Tradition would be Dogen Zenji.

Rinzai Tradition uses Koans, or Koan practice (and of course sitting meditation), this has to be done with a teacher. You can sit in meditation on your own, if you want to do 'Zen' meditation you need a teacher in one school or another and sometimes both.

This is great to bring this here for all can see and learn from all of us..

Help people to learn to and not to judge us either

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen Wikipedia's page is excellent I think, for a History & explanation. On my first post I gave an clumsy explanation of Zen and your title say experience. So briefly; I was interested in Zen in the seventies. I listened to Alan Watts and read D. T. Suzuki's Zen & Japanese Culture. I also read Soetzu Yangi's Unknown Craftsman, that through an art teacher. Also my Japanese friends in the San Fernando Valley and going to Little Tokyo in downtown LA. My hippy phase helped too.

So in 1979 I went down to ZCLA, I took their Zen for beginners course and joined. I joined in a number of short Sesshins or retreats and did alot of samu as a carpenter at both ZCLA & Zen Mountain Center (now Yokoji Zen Mountain Center). As things evolved I became more involved at the Mountain Center. I have done a couple of long Sesshins at Mt Center.

My wife is not a practitioner of Zen and I'm usually working so I have limited time at Mt. Center.

I have tried to start sitting groups here in Ventura and I have not been successful maybe from lack of effort and possibly lack of interest in the community. There is a Vietnamese Zen Mission in East Ventura and once in a while I will visit them. They are very nice people and generous too but it's a cultural thing, and they speak Vietnamese most of the time.

So I sit in the seza posture, that's kneeling with a bench under my butt. Twice a day if possible, once at least. I chant the verse of the Robe even if I don't put on my rakusu.

I'd like to retire at the Zen Center and if I achieve enough I will take up the Robe and become a monk. Monks can be married in the Japanese tradition (as apposed to Chinese & Korean tradition of unmarried monks & priests).

My experience.

Our priest can marry us in Japanese tradition...

We sit on our knee's we have 6 temples in USA

Zen Center or the White Plumb Asangha marries people. In Japan Buddhists mostly buried people and Shinto married people. So there's changes as the Dharma comes to the U.S.