Service
What is Zen Practice?
Zen is a Buddhist tradition for spiritual and human development that focuses its practice on our daily lives, our careers, our relationships, roles, and tasks, our play. Zen challenges the way we see ourselves and the world, guiding us into deep exploration, a path of discovery, and intimate states of awareness. The essential practice at every stage of Zen development is meditation. People come to Ancient Oaks Zen Community for expert guidance on how to develop a powerful spirituality that sustains us in good and difficult times, guides us toward what is meaningful, and nurtures concentration, inner peace, emotional strength, a compassionate character, and discerning wisdom.
Creations are numberless – I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible – I vow to transform them.
Reality is boundless – I vow to perceive it.
The Enlightened Way is unsurpassable – I vow to embody it.
~Dogen Zenji~
Service As A Way Of Being
The 8th Core Practice of the Zen Garland Order is to embody “Service as a way of being.” This means living with care and empathic connection every moment, treating everything as our very selves. The spirit of this is “no separation,” such deep immersion in our living that there is no server, no one served, and no service – just authentic, natural action. Of course, this is aspirational and the ground of why and how we practice being.
A measure of a person’s enlightenment is how they treat others.
~Koho Daishi~
Hope Evergreen Counseling
Memphis, TN
Hope Evergreen LLC’s mission is to provide high-quality counseling services to individuals, couples, and families who are experiencing emotional or psychological difficulties. Our motto is “Planting seeds of hope towards healing.”
The MISS Foundation Selah Carefarm
We are directly participating in the work of Dr. Joanne Kyouji Cacciatore, a Priest and Dharma Holder in the Zen Garland Order and founder of the MISS foundation and the Selah Care Farm, which provide Bereavement Care & Counseling and a sanctuary and community for families who have suffered the traumatic loss of a close loved one.
