Zen Practice
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.
The true person is not anyone in particular; but like the deep blue sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.
~Dogen Zenji~
Why Zen?
What makes Zen unique is how it grounds the most complex questions and dilemmas of human being into practical and profound encounters with daily life. The Zen training hall becomes our daily life, our way of being in the world with ourselves, our intimate circle, our work, and communities. Zen is a way of being characterized by authenticity, practicality, compassion, flexibility, spontaneity, and wisdom. A wonderful aspect of Zen is its embrace of humor and humility in the face of the limits of what we can know and control in life.
To study theBuddha Way is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self
To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.
~Dogen Zenji~
The Path
We provide multiple levels of training programs serving beginners to advanced practitioners, including initiation, ordination, and teacher training. We offer our curriculum in person and online through personal discussion, classes, workshops, regularly scheduled practice times, retreats, and social service projects. Zen Garland teachers are thoroughly trained, caring, responsible, and devoted to their students’ growth.
The Eight Core Practices
All Zen Garland Order practices are meant to awaken practitioners to the multiple perspectives of reality, “boundlessness” (sunyata), and to guide them to manifest that realization with authenticity and integrity in their personal lives.
“Seeing into the nature of things” (kensho”) reveals the identity and shared relationships of all creation, including our seemingly individual selves.
How to Begin
Introduction to Zen Practice
By appointment. Please fill out the contact form or call us.