

iT WAS THERE. IT WAS GONE. IT CAME BACK. NOT! NOW CHANTING RETURNS FOR GOOD! (DEPENDING...LOL)
Can we find in our hearts the capacity, in a moment, to wake up? In a moment of listening, not judging what's being heard, not agreeing with what's being heard, not going along with what's being heard, but to find in the very listening itself, in the very effort to come together and find some truth outside of doctrine, outside of institution, outside of spiritual movement, outside of belief in someone else. To have absolute faith in one's own capacity just here, just now to awaken again and again.
--Zen Master Dae Gak, March 2008
Zen simply means meditation. It is the practice of inquiry, the act of studying the self, of looking into the matter of our lives, of investigating the fundamental questions that arise from our sentience: Who are we? Why are we here? Why do we suffer? What is our correct role in this world and our correct relationship with others? How can we truly help?
In keeping these questions alive and open without containing them in tidy answers, we awaken to seeing things as they truly are, which is to say as constant change and flux. And in this openness arises our original nature, which is compassionate, concerned with alleviating the suffering of all beings.
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The Zen Fellowship of Dayton offers an open door to all who wish to investigate the path of zazen.
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