Zen in Sarasota
Our Zen group has been meeting every Sunday night at 7 pm for the past 10 years to explore the practice of Zen Buddhism and zazen. We welcome anyone, on a drop-in, drop-out basis. We read from texts written by masters and discuss all things Buddhist or Zen, then we finish with meditation and chant.
NOTE: We have suspended in-person meditations during the pandemic. We now meet exclusively via Zoom If you want to join us please fell out the Contact Us form on this site. Come join us -- rest and search for the inner peace that keeps us all in balance. We meet on the campus of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota (3975 Fruitville Road, Sarasota). You can email us using the contact form on this site. 滅他 Be well, stay safe and live happy. |
The wilderness inside
The interior life is a place of the wild – uncivilized and unpredictable, giving us fevers, symptoms, and moments of beauty, Yet within the appearances of chaos are both a richness and deep level of orderliness. Like a national park the interior world does not do anything- it is the treasure-house of life. It can’t be strip-mined for our conscious purposes, the only request it makes of us is that we love it, and, in return, it responds to our attention.
To learn to attend well is to discover our place in the natural order. It brings an element of consistency and harmony to our lives, and gives us a story about who we are. To learn to attend is the beginning. To learn to attend more and more deeply is the path itself. |
Fishing with a needle
There was a fisherman in ancient China who for forty years used a straight needle to fish with. When someone asked him, “Why don’t you use a bent hook, like everyone else?” The fisherman replied, “You can catch ordinary fish with a bent hook, but I will catch a great fish with my straight needle.”
Word of this came to the ear of the Emperor, so he went to see this fool of a fisherman for himself. The Emperor asked the fisherman, “What are you fishing for with your straight needle?” The fisherman answered, “I am fishing for you, Emperor!” |