Tuesday Evening Study
Class is from 8-9pm Pacific Time, after zazen and a short break (you can arrive or leave any time). Click here to view the practice schedule. You are welcome to join our class series for free at any time, at any point in the series, and there is no need to register. Each class can be accessible and enjoyable even if you haven’t attended previous classes in a series. Missed a Class? Classes and Dharma Talks are almost always recorded; click here for recordings.
Our Bright Way Zen Lineage
Domyo will spend the fall Tuesday classes speaking about our Bright Way Zen lineage. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.
There is no assigned reading for this class, although there are links to some texts below that you might find it interesting to read concurrently with this series. There is also no fixed schedule for the topics because we will take our time with each subject and allow discussions to extend to the next class if there is lively conversation.
( Completed Classes (with links to recordings and resources):
9/1 – History of Our Soto Zen Lineage: Overview of our Soto Zen lineage from Bodhidharma to Keido Chisan Koho Zenji and Roshi Jiyu Kennett, including discussion of Sojiji monastery in Japan and Shasta Abbey in California. Includes 10-minute Youtube video of Sojiji monastery (click here), photos (click here), and audio of one of Roshi Kennett’s talks (click here). (Link to Video) (Link to Podcast)
9/8 – History of the Dharma Cloud Lineage: The Dharma Cloud lineage includes Sanghas established by Kyogen and Gyokuko Carlson and their students. We begin with Roshi Kennett and talk about the Carlson’s training, their move to Oregon, the establishment and evolution of Dharma Rain Zen Center, and end with some audio of one of Kyogen’s talks (click here for photos, click here for audio of Kyogen’s talk). (Link to Video) (Link to Podcast)
9/15 – Domyo’s Training: Domyo’s training as a lay person with Gyokuko, ordination, junior monk training (click here for photos). (Link to Video)(Link to Podcast)
9/22 – History of Bright Way Zen: Establishment of Westside Zen Circle in 2009, incorporation as Bright Way Zen, the evolution and mission of our Sangha. Will include pictures, as well as words from BWZ members who date back to the early days (click here for photos) (Link to Video) (Link to Podcast)
9/29 – The Trail Markers On Our Personal Zen Path: Our Sangha member Tyler leads a discussion about our personal Zen path and how our relationship to it changes over time. Using prompts from Dogen’s Uji and his experience reflecting on his Zen path while hiking a familiar trail in the woods, we examine our personal path and our lineage’s path, and the “trail markers” we use and have developed to guide our understanding of it. (Link to Video) (Link to Podcast)
10/6 – What Characterizes Our Dharma Cloud Lineage? An overview of twelve things that characterize our lineage. These are things we emphasize, value, or offer; we employ the “Dharma Rain” approach to everything, using the metaphor from the Lotus Sutra of the rain of Dharma (teaching/truth) falling equally on all the plants in the forest, from small herbs to giant trees, and each plant takes up just what it needs. Similarly, we honor each person’s unique path without judgement, and invite people to participate in whatever aspects of our offerings they want or need: Zazen, Precepts, Sangha, Vow, Dharma Study, Chanting & Ritual, Retreat & Sesshin, the Reality of Awakening, Samadhi Power and Karma Relationship as the two sides of practice, Priest and Monastic Training as an option, honoring Lay Practice as a complete path, and honoring the Dharma Transmission Lineage. (Link to Video)b (Link to Audio)
10/13 – The Importance of Sesshin In Our Zen Lineage. In this recording, Sangha holders Guzan and Jinryu discuss the important role of Sesshin in our Zen practice and invite fellow sangha members to speak to their experiences in Sesshin. (Link to Video) (Link to Audio)
10/20 – The Transmission of the Dharma: Authentic transmission of the Dharma through the generations requires teachers – lay or ordained – who have verified the truth through their own direct experience, and have demonstrated to their teacher that they embody the training through time and proximity. You can’t learn the essential matter of Zen from books, or even from wise peers. What is this about? (Link to Video) (Link to Audio)
10/27 – Vow and Paths of Practice & the Equality of Lay and Ordained: From the beginning, Buddhism has included both lay (or householder) and ordained/monastic practitioners. Each path is very different, but in our lineage both paths are regarded as completely legitimate ones if you wish to accomplish the Buddha Way. We will talk about the tension created by the existence of multiple paths of vow, but also the benefits.
(Link to Video) (Link to Audio)
Upcoming Classes (schedule subject to change):
11/3 – Sangha as Teacher: In our lineage, your relationships in Sangha are considered one of your most fertile fields of practice. This includes relationships with individuals, your sense of yourself within the community, facing social anxiety and other karmic relationship issues, gradually building trust and letting yourself be seen and known, serving and learning to be compassionate and patient with others, etc.
11/10 – The Role of Zen Teachers
Soto Zen and Koans
Ceremonies, Chanting, and Ritual
Our Primary Bodhisattvas: Manjushri, Kanzeon, Samantabhadra, Fudo, Jizo; how we relate to bodhisattvas; the role of devotion; openmindedness about in what sense bodhisattvas are “real”
The Relationship(s) Between Bright Way and the Rest of the Zen World
Practice in Everyday Life: Being ordained into your life; introducing enough form but also not standing in opposition to lay life; seeing everything as a venue for practice
Some texts you may enjoy reading concurrently:
The Basic Elements of Zen Practice: Teachings from Dharma Rain Zen Center. Includes essays by Kyogen and Gyokuko Carlson, Jiko Tisdale, and other Dharma Rain teachers. Click here for a pdf.
Carlson, Kyogen (Sallie Jiko Tisdale, editor). You are Still Here: Zen Teachings of Kyogen Carlson. Boulder, CO: Shambala Publications, 2021. Read sample on Amazon, purchase from your local bookseller!
From the Shasta Abbey website:
SOTO ZEN: An Introduction to the Thought of the Serene Reflection Meditation School of Buddhism by The Very Reverend Keido Chisan Koho Zenji, Edited by Reverend Jisho Perry, M.O.B.C. Shasta Abbey Press, Mount Shasta, California 2000 ISBN: 0-930066-09-X Download book in pdf.
ZEN IS ETERNAL LIFE by Reverend P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett, M.O.B.C.,Fourth Edition, 1999. Shasta Abbey Press, Mount Shasta CA 96067. ISBN 0-930066-20-0 Download book in pdf.