Category: zen
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Hakone History
By Aaron Hakone is such a special place. I wanted to share a bit about the history that I learned from the Hakone website. This place began in 1915, when Isabel and Oliver Stine, philanthropists from San Francisco, were inspired by the Japanese gardens at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Isabel fell in love with their…
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Sitting With What Is: A Short Reflection on Zazen
By Taylor We’ve been reading a book for the Hakone book club called “The Eightfold Path”. The book opens with a story about a woman who’s had a tough life and starts going to zazen, looking for a solution to her pain. In her first one-on-one meeting — where she expects wisdom that will let…
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Journey to Peace & Joy
By Peter We may have various reasons for meditating, but our primary goal is often to find relief from the daily stress and dissatisfaction we experience. In 2020, I was struck by a severe sciatica attack and was desperate for relief. That’s when I decided to give meditation a try. I began by self-learning the…
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Finding My Naka: The Middle Way in Meditation and Life
By Dave Good morning, my name is Dave. Last week, I volunteered to talk. I’ve been thinking about it for months but I’ve been nervous about talking. Today was very hard for meditation because I was so anxious to get the talk over with. I wanted to talk about a Japanese character, 中 naka. You…
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Beginnings…
By Susan L Each year about this time, I start to think about beginnings. When people think about beginnings, they might think about the start of their day, perhaps the beginning of a story they are reading, maybe the first day of a new year, or starting something new. There are many things we can…
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Who Is Jizo? A Quiet Protector on the Path
By MichaelSeveral people have asked me about something I do as I approach our zendo, and I think it’s worth sharing. As you come up from below, off to the left of the waterfall, there’s a little stone tablet. You might see some of us stop and bow there. Folks often ask me: “Who is…
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“Awakening to the Unobstructed Path: The Mystery of Our Taku’s 無礙之一道 (Muge no Ichido)
By Kaz The Sound That Awakens When you join us for zazen, one of the first things you’ll notice is a clear, distinct sound at the beginning of our meditation. This sound is the taku. The taku originated in China and Japan’s Zen tradition, used in temples to mark the start of activities—especially meditation—so that…
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Finding My “Intentional Pause” in a Non-Stop World
By Ewa Like many of you, I’ve led a very busy life. As a mom of two with a demanding career, I learned to multitask, to plan far ahead, to anticipate problems, and to worry about every possible bad outcome. That mindset helped me survive and even succeed for decades in Silicon Valley. But there came…
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