Category: zen
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Becoming: Lessons from My Teachers
By Ann This morning, I want to share a few thoughts on the word “becoming”—a word that holds a special place in my Zen practice. When I separate it—“be-coming”—I notice how “be” is about presence, and “coming” is about movement. That contradiction is at the heart of Zen: being exactly where you are, while also…
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Finding Presence in Community: My Meditation Journey
By Jing Z. I’ve been coming to our Sunday meditation sessions, a habit I started sporadically last summer and have committed to more regularly over the last couple of months. This morning, even though I was the last to arrive, I was lucky enough to get my favorite spot—bathed in gentle sunlight. My mother would…
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Finding Freedom: Lessons from The Courage to Be Disliked
By Dongmin In my recent coaching sessions, I’ve been working on identifying my core values. One value that keeps surfacing is freedom. It shows up in a lot of my daily thoughts and conversations. I started asking myself: What is freedom? What does it really mean to me? Is it the ability to change my…
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Wherever You Go, There You are
By Nan Good Morning! I have been a part of Hakone Zendo for over three years, and I also attend meditation with other centers. Last January, I had the opportunity to attend a week of noble silent retreat at a farm with another local meditation group. This experience reminded me of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s saying, “Wherever…
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Anticipating Life: My Experience with Zazen
Photo by Dave By Bob. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to use zazen and do it here. Thank you to everyone that’s involved in helping make this happen. For me, doing this is learning about myself. One of the first and most obvious things is that my brain does not like to sit and…
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Omoiyari: The Quiet Kindness
By Kaz What does it really mean to care for others?In Japan, we call it 思いやり (omoiyari)—quiet kindness. From childhood, we’re encouraged to notice what others might need, even before anything is said, and to offer help quietly and sincerely. Over time, this becomes second nature and shapes how we move through the world. Omoiyari…
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Dialectics
By Lakshmi Today, I wanted to talk about Dialectics because it’s a great example of how mindfulness has been incorporated into psychology—specifically through a theoretical approach called Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT. The founder of DBT is Dr. Marsha Linehan, a psychologist who was originally Catholic and trained as a theologian. Later, after studying Buddhism…
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Empty is a Fuel: Finding Clarity in Stillness
By Jing S I sat quietly in the Hakone Gardens today, watching as sunlight filtered through the Japanese maples. It was there, surrounded by carefully placed stones and the gentle ripple of koi ponds, that I reflected on my journey with emptiness. For the longest time, I misunderstood emptiness. When I felt empty inside, I…
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