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Zen Club Meeting #5
The Many Faces of Zen and Love
Saturday September 24, 2016
@little Bangkok Meditation Center, Ekkamai
1-3pm at the little Bangkok Meditation Center, Ekkamai, Sat 24th
There is no charge for this event, and no need to book in advance.
You do not need to take anything along.
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| This month’s topic:
The Many Faces of Zen and Love
The Zen Club tackles a subject that is at once elusive and mysterious, yet an integral part of Zen tradition: Love!
Covering different aspects of love, we will discuss some teachings of the contemporary Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and his ideas on the nature of true love in the Buddhist tradition. We will explore love and sexuality in modern life for laypersons, looking at the ideas of Enkyo O’Hara Roshi, head teacher of New York’s Village Zendo, and at the love poetry of Japanese Zen master Ikkyu.
We will also look at love can arise during Zen meditation. In relation to this, we’ll discuss love according to the Three Seals of Existence (impermanence, suffering, and no-self), the sex scandals of Japanese Zen teachers in America, and how love can easily become either a “Vipassana romance” (falling in love with someone during sitting retreat) or a “Vipassana vengeance” (coming to hate someone during sitting practice).
Come and join us for a sincere investigation into the many faces of Zen love!!
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About Zen Club:
The Zen Study club will be a beginners Zen Buddhism study group based around the teachings of historical Zen masters as well as contemporary Zen teachers, including the founder of San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and teachers from this lineage in America.
Zen is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism that started in India, then was brought to China about 1500 years ago, where it developed into a distinct school. It then spread to other Asian countries, especially Japan, before arriving in the West in the 20th century.
The club will informally explore Zen thought, practice and teachings from the perspectives of Zen sutras, stories, poems, koans (riddles), and teachings from contemporary teachers, that will be taken selectively from a large body of Zen literature. Besides an informal and fun exploration of Zen philosophy, we will incorporate some guidance on the Zen method of meditation, which is the heart of the practice.
In addition, we might show videos of dharma talks from the San Francisco Zen Center and other American Zen teachers.
Joe and Sid are long time educators from San Francisco, and although not formally trained as Buddhist teachers, have had many years of Zen practice and study. They have a strong interest in developing their own Zen Buddhist practice and sharing it with others in Thailand who might not know about Zen and its practical and ancient wisdom. There will be more focus on interaction and group discussion than lectures.
The group is open to all who seek a beginners mind approach to an ancient and revitalized Buddhist practice as it applies to contemporary life.
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Location:
‘APARTMENTS’ Little Bangkok Meditation Centre is a 4 minute walk from Ekkamai BTS Station.
Enter Ekkamai (Sukhumvit Soi 63). Turn left into the second soi (lane). Bourbon street restaurant is on the corner. We’re the third building on the right, in the ‘APARTMENTS’ building. Go up to the top floor.
Follow the excellent map – it is very precise!
