A useful definition of Zen is the practice of being present, of experiencing fully.
The Zen Community of Baltimore/Clare Sangha offers opportunities for people to learn
about and practice Zen. Offerings include days of silence, seasonal retreats, and
other training including orientation workshops. See schedule
For basic instructions on Zen meditation practice, click
here.
Introductory Days are offered for orientation to Zen training and practice, and
as an entry point for newcomers wishing to learn about ZCB/Clare Sangha. The following
readings are recommended for newcomers to Zen:
- Taking The Path of Zen, Robert Aitken
- The Three Pillars of Zen, Philip Kapleau
- Everyday Zen, Charlotte Beck
- Bearing Witness, Bernie Glassman and Eve Marko
- Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
- Zen Gifts to Christians, Robert Kennedy
To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To
forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. To be enlightened by all
things is to remove the barriers between oneself and others. -- Dogen,
Manifestation of the Koan, ca. 1238
These simple but profound words of Zen Master Dogen summarize the spiritual path
first demonstrated in the realization experience and life of Shakyamuni-Buddha 2,500
years ago. It is a joyful fact of life that this Way is available to us today.
-- Bruce Seiryu Blackman, Sensei
Our emphasis in Zen training and practice is on bare attention -- simple, direct,
non-interfering awareness, non-judging awareness. Students who establish a Zen practice
find it opens the Way for them amid their own circumstances and conditions. Practice
then becomes its own reward and brings power for guidance.
To encourage Zen practice, ZCB offers the 108 Day Bead Ceremony for sangha members
who practice zazen one hour or more for 108 consecutive days. Those accomplishing
the feat are honored in ceremony at a seasonal retreat.
Such encouragements aim to help sangha members achieve two training objectives.
One is to establish a strong home practice. Second is to develop the power of
concentrated mind (joriki).
The experience of joriki connects with a principal benefit of Zen -- the centering
of one's being. Learning to center one's being in the present moment leads onward
to the other main benefits of a Zen life. These include awakening to the Way of
wisdom and compassion (forgetting the self), then embodying the Way in one's daily
life -- a progressive and life-long undertaking. Our intention at ZCB is to help
students have their own direct experience of these benefits.
