On Practice, by Zen Master Senshin
QZC offers formal training that includes weekly group meditation sessions; retreats varying in length from one day to one week; and introductory workshops for new students. During practice sessions, students are taught techniques of Zen meditation to enliven our original mind – experiences accessible to all people and yet individually lived. These techniques, such as sitting, walking and chanting meditation are vehicles through which Zen students apply themselves on their spiritual path. Similar to any practice, be it sport, music, or dance, Zen is an immediate experience – simultaneously illuminating, while being illuminated by all phenomena. In Zen training, students learn the rudiments of meditation through a process of inquiry (kong-ans) and by bringing awareness into the breath, into the body to go through and beyond the noisy, non-stop chatter of extraneous thought. |
Rather than a respite from feelings of confusion, anxiety and sadness, following the breath provides an opportunity to investigate our experiences and while not holding on to them, allowing them full expression. This natural pathway is a means of deepening in our awareness of the source from which they come – who is it that is thinking these thoughts; feeling these feelings? To experience sadness fully, or to sit in meditation wholeheartedly, thoughts and feelings spontaneously transform as our life energy is released. Each student has his/her own motivation for studying Zen, however, one’s quest arises from a deep need to know the truth and a willingness, regardless of one’s circumstances, to be guided by it. Through what may be described as a progression of direct experiences, students continue training in a life-long journey to understand themselves in relation to, and for all beings. In each and every breath, students at QZC are encouraged to return to the activity at hand – be it brushing the teeth or sitting with a kong-an – giving one’s self to it completely. |
If you are planning to visit the centre for the first time, please see the information page for further details of what to expect - the practice schedule, what to wear, what to bring etc.