Zen River

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Zen River Temple is an international Buddhist monastery, offering a year-round training program.

Onze taak

Buddhism originated in India and branched out to many Asian countries over the course of the centuries. As it migrated, Buddhism seems to have incorporated the particular characteristics of each country where it took root. The Zen school developed in China and was later brought to Japan, Korea and Vietnam. It is a tradition that focuses primarily on direct religious experience and the love and compassion this can generate. Over the last few decades it has become very popular in the West because of its unique training methods which can be practiced by people of all religious and social backgrounds. Zen can help us contributing to a more harmonious society by cutting through deeply rooted delusions about ourselves and the world. The basic principle is that everyone can share in the wisdom of the Buddha, who directly experienced the intrinsic oneness of all beings and found ways to express that experience in the activities of daily life.

Bodhidharma (d. 532), who brought Zen from India to China in the 6th century, expressed the essence as:

A special transmission outside the scriptures
No dependence on words and letters
Seeing directly into the mind of man
Realizing True Nature, becoming Buddha

This experience has been kept alive and passed down generation after generation by successive masters, and now it is up to the present generation to find ways of maintaining it for the future. Zen River works to contribute to this living process by providing a training programme that is steeped in the Japanese tradition, but - in accord with the international White Plum Lineage - allows for experiments and adaptations that suit the needs of our time. Since a close connection with a certified teacher has always been seen as essential in Buddhist practice, the programme offers ample opportunity for group instruction from and interacitve one-on-one encounters (dokusan) with the abbot, Tenkei Roshi. The value of the cohesive community of practioners (sangha) also receives strong emphasis. Long-term and short-term residents as well as visiting members practise together and support each other in their training. The location and lay-out of the temple building and grounds, with a variety of communal and work-practice places, have proven to be very conducive in this respect.

Producten

Anthology - two collections of Zen Texts compiled by Tenkei Coppens.
Oryoki Sets
Hand Crafted Custon Made Meditation Supplies: zafu, zabuton, koromo, kimono, jubon, rakusu kits at Zen River Atelier