Soto Zen Practice in Vancouver, BC
Recent talks can be found below.
These talks are made possible thanks to donations from our worldwide community. If you find value in these teachings, please consider supporting our work with a donation. Thank you!
You can browse all past talks by speaker, date, category, and program in our archive found HERE
Myoshin Kate McCandless discusses meetings with teachers on the Path of awakening. Sometimes those meetings are pivotal, sometimes disappointing, and sometimes we don't even recognize or appreciate them at the time. She shares excepts from the Gandharva Sutra (last chapter of the Avatamsaka) and the Korean poet Ko Un's retelling of the young boy Sudhana's pilgrimage.
Myoshin Kate McCandless explores "worlds within worlds", the ways our mutual well-being depends on the complex interconnection of relationships within Indra's net, drawing on the Avatamsaka Sutra and the microcosmos.
Shinmon Michael Newton introduces Samantabhadra, one of the archetypical boddhisatvas and a teacher of many practices for realizing inter-being, including the ten qualities of mind.
Myoshin Kate McCandless weaves us deeper into the theme of Living in Indra’s Net: the Avatamsaka Sutra and Beyond. This is a profound evocation of the boundless interbeing of all existence, and has deep relevance to the challenges we face in our world today: social injustice, climate and ecological crises, and the many conflicts that cause so much suffering.
Shinmon Michael Newton begins the 2024 Practice Period with a talk exploring the vast vision of reality offered by the Avatamsaka Sutra, and an invitation to be inspired by its lush imagery.
Dai-i Flo Rublee gives the final talk in our dharma seminar on Zoketsu Norman Fischer and Sue Moon’s book : What is Zen ?
How do the teachings help us understand that connection, compassion, and love are all there is?
How does Zen practice lead to the whole body smiling with all it is? Hofu Louise Day shares some of her life experiences - from sitting with Suzuki Roshi when still in highschool, to finding inner peace again after intense loss and grief.
Jikai Vicki Turay explores how, though much of practice appears to be solitary, zen is primarily based in relationships.
“Formal Zen practice that of meditation, teachings, rituals serve as a training ground. Those activities support and encourage the actual practice - which happens all the time, in your own life, in your every encounter with others, in your heart and mind.” (Zoketsu Norman Fischer)
MRZC's Soto Zen practice emphasizes being fully awake to our own moment-to-moment experience, from our meditation cushion to every aspect of our everyday life. Join us!
Newsletter archive can be found HERE
Please see EVENT page for a complete list of MRZC offerings
Young Urban Zen (ZenYU) is an informal drop-in practice group for people curious about meditation, and how it relates to daily life.
Mountain Rain Zen Community
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Banner: Blue Mountains Walking by Bruce Shotoku Nielsen (2013)
