The Buddha established what have been called, “The four classes of Buddhist” – male and female monastics and male and female lay practitioners. Members of each of the four classes have realised enlightenment.,

Zenways member, Ha Jisho Tran, has left work as a city lawyer to pursue her Zen practice full time.  She is travelling to Japan to study at Gyokuryuji temple with Shinzan Roshi.  On Sunday 11th September at Yugagyo Dojo, our training hall, our sangha wished Ha every success for her practice as she took her leave.

The picture shows Ha with Shinzan Roshi at The Buddhist Society in London.

Just back from Chichley Hall, the conference centre of The Royal Society, teaching at an event run by the Oxford University Business School. They wanted a talk entitled, “Enterprise and Ethics – A Buddhist Perspective”. This was one of the stories I told them.

A Zen Master walked into a Tokyo bank and asked for the loan officer. He said he was going to the airport to fly to America for two weeks and needed to borrow $2,000. The loan officer said the bank would need some security for such a loan.

The Zen Master then handed over the keys to the temple car that was parked in front of the bank. Everything checked out and the loan officer accepted the car as collateral for the loan. An employee then drove the car into the bank’s underground garage and parked it there.

Two weeks later the Zen Master returned, repaid the $2,000 and the interest which came to $15.41.

The loan officer said, “We do appreciate your business and this transaction has worked out very well. Please deign to use us again.”

The Zen Master replied: “Thank you. It has been very satisfactory. And besides, where else in Tokyo can I the my car for two weeks for fifteen US dollars?”

And where was the harm?

Sundays 4.30-6pm

Zen Practice/Meditation

at ZEN YOGA (Yugagyo Dojo), Opp 43 Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London SE5 8RE.

Hiya, hope all’s well. I want to invite you to our three-hour silent meditation session on Sunday afternoon. It’s at SOS, 4 Hogarth Road opposite Earls Court Tube. There’s full instruction if you need it in the four types of meditation – sitting, standing, lying and walking and private interviews (sanzen) will be available. Scientific research has shown that a group of meditators can cause positive changes to the crime rate in their city.  We are far more interconnected than we realise. Right now the world is in a very turbulent and troubled state. So come on down and help to create peace around you as well as peace in yourself. We’ll be meeting at 3pm. If you’re going to be late, just give me a call. See you there.

                                                Cheers  Daizan

Hiya,

How are you?

We’re still catching our breath after an afternoon of craziness. The temple here is pretty poor so Roshi the zen master is always coming up with new ideas to make a little bit of dough. The latest is running a dog kennel as a side business. So we have a nice dog pound with wire fences and lots of space. Anyway an old lady with eight dogs of different sizes is going into hospital. She dropped them off yesterday and in they went. Thing was, two of them had made it under the fence before she’d even got back into the car. They ran over to say goodbye and then, when they saw us coming, headed straight onto the mountain. Pretty much all Japanese mountains are the same – incredibly steep and densely wooded. So we gave chase and it was great fun but four feet are definitely better than two up there. In the meantime, four more dogs wanted to join the fun so they made a jailbreak too. It was like being on the set of the Great Escape. Quite a bit of chasing, and a few near-misses later we end up with six dogs free on the mountain and two little scaredy-cats left in the compound. We’re putting out food for them and my theory is if we lace it with valium, we ought to get them back. The only possible problem I can see is, there are quite a few wild boar living up there so we could come down in the morning and find a family of snoring pigs on the doorstep! We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted. Hope autumn brings all kinds of good and nourishing harvests for you on all kinds of levels. Have a great week cheers Daizan

Wednesdays, 7.30-8.30pm

Zen Yoga at Horizons
Liberty Street, Stockwell.

Wednesdays, 4.15-5.15 and 5.15-6.15pm

Zen Yoga at University College London,
Gordon Street, Euston.

Tuesdays, 1-2pm

Zen Yoga at Buddha on a Bicycle
Endell Street, Covent Garden.

Mondays, 6.45-7.45pm

Zen Yoga at Nuffield
Endell Street,
Covent Garden.

Sundays, 12.30-1,30pm

Nuffield
Endell Street,
Covent Garden.