Sydney Zen Centre in Annandale, New South Wales, Australia | Community organisation

Sydney Zen Centre

Locality: Annandale, New South Wales, Australia

Address: 251 Young Street 2038 Annandale, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.szc.org.au

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24.01.2022 A sneak peek at a piece we recently commissioned honouring the traditional custodians of the land our Zen Centre rests upon. We are excited to place this in the foyer in a visible place as you walk into our centre, and are very thankful for Max’s careful work.

23.01.2022 The SZC is proud to announce our online Rohatsu Sesshin coming up very soon on 4th - 8th December. This is an intensive meditation retreat that you can participate in from the convenience of your very own home. Register for as many blocks as you can manage, and experience what it can be like to deepen your practice within daily life. You can expect group online meditation, guidance for your practice, private interviews with the teachers, and dharma talks. Beginners are most welcome. Please visit the link below for more details, and for information about how to register. http://szc.org.au/classes/rohatsu-sesshin/

23.01.2022 The question, What is Buddha? or, What is Buddha Nature? is a constant theme within Buddhism. Dgen, the founder of St Zen Buddhism in Japan, has something interesting to say on this topic. Dgen tells us that: Buddha Nature and becoming a Buddha always occur simultaneously. Paul Maloney, roshi explores in this talk, some of the implications of this statement, as it challenges many common-sense ideas we hold about Buddha Nature. In particular, the idea that Buddha Natur...e is some kind of substantial ground; a ground upon which we may find rest and stability. The term Buddha means one who is awake, and it is this experience that is the very heart of our meditation practice, in fact all Buddhist practice. What the Buddha understood when he awoke was: "All living beings totally have the Buddha-nature The Tathagata abides [in them] constantly, without changing at all." Shakyamuni Buddha (Mahayaparinirvana sutra, chap. 27) And this is echoed by Hakuin Zenji in the opening of his Song of Zazen. "All beings by nature are Buddha as ice by nature is water; apart from water there is no ice, apart from beings no Buddha." This Dharma talk was given on day 3 of the 2019 Winter sesshin by Paul Maloney Roshi of the SZC. http://szc.org.au/dogen-buddha-nature/

23.01.2022 Zen practice originated from a famous Buddhist teacher in India named Bodhidharma, who took the simple approach to practice of directly pointing to the mind to China in the 5th or 6th century. In China it developed many teachers and followers, and later was imported to Japan. Finally, our founding teacher from Hawaii, the late Robert Aitken Roshi, learned this practice from his Japanese teachers, Yasutani Roshi and Yamada Roshi, and then our Australian teachers from Aitken ...Roshi. Zen practice has historically evolved over this long journey through countries and teachers to meet the culture it finds itself in, with the goal of supporting people to awaken to their essential nature. Zen practice has spent much of its time historically as a monastic practice only, with only male teachers, and a very rigid and austere discipline to practice. Now here in Australia, we celebrate lay practice within the middle of own homes and lives; we have several women teachers; we celebrate being inclusive to all; and we have a relaxed and accommodating spirit to practice. We are now even extensively using online mediums to support people’s practice! Although it is far fetched to claim a picture can wholly capture what Australian Zen may be, we attempted to at the Sydney Zen Centre. The circle on the outside is a Japanese calligraphy symbol called the enso, a single brushstroke expressing the freedom of mind and body of the calligrapher. The enso represents the unity of emptiness and form, considered by many to be the heart of Buddhist teachings. The flower inside is the Waratah, a native Australian plant, famous for its beautiful bright red flowers to be found around the southeastern coast of Australia. A famous Zen koan, Case 37 of the Gateless Barrier, entails: ‘A monk asked Chao-chou, What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?. Chao-chou said, The oak tree in the courtyard.’ Maybe for some here in Australia, it is the Waratah in the underbrush? Http://www.szc.org.au/

20.01.2022 The Sydney Zen Centre has a rich library of recorded talks by our teachers and senior students on all matters of Zen practice and life. Please feel free to visit the library and enjoy these recordings. http://szc.org.au/podcasts/

20.01.2022 A new dharma talk is available for listening. Subhana Barzaghi Roshi of the SZC asks a critical question for buddhists who see suffering around them. What does it mean to help and how can we do it simply and carefully? Bridging the seemingly inward practice of meditation with outward social action is the most important question for our own practice.... This talk was given at Kodoji at the Autumn sesshin in 2019 http://szc.org.au/how-can-i-help/

19.01.2022 This recent podcast includes SZC teacher Paul Maloney Roshi discussing the matter of self-identity and Zen practice, recorded during our recent online intensive meditation event, Winter Sesshin. In this talk, Paul discusses the Buddha’s statement, when you develop the perception of impermanence, then the conceit of ‘I AM’ will be abandoned. Paul then dives into how our practice aims to help us see through our own self-concepts, and what the release from attachment to self-c...oncepts might mean to our lives. http://szc.org.au/i-am/

19.01.2022 "Our great good fortune as Zen students is that, no matter what the season, no matter where the dojo, this practice is trustworthy, dependable, breath-by-breath, the gate to peace and joy. I am grateful for its simplicity, grateful that we can sit, stand and lie down, opening to what has been there all along we are the earth, we are the buds unfurling, the magpies carolling, ‘like a child that knows poems by heart’." - Gillian Coote Roshi of the SZC, writing of her recent misadventure and steady practice through a hospital stay. To read more, please feel free to visit the link below. http://szc.org.au/spring/

17.01.2022 Joan Halifax writes ‘If we look at hope through the lens of Buddhism, we discover that wise hope is born of radical uncertainty, rooted in the unknown and the unknowable,’Hope means being open to what is, in all its abundance; open to what is the next step, and the next; open to maybe taking no step, just listening and being with each person or situation; open to our own hearts. As the new year dawns on us we face these current collective challenges of a bushfire disaster a...nd human driven ecological stress, Wise Hope may offer a courageous way to be engaged while also maintaining inner peace. To read more from SZC teacher Jane Andino on the topic of Wise Hope, please visit the link below: http://szc.org.au/wise-hope/

17.01.2022 Dear everyone in our interconnected community, As the current coronavirus pandemic has changed much of life as we know it, the Sydney Zen Centre has evolved how we offer our group meditation, dharma talks and private interviews with our teachers. We have introduced the form of zoom video conferencing to hold our events so that our sangha can stay connected, and the teaching of the dharma can continue. ... There has never been a more important time to stay connected and grounded in embodied presence in the midst of not-knowing. It is in this space that we can be truly compassionate and receptive to ourselves and those around us, sitting steady through our fears and suffering, and that of others. With our practice we can give our fears, panic and insecurity space, and notice what is really present and important to respond to. The SZC is continuing to offer our usual Monday and Wednesday evening 7-9pm group meditation with a SZC teacher using zoom video conference. Anyone is welcome to be involved and can do so from the safety of their own home. If you are interested in being involved, please email [email protected] and register your interest. If you are unfamiliar with Zen practice, we may suggest an orientation first before starting with our weekly events. If you need help with zoom as a medium, please also inform us so that we can support your participation. Please stay safe and connected to one another. May you hold loving-kindness and be a light unto The Way.

17.01.2022 A cold morning at our bush temple Kodoji, nestled in the Upper MacDonald Valley near Wiseman’s Ferry. The centre is used for silent meditation retreats twice a year, bushwalking weekends, and can be hired by members to get out of the city into the sounds of the birds and frogs. Please visit our website for more information: http://szc.org.au/kodoji-our-bush-zendo/

12.01.2022 At the SZC we have just recently held our first Sesshin (silent meditation retreat) at our bush temple at Gorricks Run since covid. We incorporated social distancing laws into all of the Sesshin planning and managed to run a very harmonious and infection free event. Hopefully this will serve as the impetus for many more to come. Sesshin is a very good time to deepen your practice and delve more deeply into the teachings of Zen. The days involve an early wake up, regular bloc...ks of silent meditation throughout the day; a communal work period; communal silent meals; interviews and talks by the teachers; plenty of time to freely meander around the poperty enjoying the mountains, the birdsong and butterflies in the field; and a late finish in the evening to the sounds of crickets and frogs. Sesshin is a rare time to be able to let go our everyday concerns and practice deep silence and presence with whatever is at hand. People are generally welcome to commit to as many days as possible, with it being highly recommended to start on the first day if it is your first Sesshin. All levels of experience are welcome. Here are some of the photos taken by participants.

11.01.2022 With the right view and right intention, we speak from our hearts, and we listen from our hearts too, the listening being as important as the speaking. Listening deeply is often the medicine that helps another to act for change in their own life. The speaker perhaps isn’t looking for your solutions; they want your compassionate hearing so they can solve their problem for themselves. To read further please feel free to visit the link below. http://szc.org.au/speech/

10.01.2022 Http://www.szc.org.au

09.01.2022 Another dharma talk is available for listening. Maggie Gluek Roshi of the SZC reflects on Henry David Thoreau, and wonders how we can open the Dharma gates of ease and joy? Caught in ideas of the importance of self, isolated from the world, and following a stream of self centred conditioned thoughts, we fail to be aware of the world around us the scent of grasses or the colour of flowers. What does it take to have freedom from this and live more fully and authentically? This teisho explores Case 36 of the Blue Cliff Record (Changsha goes picnicking) and was given on day 3 of Autumn sesshin at Kodoji. http://szc.org.au/walking-the-way/

08.01.2022 Freedom comes in those moments when we are truly freed from our conceptual way of experiencing life, we directly experience the moment, no longer looking at everything through the lens of dualism. Those moments can be fleeting and, in a sense, as Zen practitioners it is our life’s work to, to free ourselves from the world of dualism and all the associated suffering. SZC teacher Will Moon writing on Zen practice and freedom. To read more, please feel free to visit the link below. http://szc.org.au/freedom/

05.01.2022 A new dharma talk is available for listening. Our ancestral teachers spoke of Zen as not relying on words and letters, but they did not neglect words and letters. They used words. They were not used by words. From the records of their sayings, it is clear that they were well versed in the Buddha’s sutras, as were their students. Unlike those people raised in Buddhist cultures, who are familiar with the sutras, and the central teachings of the Buddha Dharma, for most of us in ...Australia, our knowledge is limited. Even here, in the Sydney Zen Centre, very little attention is given to study of the sutras, in fact, they are rarely mentioned. While our koan curriculum is replete with classical Buddhist references, they largely go unrecognised. This is also the case with the sutras we chant prior to zazen. These sutras are a treasure store of information about the Buddha Dharma, if we know how to read them. In this talk, we look at the implications of the following three lines from The Great Prjn Paramita Heart Sutra: No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance And so on to no old age and death And also, no ending of old age and death. This Dharma talk was given on day 1 of the SZC Winter sesshin in June 2019. http://szc.org.au/dependent-co-arising/

04.01.2022 A new dharma talk is available for listening. ‘Carrying water and chopping wood’ is an ancient Zen description of the importance of being present now, and enjoying the simple gifts of everyday life. This talk was given by Subhana Barzaghi Roshi of the SZC at Autumn sesshin 2019, day 4, at Kodoji.... Please follow the link to listen. http://szc.org.au/everyday-life/

04.01.2022 The Sydney Zen Centre is still operating and we have a wonderful ongoing community of Zen practitioners meeting both online and at our Annandale dojo. We are currently providing a mix of both online and in-person meditation events to support people in their practice. If you are interested in learning more about our offerings, please feel free to join our What’s On email list.... Our event calendar is different from week to week, as we have strived our best to maintain both an online program, and a careful re-entry to our Annandale dojo, while catering our programs to the best social distancing policies possible. The best way to stay in touch with our regular offerings is to sign up to our email list, as there are often week to week changes to our programs due to the considerations we have needed to make for the coronavirus situation. If you are new to Zen practice, please feel free to register for one of our orientations. After you have attended the orientation you are welcome to participate in any of our online or in-person programs. We have a rich array of support for your practice available, from weekly online meditation, to sitting in our Annandale dojo, telephone or video calls with our teachers, and coming soon, a Sesshin at our bush Temple in the Upper MacDonald Valley. There has never been a more important time for us to support each other in community, to be grounded in our spacious mind, and to cope with the constant changes we are facing. Please stay safe and well in these troubling times. https://szc.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe

04.01.2022 I have had to dig deep into my practice through these hard times to find an appropriate response to manage my own grief and overwhelm, anger and fear. Zazen and dharma practice is a potent refuge for steadying ones mind, to cultivate equanimity, mindfulness and compassion. By attending to our own inner life we grow the capacity to bear witness and offer compassionate action to the heart-wrenching devastation. Subhana Barzaghi Roshi of the SZC writes about climate grief, pr...actice and bearing witness. Please feel free to visit the link below to read the full article. http://szc.org.au/requiem/ #zen #zenbuddhism #meditation #mindfulness #climatechange #climatecrisis #australianbushfires #bearingwitness

01.01.2022 "Because there is suffering there is a need of salvation. What is the nature of Buddhist salvation? For the Zen Buddhist salvation is not by faith or by grace. Nor does it come by good works, for there is no merit to be achieved or accumulated. Salvation is not to be found in any nirvana that is conceived of as a transcendental realm beyond change. It is because of ignorance that people seek a false refuge in Being, and the hope of permanence...." Please visit the link below to read more of Paul Maloney Roshi's blog post on the topic of "Immanence". http://szc.org.au/immanence/