Zen training is not an easy endeavor, nor an ordinary path. However, there are principles of Zen training that can be accessed and developed. They are useful as a practice incorporated into everyday life. Practice provides opportunity to recognize and interrupt habits. Diligent practice shifts our being.
The role of Breath, Posture and Center is central to our training. Training in meditation, fine arts and martial arts are key to increasing awareness and dynamic stillness of being. We become more efficient and therefore productive.
Breathe Properly. Think Clearly. Stay Grounded. It allows us to care for ourselves and support each other.
Ki’ai First!
Handouts
We train to move beyond dualism. There is no separation between life and practice. The materials provided here best serve community members who have experienced our trainings and energy.
No previous experience required but we know – “… eating the menu is not the same as cooking and eating the meal …”
10-Step Tai Ji
Stephen Dogi Kow Roshi developed a small subset of the tai ji sequences from Chinese schools. The goal was to build intrinsic energy – Ki’ai- and to cultivate the fullness of breath needed for seated meditation. He named it Mu-I Taiji Zen.
Shodo
The Way of the Zen brush – the immediate transfer of a person’s energy and character from the brush to paper.
Okyo
Okyo is a central practice to the development of resonance. Is your voice the sound of your true self or just the sound of your thoughts?
The far flung sangha, by its nature, ebbs and flows without boundary. It sits in piko relationship to Wong Roshi, her home temple, and specifically to Anko-in, an Independent Branch Temple of Chozen-ji. Tanouye Tenshin Rotaishi founded Anko-in to develop a way of training to support people who did not fit traditional Chozen-ji training. He conceived of it as a space for innovation which made training accessible to a wider audience, especially those whose work and life required immediate application.
The practices of Anko-in remains true to Chozen-ji’s fundamental principles of Kiai First, breath, posture, and concentration. It differs in forms, ways, and emphases. Practitioners in the far flung sangha are welcome to access Chozen-ji’s resources. Those who are seeking to participate in the daihonzan’s style training – either as a local student on O’ahu or by living in – must prepare for more intensity and training in forms that are not ordinarily included in far flung sangha spaces. This also requires a conversation with your teacher and the head priest of Chozen-ji.
In August 2020, Norma accepted the appointment by Daian Sayama Roshi, Chozen-ji’s abbot, to become the second abbot of Anko-in.