Meditation & Conversation
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6-7:30pm Wednesdays
Currently online via Zoom
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Retreats in person and online
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Our sessions are in Spanish or English with Spanish translation. The meditation is lightly guided or in silence.
Our meditations are deep and our conversations are lively.
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Videos of talks from the weekly sessions are available on YouTube. Use the video link at the bottom of any page.
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You can visit Flower Mountain Zen, Pacific Zen Institute, and Ordinary Mind Zendo for many offerings in English that provide online participation.
STOP THE WAR
D Allen talks about stopping the war. Which war? What war are you fighting now? There's the war in Ukraine, in Gaza; and is there also a war you are fighting with yourself? Do we know what peace is when we find it? D begins in Spanish and then gives the talk in English with Spanish translation by Virginia Filip. You'll find a second talk on this koan at our YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/y_uf8HPVp4k
STEP BY STEP
"Step by step in the dark, since my foot is not wet I have found the stone." Maestra Virginia Filip talks about times in our lives when we're talking in the dark, trying not to get wet, looking for that stone that will keep us dry,
VIRGINIA FILIP HABLA DE LOS KOANS en general y de cómo activan nuestra imaginación. Utiliza el ejemplo del koan sobre un búfalo que pasa por una ventana. La cabeza, los cuernos, el cuerpo y las patas pasan, pero la cola no pasa. ¿Por qué no?
Our Current Koan-Story
Alive or Dead?
A koan for 'Day of the Dead'
Master Daowu and his disciple Jianyuan went to visit a house where someone had died to offer their condolences. Jianyuan struck the coffin and asked, "Alive or dead?"
Daowu said, "I don't say alive, I don't say dead."
Jianyuan asked, "Why won't you say?"
Daowu said, "I won't say! I won't say!"
On the way home, Jianyuan stopped in the middle of the road and demanded, "Answer me right now, Master. If you don't, I'm going to hit you and leave." Daowu said, "You can hit me, but even if you do, I won't say." Jianyuan hit him.
Several years passed, and after Daowu's death, Jianyuan went to see Master Shishuang and recounted the whole story.
Shishuang said, "I won't say alive, I won't say dead."
Jianyuan asked, "Why won't you say?"
Shishuang said, "I won't say! I won't say!"
Upon hearing these words, Jianyuan finally awakened.
Books by D Allen and Virginia Filip, Oaxaca Zen teachers, are available. Contact us or visit us in Oaxaca. D's book is also available as an ebook at Amazon.
About our sessions...
Four bells start the meditation, which is lightly guided. Then D Allen or Virginia Filip offers a brief talk that leads into a conversation about the theme we are exploring in the session. We use koan stories and our own lives as the material for these conversations.
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For example, a koan says: "The coin lost in the river is found in the river." Hearing that, what feeling or thought comes to you? What has been your experience of losing and finding? What is this river for you? Sharing our experiences, doubts and insights, we shed light on each other's lives and wake up together to this difficult and shining world
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We meet in the lovely and tranquil yoga and meditation room at Casa del Angel, or you can participate from wherever you are through our Zoom ​connection. Our sessions are informal and relaxed but please arrive a few mintues before the start time.
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A TASTE OF ZEN MEDITATION
A guided meditation that invites us into being here and now, just this moment. It also asks you: Who are you?
There are guided meditations in Spanish and more talks in both Spanish and English on the Meditations and Talks page.