Chogye International Zen Center of New York

For details on these and other upcoming events, be sure to check chogyezencenter.org and make sure to join our mailing list

! Happy Lunar New Year!

Zen Master Wu Kwang on Not Making, Holding, or Attaching to Anything.

We continue to have practice and events online, including upcoming dharma talks with Zen Master Wu Kwang (Richard Shrobe) and Barry Briggs JPSN and retreats with Zen Master Bon Hae (Judy Roitman).

From May 20, 2015, Zen Master Wu Kwang on practicing with emotion "The emphasis here is with being with whatever arises--pleasant, unpleasant, neither pleasant or unpleasant--and being able to see that as the unfolding of our experience moment by moment." We continue to have online practice, including dharma talks and retreats, regularly. For more information, check https://www.chogyezencenter.org/

If you look at what we do in formal Zen meditation, for examplebesides the fact we sit in a particular way and become stillwe essentially don’t try to get rid... of any thought or state of mind or any particular feeling. Likewise, we don’t cling to any particular thought or state of mind or any particular feeling. We let everything come and go freely, just perceive, moment by moment. That practice is a cultivation of nongrasping. That nongrasping is the essence of your true being. If you sit with that attitude, if sadness appears, at that moment you’re just sad. If happiness appears, at that moment you’re just happy. If pain appears, at that moment there’s just pain. You could say sadness kills you at that moment, happiness kills you at that moment, pain in your legs kills you at that moment, the sound of the siren from the fire engine down the street kills you at that moment. But that killing is a coming to life. You connect with what is. So there is a difference between being pulled by emotion and having emotion. We are human beings, so we naturally have thoughts, we naturally have emotions, we naturally have sensations, we naturally have a body, we naturally have relationships. They’re all just aspects of our natural being. But if you begin to get stuck in particular ways, then your emotions pull you around by the nose. Then you are caught. Zen Master Wu Kwang (Photo by Sven Mahr.) #zen #meditation #perceive #moment #emotions #kwanumzen See more

"Don't be distracted by inner peace." Quote by Zen Master Bon Hae. #zen #innerpeace #seeclearly #meditation #community #sangha #kwanumzen See more quotes: http://bit.ly/2pzDlRA

"Our practice is based on finding your center and making your center steady." Quote by Zen Master Wu Kwang. #zen #meditation #balance #steady #bodhisattva #notmoving #dontknow #kwanumzen Read more quotes: http://bit.ly/2oQIHHI

"While there are many approaches to practicing, practicing with a sanghatogether actionis the most powerful." Quote by Zen Master Wu Bong #zen #meditation #sangha #together #limitations #kwanumzen See more quotes: http://bit.ly/2mTvFIz