Introduction to Zen Class

Monday evenings 6.30 pm - 8.00 pm

(Members only)

Familiarity with the basic principles of Buddhism is expected.

Newcomers are invited to attend the Monday class where they will be given instruction in Sila or Daily Life Practice and in Zazen.
Having made our acquaintance with the Buddha's teachings, we may feel inspired to try and follow them; for that it is advisable to work within one of the traditional training schools. The Introduction to Zen class is for those interested in learning about the Zen Way, and covers the fundamentals of Rinzai Zen training.
Each class includes a talk on some specific point of Zen practice, and in this way participants become familiar with the sayings and stories of the old Zen masters. Participants are introduced to the essentials of the quiet sitting practice (zazen) and are given guidelines for practising at home. (Being unable to sit cross-legged on a cushion is not a problem, because zazen can equally well be done sitting in a chair.) Participants are also given suggestions for practice in their daily lives, and are helped to discover for themselves how to practice Zen in their ordinary day-to-day activities. In the regular practice discussion periods, there are opportunities to discuss any difficulties, and to learn from each other's experience how these difficulties may be overcome. The class ends with a short period of formal meditation and chanting.
Once students have shown that they have settled into the Daily Life Practice, which includes a practical understanding of 'giving myself wholeheartedly into whatever activity is being done at this moment', as well as working with the klesas (passions), they will then be invited to join the main zazen group that meets on Tuesday and Friday at the Buddhist Society.
The class is run by senior students of the Venerable Myokyo-ni.

Zen Meditation and Practice

By invitation following attendance at the Monday night Fundamentals of Zen Buddhism class.

Tuesday and Friday evenings 6.30 pm - 8.00 pm

(Members only)

Although the Zen School is known as the meditation school, this does not mean that sitting meditation is its only practice. The greater part of our life is not spent on a cushion but rather in the ordinary activities of daily life; therefore it is in this ordinary life that Buddhist practice is developed.
Here students learn that the practice in daily life (Sila practice within the Five Precepts and the Four Great Efforts) is a long process of gradual refinement and that the insights that arise during the course of the practice must be applied to one's own life. All students are required to commit themselves to a least one hour's zazen a day and to regular attendance at the classes.
With the establishment of the daily life practice and regular zazen, a one-pointed concentration will develop. Once this has happened, students will be given themes for meditation and they will be encouraged to attend regular interviews with the teacher, who will check their insight.
These insights reveal to the student the depth of wisdom of the Buddhist canon and what it means to live the Noble Life of a human being. This practice is a process of transformation taking us from wherever we are to the realization that 'All beings are fully endowed with the Tathagata's Wisdom and Strength.'
With the transformation of the klesas, it can be seen that they, after all, are the Buddha-nature. With this realization comes the development of the Four Brahmaviharas of good will, compassion, sympathetic joy and serenity; a peace at heart and a willingness to assist others; reconciliation to the fact that this life is one of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, light and dark, all of which is subject to change, just as the Buddha taught 2,500.

Drawing of Ven Myokyo-ni

Theravada Buddhism

Monday evenings at 6.30 p.m.

(Members only)

Those attending are encouraged to arrive shortly after 6.00 to meet with the teacher and ask questions, etc.

The Class will be led by senior nuns from Amaravati Monastic Community.

The main focus of the classes will be an exploration of the Theravada teachings with particular emphasis on their application in daily life. There will be opportunities for formal meditation (with instruction), determining the Five Precepts, and a short talk and/or questions and discussion.

Tibetan Buddhism Class

Thursdays @ 6.30pm

This class is cancelled until further notice

Basic meditation class

(Members only)

Thursday at 6.30 pm

Held in the Lecture Hall at the Society, under the guidance of Colin Ash, this class is based on the practice of mindfulness as taught by the Buddha. The class welcomes visiting teachers: please telephone the Society for details.

Visiting Guest Teacher(s): to be announced

Pure Land class

Monthly on Sundays at 2-4 p.m.

Professor Kemmyo Taira Sato of the Three Wheels temple will give monthly lectures on the “Shoshinge”, an essential part of the “Kyogyoshinsho,” the main writing by Shinran (1173-1262), founder of Shin Buddhism. In their daily service Shin Buddhist followers chant the “Shoshinge,” a ‘gatha’ that covers both the history and philosophy of Pure Land Buddhism.

Dates for 2009/10:

13 September 2009, 20 December 2009

14 March 2010, 6 June 2010, 25 July 2010, (8th August cancelled), 19 September 2010, 17 October 2010, 21 November 2010.

(Open to non-members)

Saturday Meditation Class

Saturdays 3.00 – 4.30pm

(Open to non-members)

This informal and friendly class meets in the Lecture Hall every Saturday except on the Society’s special days or when the Society is closed. This is a general meditation class and welcomes newcomers and older hands alike from any or no particular school of Buddhism.

The duration of this class is an hour and a half and it begins at 3.00 pm. Newcomers should arrive at 2.45 pm so that instruction on meditation can be given to beginners if required. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions or discuss difficulties with the sitting practice either before or during the class.

Practice consists of both sitting and walking meditation lasting an hour and there may be a short talk or reading. This class welcomes guest teachers.

Visiting Guest Teachers:

Saturday 10th April 2010 2.00 – 5.00pm
Shoken Pia Trans ( Tendai ) & Suzanne Rees Glanister ( Nichiren ) Westminster Lotus Sangha

Saturday 15th May 2010 2.00 – 5.00pm
Venerable Ani Choesang - Buddha's Wise Words for Today

Zen Sundays

Sundays 11am - 3:30pm

2010 Dates: January 10th, February 14th, March 14th, April 11th, May 9th, June 20th, July 11th, September 19th, October 10th, November 21st.

(Open to non-members)

Everyone is welcome.

Lunchtime Meditations

Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays at 12.40 pm. – 1.20 pm.

This class is for beginners and seasoned meditators alike. The forty minute session covers a short talk on meditation plus thirty minutes meditation. If required instruction will be given on breathing and posture.

Ron Maddox who is a Hon Chaplain at The South London Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust will take the Monday class. Venerable Myokun will take the Tuesday class and Venerable Sochu will take the Thursday class.