Zen Buddhism in Perth Western Australia
Mujyo
a second group in central Perth.
7pm to 8.30pm Zen meditation at the Zendo in Hamilton hill. Daily from
Sunday to Friday (no zazen Saturdays). A second group is located in
Perth's CBD and meets during business hours.
First time attendance 6.40pm (otherwise we will not be able to tell
you what to do).
There are no dress regulations but please avoid coats that unless you
intend to sit in them and be able to remove shoes and socks.
If you have never been before please let us by email know your
intention to come, and check current practice details and locations.
At the Zen Centre it is possible to learn about cultural activities
connected to Zen practice such as Tea ceremony, Traditional martial
arts, calligraphy and Zen gardens. Please feel free to come have a cup
of tea with us and feel normal - Zen is not some special thing.
Zen tradition emphasizes that everyone has a Buddha nature, original
self. Awakening is not so much 'finding' ourselves as discovering how
to live with ordinary mind and through this our ordinary lives are
touched and changed by our awareness of this true self moment to
moment.
Cost to most activities is by donation (dana) only.
A person begins Zen when he seriously reflects over questions like:
What is human being? What is the meaning of life? Who am I? Ordinarily
when one enjoys peace and good health, one does not feel any need for
self-reflection and complacently identifies with his limited
personality and body. But at some point the contradictions and
transience of human life will cause a person to wonder. He may then
seek his True Self. The True Self is absolutely free human nature
which transcends all dualistic categories such as mind and body, rich
and poor, life and death.
The basic philosophy behind Zen and is similar to that found in many
of the world's great religions and philosophies - that the highest
fulfillment of man lies in a joyful life completely devoted to the
benefit of other beings. In Buddhist terms, this can be referred to as
the rediscovery of one's original nature. Yet, from the Zen point of
view, holding this merely as another idea is not enough - it is
essential reality of our day-to-day life. Making this ideal truly part
of ourselves is an enormous task - it cannot be accomplished solely
through intellectual study. Instead, there is a need for rigorous
spiritual training (Shugyo).
Shugyo is a maturing activity -through it we learn to transcend the
duality that causes suffering and hampers our development as human
beings. Self and others, tension and relaxation, expecting and not
expecting - all of these become one. Many people attain this sort of
maturity late in life-the goal of training is to accelerate this
process, so that we develop in time to be able to pass the benefits of
our attainment on to others.
A person might also come to Zen to develop strength and courage. The
cultivation of the power of concentration means to cultivate the power
that makes one the master of any situation. When a person who has
achieved deep understanding plunges deeply into the surrounding world,
all oppositions cease; the self and the world become One. Then one's
actions are filled with extraordinary power. Living in the world but
not of the world, making life happen around them.
Admirable as they may be, philosophical or psychological insight and
personal power are not the true aim of Zen. In an ancient Zen text
called Zazengi it is written:
'The Bodhisattva who wishes attainment of transcendental wisdom
should first of all entertain a great compassionate heart,
take the Four Vows for the salvation of the world,
experience samadhi (the state of concentration in which there is no
subject and object) profoundly, save other people at any cost, and
refrain from wishing for self-liberation alone.'
The Zen Centre provides a place where Westerners can do Shugyo
without the financial, linguistic, and cultural difficulties involved
in travel to Japan. Although Zen is rooted in Buddhism, it is not a
religion in the Western sense; it emphasizes training, not theology
or religious beliefs. In fact, many non-Buddhists find Zen training
to be essential in their attempts to realize the inner meaning of
their own religious or philosophical tradition. At the Zen Centre one
can find both Buddhists and Christians, as well as others with no set
religious orientation and people from all races and cultural
backgrounds.
The Zen Centre serves as one gateway for the introduction of true Zen
into Australia, not only as a philosophy but as a way of training.
Also, as a center for the study of Zen art, we hope to make a
contribution to Australian cultural life.