Curiosity question for members - Why are you here?

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  • Zenkon
    Member
    • May 2020
    • 226

    Curiosity question for members - Why are you here?

    I am curious. Why are you here, at Treeleaf? What are you looking to achieve, to obtain? What do you hope to get out of being a member?

    Gassho

    Zenkon
    Sat/lah
  • Bion
    Treeleaf Unsui
    • Aug 2020
    • 4370

    #2
    Teacher - sangha - practice. [emoji3526]

    [emoji1374] Sat Today
    "Stepping back with open hands, is thoroughly comprehending life and death. Immediately you can sparkle and respond to the world." - Hongzhi

    Comment

    • Ryumon
      Member
      • Apr 2007
      • 1783

      #3
      I stumbled in here by accident about 15 years ago, and I can’t find the way out.

      Gassho,
      Ryūmon (Kirk)
      Sat
      I know nothing.

      Comment

      • Houzan
        Member
        • Dec 2022
        • 504

        #4
        Great question. I practiced alone for a long time trying to understand the what and how of practice. Ended up with a Buddhist approach that was closer to ascetic practices I guess, which, together with my career focus and a need to please everyone, ended up with a burn out (a year today I think..). Trying to help me, my psychologist challenged me to sit and do nothing. Immediately a lot of aversion emerged and then a second later something clicked - soto zen it was. Having learnt my lesson that I need a teacher to guide my practice I looked. My only criteria was the style of the teacher. And here I am. Now learning to appreciate a sangha as well

        Gassho, Michael
        Satlah

        Comment

        • Risho
          Member
          • May 2010
          • 3179

          #5
          I'm still waiting for Ryumon's bread recipes

          Seriously, I have always been introspective and on the path - I just didn't know it; I came here via a comments section from a zen blog. I have to tell you - and I forgot who said it - but once you start this path, you never leave it. I've had frustrations, etc, but when life experiences break my heart, I always return home. Treeleaf feels like home to me; I don't care if there was a zen center by me, this is my first choice. When life feels chaotic or impossible, I have found no saner way than to try to keep the precepts and focus on the bodhisattva vows - I always fail of course, but orienting myself toward the impossible makes situations, no matter how dire, possible. It's a beautiful, beautiful practice, and I'm very grateful for this sangha, or I probably would never have taken Jukai.

          Gassho

          Risho
          -stlah
          Email: risho.treeleaf@gmail.com

          Comment

          • aprapti
            Member
            • Jun 2017
            • 889

            #6
            Every morning i take refuge in the buddha, the dharma and the sangha. I need the sangha to help me practice and to sit. For me the sangha has different families. There is the family of the Noorderpoort in the Netherlands, where my teacher, Jiun Hogen roshi, lives. But i live in Belgium, so i do not see them often. Than there is the family of Zensangha in Bruges where i live and with whom i do sit every week. And there is the family of Treeleaf, with the FSR where i can sit twice a day, mostly alone but always all one.. and sometimes on Sunday in the SSR.

            I do like to read a lot here too and to ponder what i read, for instance Shokai's great capping verses in the 108 Dharma gates. I am trying not to write to much This is already much more than 3 sentences


            so, thank you, sanghafamily of Treeleaf

            aprapti

            sat
            Last edited by aprapti; 03-24-2023, 11:06 PM.

            hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

            Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

            Comment

            • Meian
              Member
              • Apr 2015
              • 1722

              #7
              Learning, sangha, and practice. Most of my friends are here. This is my home.

              stlh
              鏡道 |​ Kyodo (Meian) | "Mirror of the Way"
              visiting Unsui
              Nothing I say is a teaching, it's just my own opinion.

              Comment

              • Shonin Risa Bear
                Member
                • Apr 2019
                • 923

                #8
                This is my home.
                gassho
                ds sat
                Visiting priest: use salt

                Comment

                • Risho
                  Member
                  • May 2010
                  • 3179

                  #9
                  Originally posted by aprapti
                  Every morning i take refuge in the buddha, the dharma and the sangha.
                  I really like that; I do this zen coffee ritual; I may like coffee a bit too much lol, so I figure it’s a great way to sneak in a bit of liturgy. I usually say Buddha, Dharna, Sangha when making it, but I think adding I take refuge in is more meaningful

                  some really nice responses here

                  gassho

                  risho
                  -stlah
                  Email: risho.treeleaf@gmail.com

                  Comment

                  • Ankai
                    Treeleaf Unsui
                    • Nov 2007
                    • 983

                    #10
                    After the war, (Iraq,) someone recommended that I learn to meditate.
                    I read some books, and I stumbled across Jundo while looking up info on Zen in 2007.
                    Sat.
                    Gassho!
                    護道 安海


                    -Godo Ankai

                    I'm still just starting to learn. I'm not a teacher. Please don't take anything I say too seriously. I already take myself too seriously!

                    Comment

                    • Rousei
                      Member
                      • Oct 2020
                      • 118

                      #11
                      Being a part of a group activity makes me more likely to continue when I feel like not and being a part of a group makes me feel like I have some form of accountability, I feel more motivated to practice when I see others practicing at times when I do not feel like doing so. As for why Treeleaf? I live in the countryside and the temples around me, although many, are mostly Pure Land, not to mention the language barrier. I have no sense of trying to achieve something and no sense of trying to obtain something. I try to think of my practice as simply how I live my life.

                      Gassho
                      Rousei
                      ST
                      浪省 - RouSei - Wandering Introspection

                      Comment

                      • Tosei
                        Member
                        • Jul 2020
                        • 210

                        #12
                        What Bion said.

                        Gassho,


                        [[st]]
                        東西 - Tōsei - East West
                        there is only what is, and it is all miraculous

                        Comment

                        • Tokan
                          Treeleaf Unsui
                          • Oct 2016
                          • 1240

                          #13
                          Hey all

                          Much of what I would have said has been said, so I will only add that I like the lack of pretence - this is a "wart's-and-all" sangha, and you can be you, not always without correction, but that correction always comes with graciousness and kindness.

                          Gassho, Tokan

                          satlah
                          平道 島看 Heidou Tokan (Balanced Way Island Nurse)
                          I enjoy learning from everyone, I simply hope to be a friend along the way

                          Comment

                          • Seiko
                            Treeleaf Unsui
                            • Jul 2020
                            • 1005

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Zenkon
                            I am curious. Why are you here, at Treeleaf?
                            I am here specifically because Treeleaf provides a way for me to engage with a sangha - as I am unable to travel to a physical temple.

                            Originally posted by Zenkon
                            What are you looking to achieve, to obtain?
                            To sit with people who want to sit. To chant, to chat, to learn.

                            Originally posted by Zenkon
                            What do you hope to get out of being a member?
                            Aside from further developing my magical powers?

                            The two-way relationship within a Buddhist community - to gain support and to support others if I can. To become more useful to others at Treeleaf and elsewhere.

                            Gasshō
                            Seiko
                            stlah
                            Last edited by Seiko; 03-28-2023, 02:40 PM.
                            Gandō Seiko
                            頑道清光
                            (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

                            My street name is 'Al'.

                            Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

                            Comment

                            • Shujin
                              Treeleaf Unsui
                              • Feb 2010
                              • 1075

                              #15
                              I wound up here after a few years as a police officer. My work schedule was always changing. Between that, and having two little kids at home, I couldn't regularly attend the local Zen group. I found Treeleaf while searching for a place that would support sitting & study. It was unique then, and still is. At present, I don't think there's something I want to gain from being here. I try to support others as I have been supported.

                              Gassho,
                              Shujin

                              sat today
                              Kyōdō Shujin 教道 守仁

                              Comment

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