Meditation is such a simple concept. Find a quiet place, stop all activity, and just sit. It’s so simple and in our busy and increasingly fast-paced culture so hard to do. Our group makes it easy: we offer the time, place and wonderful supportive energy to begin. We have taken on the name Shikantaza to reflect the Zen roots of many of our members: however we practice just sitting without reference to any particular spiritual practice. To help us enter into meditation we begin with short readings from a variety of inspirational sources. New and experienced practitioners of any form of silent meditation are welcome.

On the practice of generosity (dana)

In many traditional cultures, teachings have been offered in an open-handed manner.  That is, they are offered free of charge, and in a way that makes the teachings equally accessible to all who desire to learn and grow from them.  This way of offering teachings is done purely from a place of generosity, with no expectation of reciprocal exchange of any kind. The benefit of making teachings available to all is quite obvious; it is the natural extension of having benefited from them ourselves.

This donation-based system of offering classes asks that participants pay at a level that is appropriate for them.  What is appropriate?  This is where the practice of generosity can become truly transformative as we are asked to confront our relationships with the concepts of value, generosity, and support.