Canberra Soto Zen Group - CSZG

Canberra Soto Zen Group - CSZG We hold weekly ‘Zanzenkai’ services, in the Soto Zen (Mahayana) tradition. Lyneham. Contact: [email protected]

Canberra Soto Zen Group, an unincorporated not-for-profit association, was established in August 2012. The Group’s aims are:
“To practice the Soto Zen tradition in accordance with the teachings of Zen Master Dogen Zenji, taught by Zen Master Ekai Korematsu Osho, Teacher and Abbott of Jikishoan Zen Buddhist Community (JZBC). To provide an environment for and support to those in the Canberra region

community who have an interest in the Soto Zen tradition and more generally in Zen Buddhism. To maintain a link with Zen Master Ekai Korematsu Osho, and encourage members of CSZG and interested individuals to do so.”

The Zanzenkai sessions are held Sundays 2:30pm - 5:00 pm @ 32 Archibald St.

20/08/2026

Sunday Zazenkai 2:00 - 4:00 pm

(enter at 1:55pm)

Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre

32 Archibald St., Lyneham

and online via Zoom link below


Just to be yourself is what is meant by ‘just to sit’



If we understand that we are not the Soto Zen school, that we are not even Zen Buddhists, then we are truly Buddhists! That is the paradoxical way Shunryu Suzuki defines Zen Buddhism in this week’s reading Original Buddhism.

This is so because, according to Dogen Zenji, his school was not one of the many schools and because Zazen is not just one of the ways of behaviour: “Zazen is a practice which contains innumerable activities, which started even before Buddha and will continue forever.”

Just in case we do not appreciate what Shunryu Suzuki is really pointing to, he tells us that “Buddha’s teaching is everywhere. Today it is raining. That is Buddha’s teaching…Religion is everywhere…Teaching is in each moment, in every existence. That is the true teaching.” Buddha is the universal nature manifested as Shakyamuni Buddha, the Original Teacher.

That is the practice of Zazen that we engage in at Zazen-kkai.

Note: Tony will be away at a Jikishoan Zen retreat for the next two Sundays.

15/08/2026

Sunday Zazenkai 2:00 - 4:00 pm

(enter at 1:55pm)

Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre

32 Archibald St., Lyneham

"Tell me, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"Many of us have contemplated this question, so be...
01/08/2026

"Tell me, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Many of us have contemplated this question, so beautifully asked by Mary Oliver in 'The Summer Day'.

What is our life intention? How can we appreciate the beauty, singularity and heartbreaking fragility of this life we are given?

Zen points to a way that goes straight to the heart of these questions. By going beyond a limiting idea of self, we can realise our unlimited Self, our True Self, is always there ready to engage fully in life as it unfolds. We can see things as they are and appreciate them fully.

How to do that? This week we will read an abridged version of Dogen Zenji's Fukanzazengi - a set of instructions for practising zazen based on his lived experience. Master Dogen encourages us to practise wholeheartedly, because this is the sure way to your True Self.

"...unless we engage and actualize the Way, it will not be revealed.

“Therefore, devote your energies to the way that points directly to the Real, our own and universal nature, which is already always there to be enjoyed freely."

This freedom, this all-inclusive existence, is what we cultivate when we dedicate ourselves fully to practice.

P.S. Please note that the last CSZG retreat at Mirramu for this year is on 18-20 September.

Shunryu Suzuki tells us that "Communication is very important in Zen practice" in this week's reading, Communication.Whi...
24/07/2026

Shunryu Suzuki tells us that "Communication is very important in Zen practice" in this week's reading, Communication.

While "there is no perfect word, [and] some distortion is always present in a statement... we have to understand objective fact itself - the ultimate fact. By ultimate fact we do not mean something eternal or something constant, we mean things as they are in each moment."

Therefore communication, apart from providing relevant information, becomes an intrinsic element of Zen practice, especially when pointing our attention to this moment by moment awareness.

Shunryu Suzuki emphasizes the importance of expressing ourselves freely, by being "true to your feelings, and to your mind, expressing yourself without reservations...true communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another."

However, "the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything". That is because "only by the actual practice of Zen can you experience reality directly and understand in their true sense the various statements made by your teacher or by Buddha."

Let's endeavour to follow Shunryu Suzuki's recommendations as much as we can at Zazen-kai.

The Zen Buddhist tradition has produced over the centuries many descriptions of Reality, i.e. "things as they are" (rega...
19/07/2026

The Zen Buddhist tradition has produced over the centuries many descriptions of Reality, i.e. "things as they are" (regardless of what we think, understand or have opinions about).

Apart from the statements and discourses (sutras) attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha, Zen Masters have articulated their insights and realizations both in prose and in poetic form. One of the best known is the Sandokai (Harmony of Difference and Equality) by Sekito Keisen, the 35th Chan Teacher. It is considered a primary source of Zen wisdom and read widely by Zen practitioners. It is this week's text, which we will read together and comment on.

The Sandokai's essential theme is that when we have full understanding of "things as they are" then we find our true home in Reality as-It-Is: "Each of the myriad things has its merit, expressed according to function and place."

If we discriminate too much based on our own impressions, beliefs or preconceptions, we can miss the deeper meaning of everything. We miss the inherent harmony or equality in everything.

Shunryu Suzuki, in his commentary on the Sandokai, says: "Because things are different there is equality."

Through the practice of Zazen and careful study of our everyday existence as things arise, we find harmony with the Big Existence. That also means we find harmony within ourselves and with others. Whatever situation arises, we can find peace knowing that: "We are always on the Path of the Buddha."

The joy of practising with a group, as we do at Sunday Zazen-kai, is sharing that Path with others.

Please note: The Canberra Sangha's next retreat will be held at Mirramu on 18-20 September. Please make a note in your diary.

Buddhist teachings, known collectively as the Dharma, are vast and varied expressions of the Truth originally taught by ...
11/07/2026

Buddhist teachings, known collectively as the Dharma, are vast and varied expressions of the Truth originally taught by Shakyamuni Buddha. Over the centuries and in different places in Asia, they have been expressed in various traditions (Mahayana, Theravada, Tibetan, etc.). This week, we hear a version of it from the non-dual Dzogchen (Great Perfection) Tibetan tradition in the form of a short poem from The Heart Drop Cycle, by Jingme Lingpa.

In five short stanzas, it conveys some of the core messages of Zen - on the purity of our original nature, the inability of conceptual thought to grasp the mind, and the challenges of following the spiritual path:

“Mind itself, originally pure, is like space.

As long as you look for it with conceptual tools,

You are like a bug encasing itself in its own spit –

In your obsession, you turn your back on what is truly meaningful.

How worn out you must be, you listeners, from rejecting everything!”

In the accompanying commentary, we hear that "this (spiritual) path is not about preferring one experience to another, one feeling to another, but about being present in everything that arises." Or, in Zen terms, "just sitting".

When we sit in Zazen, we can appreciate that "thoughts, feelings and sensations arise out of nothing and dissolve back into nothing." They are part of and not separate from the endlessly creative expression of Awareness itself. The more we come to appreciate that, the more we can come back to "what is truly meaningful" and be present to the reality that "Awareness is what we are."

Instead of reading one of Shunryu Suzuki's marvellous talks or other well known Zen texts, this week we welcome reflecti...
27/06/2026

Instead of reading one of Shunryu Suzuki's marvellous talks or other well known Zen texts, this week we welcome reflections on any of the quotes included in the attached 'Zen Buddhism Essential Quotes'.

The practice is in contemplating the chosen quote/s and allow it to 'talk' to us, eliciting an insight into our own nature.

Hearing and reflecting on words that come from awakened sources (e.g. Zen Masters) is another form of Meditation. The Awakening process is simply "Wisdom looking for Wisdom" [Shunryu Suzuki]

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Just to be yourself is what is meant by ‘just to sit’Becoming yourself means to realize our original nature - our true s...
23/05/2026

Just to be yourself is what is meant by ‘just to sit’

Becoming yourself means to realize our original nature - our true self. This is the 'Buddha nature' that Shunryu Suzuki explains in this week's talk, Buddha's Enlightenment.

"The only way to understand Buddha nature is just to practise Zazen, just to be here as we are... when we practise Zazen we have Buddha nature, and each of us is Buddha." It's important to recognize that "What we see or what we hear is just a part, or a limited idea, of what we actually are" and "When we can 'just sit' in every moment, we can appreciate that things are as they are... Everything as it is — is the way Buddha is."

Zen doesn't focus on developing a deep intellectual understanding of what Buddha nature is - Zen's emphasis is on directly seeing into your own nature and discovering for yourself what you truly are. That is why we practise. It is our heartfelt desire to know our true self - the self that exists beyond sight and sound ("beyond the realm of consciousness").

When we appreciate Buddha nature in everything, including ourselves, then we are no different from Buddha. We are in complete harmony with the endlessly creative unfolding of reality, finding our true home in the present moment.

“Without trying to be Buddha you are Buddha. This is how we attain enlightenment."

P.S. The Canberra Soto Zen Group's Retreat will be held at the Mirramu Arts Centre on 11-14 June.

Just to be yourself is what is meant by ‘just to sit’That statement has the power of transforming our view of what we ar...
16/05/2026

Just to be yourself is what is meant by ‘just to sit’

That statement has the power of transforming our view of what we are and of our place in this world: Meditation (the practice of just sitting itself) is what we are!

How is that insight reflected in our lives? In this week's talk, Harmony [from Becoming Yourself], Shunryu Suzuki suggests that Zen practice is like being a gardener. "When you sow a seed, you have to wait for the seed to come up, and when it comes up, you have to take care of it. That is our practice.."

That insight about our true identity needs to be cultivated and we cultivate it taking care of people, relationships and things as they develop, being aware that "each seed and each plant has its own character and its own colour..." This relational aspect is the spirit of Mahayana Buddhism. Everything is related to everything else. Everything is included in our practice. "Zen is not just personal practice, and our enlightenment is not just personal attainment. When we attain enlightenment, everything should be enlightened."

In that context, enlightenment is like the rocks in Shunryu Suzuki's metaphorical garden. Today's enlightenment may be big or small, round or jagged, calm or austere; tomorrow's may be different. All are necessary to create a harmonious whole. We should not pick out only our favourites, but understand them all in relation to each other. "You should have various 'enlightenments'. You should experience various experiences, and you should put more emphasis on relationships between people."

As the famous Zen poem Sandokai says: "Each of the myriad things has its merit, expressed according to function and place."

Through our practice-enlightenment of 'just sitting', we find our 'function and place' in each moment and enable others to do likewise. This is how we create harmony and practice it as a Sangha.

What happens when we drop the labels that historically have been used to describe 'Buddhism'? For Shunryu Suzuki, in thi...
09/05/2026

What happens when we drop the labels that historically have been used to describe 'Buddhism'? For Shunryu Suzuki, in this week's reading Original Buddhism, "Buddhism is just Truth, which includes various truths in it." It's an amazing statement, stated with the authority of a Master.

If we take it as a preliminary expression, we are led to ask: What is that Truth, also known as the Buddha's teachings (the Dharma) and how can we experience it?

As proof that we do not need to have a conceptual understanding of the teachings, he tells us: "Today it is raining. This is Buddha's teaching... Religion is not any particular teaching. Religion is everywhere. We have to understand our teaching in this way. We should forget all about some particular teaching; we should not ask which is good or bad. There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment, in every existence. That is the true teaching."

Through our practice of Zazen, we can come to realize that the greatest teacher is the Buddha - our own true nature as it exists here and now. Therefore, "To live in each moment means to be the temporal activity of Buddha."

At Zazen-kai and retreats we dedicate ourselves to 'live in each moment' as a Sangha, a community of those who practise the Truth.

Address

32 Archibald Street
Canberra, ACT
2602

Opening Hours

2:30pm - 5pm

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