If Zen Buddhism has one quality it is that of fierce, dedicated, deep questioning, asked with honesty, and care. Nothing is off the table.

We humans are storytellers, artists in time and space.

We create worlds with our words and then enter them, often forgetting the sharp taste of our lives. Until we are reminded, and come face to face with a longing for a path of depth and beauty that can support and guide us as we find our way. 

The path of Zen Buddhism is an ancient, compassionate, and wise one that welcomes us to enter it, as we are, and encounter our lives directly, fruitfully, with care and courage, ask the questions that need asking, and discover a life-giving way of living with others in this world of change and challenge

The first question we ask is why Zen? Why should we care about what Zen is or isn’t at all?

Right now many ask: What has Zen Buddhism to do with me and the complex life I am living right now?  Isn’t it a disengaged practice of escape? Am I expected to leave my intelligence and questions at the door? What has it to do with this earth in dire need, with the reality of inequity?

These are clarifying questions we must ask, ones worthy of our lives. We are right to ask them, and many more, for without them we are simply nibbling around the edges of what is most true for us and our world.  And we are right to question the person responding to them and discover if those responses call us to explore further.

Questioning in this way, perhaps ironically, drives us into the heart of Zen practice. For if Zen Buddhism has one quality it is that of fierce, dedicated, deep questioning asked with honesty, and care.  Nothing is off the table. What is the most important thing? How do we live in accordance with it - with all beings? Who are “we”? How are we? What of joy, connection, and humor? What will build resilience, vigor and a measure of peace to our life with others?

This is the spirit of our practice at Ocean Gate, open doors, open hearts, and open minds.

Respecting the tradition and those who brought and sustained it to us, we receive it with humility, curiosity, and commitment. And, at the same time, we know that a tradition is only alive if it is creatively responsive to the needs and realities of the place and people in which it takes root.

In the path of Zen Buddhism, we ask ourselves to realize its transformative teachings in this life, to listen to what is unheard, look for what is unseen, imagine what we cannot imagine. Zazen (seated meditation) is the foundation of our practice, but it extends and includes all aspects of  our life. We keep our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds open, our voices clear, we stay of this world, look straight at life with a spirit of radical inquiry and live well in this world with all beings.