INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
9:00-10:30 Zazen (Three twenty-five minutes sitting sessions with 5 minutes of kinhin after each sit)
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Roshi, Senior Teacher, or Guest
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
Jukai is a Zen public ordination ceremony wherein a lay student receives the first five Buddhist precepts and a formal initiation into Buddhism, making one a member of the Buddha's family.
Retreat Downloads
Suggested Program Price: $150 or pay what you can afford. The price includes vestments.
If you are interested, contact Elliston Roshi at taiunmelliston@gmail.com
9:00-10:30 Zazen (Three twenty-five minutes sitting sessions with 5 minutes of kinhin after each sit)
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Roshi, Senior Teacher, or Guest
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
We will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
ROHATSU is the annual celebration of Buddha’s Enlightenment. We emulate his supreme effort by sitting up all night on Saturday — outdoors weather permitting — and facing the East, where he saw the morning star, triggering his awakening. This year’s retreat is condensed into two days over the weekend, with arrival Thursday evening (Dec. 7) for out-of-towners. We join the regular program on Sunday AM.
All are invited to attend (at zendo or online) and follow the schedule as you are able. We recommend the overnight Saturday sit for those experienced in meditation. A recitation of selected teachings will be led by Elliston Roshi on Saturday afternoon following Just Sit Saturday that morning. Plan to come for all or any part of the schedule. Please go to (Link) to register.
Click Here for schedule
Suggested Program price: $75 per day or pay what you can afford.
More info email taiunmelliston@gmail.com
Zoom Meeting Information
Meeting ID: 828 7529 2533
Passcode: aszc
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
We will be closed for the Holidays
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
9:00-10:30 Zazen (Three twenty-five minutes sitting sessions with 5 minutes of kinhin after each sit)
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Roshi, Senior Teacher, or Guest
Just Sit Saturday is your opportunity to enhance your daily practice and prepare for extended meditation in upcoming retreats offered during the year.
We will focus on just sitting zazen.
MORNING SESSIONS: 9 AM - NOON
(6) SESSIONS- 25 min sitting + 5 min walking
Suggested Program price: $25 or pay what you can afford.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Guest Speaker Taizan Alford
Taizan Alford received jukai from his teacher, Rev. Sosan Flynn of Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN, in 2014, and received shukke tokudo, or home-leaving ordination, from her in the fall of 2016. In early 2020 he completed a six-week ango, or intensive practice period, at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN. He spent four months at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, NY, later that year. In 2021, Taizan was shuso, or head student, at Clouds in Water. He is currently serving at resident priest in training for at the Nebraska Zen Cebrwe in Omaha, Nebraska.
Taizan’s meditation journey began in the early 1980s. His focus as a Zen practitioner and priest-in-training is on how zazen, taking refuge, and loving-kindness can heal old wounds and help individuals and communities experience more joy and less suffering. Sober since 1982, Taizan is also a singer-songwriter, deeply grateful for his loving and supportive husband, Tom. He has taught therapeutic and restorative yoga since 1998.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
9:00-10:30 Zazen (Three twenty-five minutes sitting sessions with 5 minutes of kinhin after each sit)
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Roshi, Senior Teacher, or Guest
The MASTER CLASS will occur every fourth Saturday of the month, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. We will engage in various media studies and exercises alternating with bouts of meditation, inviting you to explore and expand your powers of creativity. Elliston Roshi will share his training in fine art and professional design and teach creativity in the context of Zen and everyday life, entertaining your comments and questions through interactive dialog.
Class Schedule:
0900-0930 Meditation
0930-1200 Course Content & Discussion; Q&A
(All reading and study materials provided. Bring your documentary media: notebook & camera - feel free to photograph and record. Course content may vary slightly.)
Please plan to arrive by 830 to help set up tables.
Fees:
The fees for this program support Roshi in his work and benefit ASZC. They may be may be paid per session at the door or online. Additional dana for the teacher is accepted and appreciated place cash or checks in the dana box provided or send via PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo to taiunmelliston@gmail.com. Contact Roshi for additional information.
Individual Class (Per session): $20
Thursday evenings in 2024 will introduce a new online program of contemporary study of Elliston-roshi’s recent book, ”The Razorblade of Zen.”
ZENtalk will be suspended for the rest of the year to avoid scheduling conflicts.
ANNOUNCING: NEW WEEKLY PROGRAM FOR 2024
“SHARPENING ‘THE RAZORBLADE OF ZEN’”
Thursdays 8:00-9:00 pm beginning March 7th
Please plan to join online (Zoom Link Below) to engage in a dialog with the author regarding this.
You can join at any time and catch up on the prior readings.
Donation only. No fee required. Dana may be given in cash or check at the door or sent to Roshi online via PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo to:
taiunmelliston@gmail.com
The book can be purchased at ASZC or Amazon
For more information, email: taiunmelliston@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Guest Speaker Shohaku Okumura Roshi
Shohaku Okumura is a Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. He is a graduate of Komazawa University and has practiced in Japan at Antaiji, Zuioji, and the Kyoto Soto Zen Center, and in Massachusetts at the Pioneer Valley Zendo. He is the former director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco. His previously published books of translation include Shobogenzo Zuimonki, Dogen Zen, Zen Teachings of Homeless Kodo, and Opening the Hand of Thought. Okumura is also editor of Dogen Zen and Its Relevance for Our Time; and SotoZen. He is the founding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community, based in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family.
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
STO/ASZC FALL RETREAT is an annual retreat emphasizing Zen meditation with a series of daily talks about our Lineage and Legacy from our Kodo Sawaki, Kosho Uchiyama, Shohaku Okumura lineage. The schedule wraps around all regular ASZC programs such as Newcomer Workshop (Wed 7:30-8:30pm); ASZC Music Program (Thu evening); Just Sit Saturday (9:00am-Noon); Morning Meditation (M-F 6:00-7:00am); as well as Sunday Morning Meditation and Heart Sutra Service (9:00am-Noon); so as not to disrupt regular attendance.
Click Here for Daily Schedule
Click Here for Speaker Schedule
Suggested Fees: $75 per day, or $250 for the entire retreat (3.5 days). Or pay what you can afford if you are a student, or are under other financial constraints (fees also waived for certain in-kind donations). You are welcome to attend any part or all of the retreat, determining your own fee on the honor system.
For more information please contact our Abbot @ taiunmelliston@gmail.com
Thursday evenings in 2024 will introduce a new online program of contemporary study of Elliston-roshi’s recent book, ”The Razorblade of Zen.”
ZENtalk will be suspended for the rest of the year to avoid scheduling conflicts.
ANNOUNCING: NEW WEEKLY PROGRAM FOR 2024
“SHARPENING ‘THE RAZORBLADE OF ZEN’”
Thursdays 8:00-9:00 pm beginning March 7th
Please plan to join online (Zoom Link Below) to engage in a dialog with the author regarding this.
You can join at any time and catch up on the prior readings.
Donation only. No fee required. Dana may be given in cash or check at the door or sent to Roshi online via PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo to:
taiunmelliston@gmail.com
The book can be purchased at ASZC or Amazon
For more information, email: taiunmelliston@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
Please join us for our multi-day meditation retreat in the western North Carolina mountains. Watershed Retreat Center is located on 94 acres in a pastoral farm setting highly conducive to finding, or returning to our true nature, in the embrace of Mother Nature.
Contact: Chishiki Bryan Price 828-389-4927
Where: Watershed Retreat Center - 361 Albone Branch Road, Hayesville, NC 28904
Fees: $200 or pay what you can
Questions Prior to Retreat Contact: Atlanta Soto Zen Center Email : bryan.price.md@gmail.com
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
9:00-10:30 Zazen (Three twenty-five minutes sitting sessions with 5 minutes of kinhin after each sit)
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Roshi, Senior Teacher, or Guest
Thursday evenings in 2024 will introduce a new online program of contemporary study of Elliston-roshi’s recent book, ”The Razorblade of Zen.”
ZENtalk will be suspended for the rest of the year to avoid scheduling conflicts.
ANNOUNCING: NEW WEEKLY PROGRAM FOR 2024
“SHARPENING ‘THE RAZORBLADE OF ZEN’”
Thursdays 8:00-9:00 pm beginning March 7th
Please plan to join online (Zoom Link Below) to engage in a dialog with the author regarding this.
You can join at any time and catch up on the prior readings.
Donation only. No fee required. Dana may be given in cash or check at the door or sent to Roshi online via PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo to:
taiunmelliston@gmail.com
The book can be purchased at ASZC or Amazon
For more information, email: taiunmelliston@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
The first 25 minutes is zazen(meditation) followed by an informal discussion on the book that ends at 9:00 PM. Contact info@aszcinfo@gmail.com for more meeting password.
9:00-10:30 Zazen (Three twenty-five minutes sitting sessions with 5 minutes of kinhin after each sit)
Traditional Soto Zen Service 10:30 AM
Dharma Talk: 10:30 AM
Speaker: Roshi, Senior Teacher, or Guest
Regular old ideas may not be enough anymore…if they ever were. Especially when it comes to creative writing. The phenomenally successful filmmaker, David Lynch, says, “Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch a little fish, you can stay in shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper.” We invite you to go deeper to discover new ways to catch the big one. In the upcoming Zen Writing Workshop, Zazen meditation is combined with periods of prompt-driven writing, illuminating the connections between Zen meditation and creative expression.
(All reading and study materials provided. Bring your documentary media: notebook & camera - feel free to photograph and record. Course content may vary slightly.)
Attendance is limited to no more than 15 | RSVP by September 14, 2024
Email taiunmelliston@gmail.com to RSVP.
Suggested Fee: $75 (Or what you can afford).
Class Schedule:
08:30 AM Introductions
08:45 AM Sitting Instructions
09:00 AM Sitting
09:30 AM Writing
10:00 AM Sitting
10:30 AM Writing
11:00 AM Sitting
11:30 AM Writing
12:00 PM Lunch/Read-out
01:00 PM Adjourn
Writing prompts
During the writing periods, participants may work on writing for a specific piece they already have in progress.
We will provide prompts and creative exercises for those who don't have their own writing project in progress.
Lunch
Bring your own or enjoy the pizza we'll order in.
Facilitators
Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston-Roshi is Abbott and head teacher at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and the leader of ASZC’s network of affiliates in the US and Canada organized under the Silent Thunder Order. Elliston-Roshi is also a professional designer and an accomplished fine artist whose work is featured in Atlanta at the Kai Lin Art Gallery in West Midtown. Prior to moving to Atlanta in 1970, Elliston-Roshi taught at both the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle Campus and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In both schools, he was responsible for developing curriculum and teaching in a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate classes.
Andrew Dietz is founder of Creative Growth Group and partner in Creative Influence – a “sales-enabled” B2B content studio and public relations firm. He is also the author of two books, myriad blog posts and articles and a long time member of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and has led prior workshops on meditation, creativity and writing. He is a graduate of University of Michigan (BBA, Marketing) and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (MBA, Marketing).
About ASZC
Atlanta Soto Zen Center (ASZC) is a Zen practice center founded in 1977 by Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston-Roshi, abbot of ASZC and guiding teacher of the Silent Thunder Order. The Atlanta Soto Zen Center is recognized by the SZBA (Soto Zen Buddhist Association) and serves as the main training center for the Silent Thunder Order which has affiliate centers throughout the United States and Canada. ASZC is located near Briarcliff Road/Clifton Road intersection on the perimeter of Emory University. The facility is adjacent to Zonolite Park: 1.5 miles of gravel trails through 13 acres including an old-growth forest, a sunny meadow, small rivulets and a beautiful wetland garden. If weather permits, we’ll use the park for a portion of our program. www.aszc.org and www.storder.org
Thursday evenings in 2024 will introduce a new online program of contemporary study of Elliston-roshi’s recent book, ”The Razorblade of Zen.”
ZENtalk will be suspended for the rest of the year to avoid scheduling conflicts.
ANNOUNCING: NEW WEEKLY PROGRAM FOR 2024
“SHARPENING ‘THE RAZORBLADE OF ZEN’”
Thursdays 8:00-9:00 pm beginning March 7th
Please plan to join online (Zoom Link Below) to engage in a dialog with the author regarding this.
You can join at any time and catch up on the prior readings.
Donation only. No fee required. Dana may be given in cash or check at the door or sent to Roshi online via PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo to:
taiunmelliston@gmail.com
The book can be purchased at ASZC or Amazon
For more information, email: taiunmelliston@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION to SOTO ZEN MEDITATION:
7:30-9:00 pm - Orientation and Instructions including 15-20 min meditation(ZAZEN) sessions with 5-min walking (kinhin)
