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Welcome!
Ocean Light Zen Center is a community dedicated to help each of us perceive our true nature and save all beings from suffering.
We serve the Greater Seattle area and offer group meditation practice, retreats, dharma talks, and other programs to support you in beginning and sustaining a rewarding Zen meditation practice. Ocean Light is affiliated with the Kwan Um School of Zen, which has a worldwide network of Zen centers and teachers to provide even more support for your practice.
We invite you to join us at one of our Guest Nights. You'll learn the basics of Zen meditation and see for yourself how Zen can help you.
Ocean Light Zen Center offers weekly practice on Mercer Island to centrally serve Seattle, Bellevue, Issaquah, Renton and the surrounding areas. We also offer Sunday practice once each month in West Seattle.
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Why Practice Zen Meditation?
Almost every human being comes to a moment in life when a feeling of “something just isn’t right” appears. This feeling might come during a challenging time in our job, our family, or friendships. Or it might appear unexpectedly in the midst of our normal, daily routine. After many years of assumptions left unexamined in our lives, we find ourselves face-to-face with a big question: What am I?
Over 2500 years ago, a similar question caused Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha, to begin a personal journey of discovery. Through open-hearted meditation, Buddha found that each of us has the ability to discover our true nature.
When we genuinely ask, “What am I?” we discover the source of human suffering and we begin to perceive the role of cause and effect in our lives. Zen meditation gives us a way of nurturing this question fully. As we digest this open question, our attachments, our opinions, and our prejudices begin to fall away. Then, the true meaning of our life becomes clear and we can begin to function – moment to moment – in a way that is helpful to ourselves and to those around us.
How Do I Begin?
Zen meditation is very simple. Just breathe in and out. Open your eyes, your ears, and your heart. With gentleness and persistence, remain in the present moment with a clear mind. With a clear mind, truth and correct function appear moment to moment.
However, words do not adequately describe Zen meditation. The Zen tradition requires you to discover your life for yourself. To understand Zen, you must try it.
Everyone Is Welcome!
We invite you to join us at Guest Night. We’ll gladly show you the basics of Zen meditation. You can then see first-hand how this simple, ancient practice will help you and those around you.
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Learn Zen Meditation From Friendly People Who PracticeDevelop Concentration, Awareness, and CompassionPerceive Clearly Your Situation, Your Relationship, and Your Correct FunctionEmbrace Great Doubt, Great Faith, and Great CourageJoin A Community Dedicated To Four Great VowsSentient beings are numberless, we vow to save them all
Delusions are endless, we vow to cut through them all
The teachings are infinite, we vow to learn them all
The Buddha way is inconceivable, we vow to attain it
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Contact Us via email. We hope to see you at practice soon! Want to try Zen? Come to Guest Night. Ready for a Zen retreat? Check out our upcoming retreat schedule. Want to learn more about our teachers? Read about them here.
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