Savannah Zen Center is made up of a Sangha, a community of lay people of all ages, who live and work in the marketplace and who find their spiritual roots in Soto Zen Buddhism. Each one finds their way in the practice of meditation and community life, participating as much as their lives will permit. Sangha members are encouraged to practice Zazen (sitting meditation), study all the forms of training and practice, allow the spiritual to enter all their daily activities, so that they may come to understand what Dogen Zenji means when he says that there is no difference between a monk and a lay person.
Zazen is at the heart of all Zen practice. The practice of Zazen is like our morning food which we take to help sustain us through the day in work, difficulties, joys and the unexpected in life.
As Sangha members deepen in practice, they often choose to receive the Precepts, the vow to live ethically and virtuously. The Transmission of the Buddha (Teacher), the Dharma (Teachings), and the Sangha (Community) is known as the Triple Treasure. We carry this Treasure with us in all our activities learning to sustain ourselves in the best possible way for this life here and now and for the benefit of all beings. We look forward to practicing with you.
- We welcome you regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, or physical ability.
- Please wear comfortable clothing that does not have large, colorful logos or advertising. Please, during the warmer months do not wear cutoffs, tank tops, or shorts. Please do not wear perfume, aftershave lotion or other scented lotions and creams.
- Practitioners are always welcome to use cushions, benches, or chairs.
- There is no charge for our instruction or teachings although we do ask for donations for special events. We are completely dependent upon donations and the generosity of our donors.
Gassho,
Rev. Fugon Cindy Beach
From Dogen’s Fukanzazengi
“The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon when he gains the water, like the tiger when she enters the mountain. For you must know that just there (in zazen) the right Dharma is manifesting itself and that from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside.”