On Sunday Jan 15, 2012 So Shim Sa Fellowship issued its first Meditation Class Facilitator Certificate to Dr. Tracey Shors. Tracey has been a member of the Zen Center for over two years. She will lead additional classes at our Rutgers Chapter. Dr. Tracey Shors is Professor II in the Department of Psychology and Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers University. The Fellowship and the Zen Center have been working closely with Dr. Shors on developing therapeutic applications of meditation as well as a number of research studies.
On Monday, June 22 nd Soshima Zen Center presented “Life, Death, Bardo, Next... a Meditative Journey Cloaked in Music”, a dramatic representation of the universal human journey as reflected in Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Attendees entered a darkened room to encounter a circle of cushions surrounded by a ring of electric candles. As they lay supine in the silent hall, the reverberation of the meditation bell signaled the beginning of the journey. Then, a dramatic narration began, accompanied by musical selections chosen to inspire the listener to imagine each stage of the process. The narrative told the story of a person transitioning from living mundane everyday life, unmindful of death, through sudden diagnosis of serious illness, struggle with disease, gradual acceptance of death, passing away of the body, the migration of the spirit, wandering in the bardo, liberation from the wheel of samsara, and the attainment of the Bodhisattva ideal. The conclusion of the prog...