On Sunday, May 18 Soshimsa Zen Center held its first ceremony since the long journey of finding and renovating its new location at 1112 North Avenue in Plainfield NJ. It was truly a pleasure seeing familiar faces and the ceremony became one of celebrating new beginnings (for the fish, for all those graduating school and for the new Soshimsa location) as well as the old friendships. Thank you all for attending and thank you all who mailed in their prayers and best wishes.
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...
