Soshimsa Zen Center's 4 Year Anniversary Celebration (June 23, 2013)

On June 23, 2013 Soshimsa Zen Center celebrated its 4 Year Anniversary. Although with the new location it felt a bit like a Grand Opening. As usual we had a video collage of the past events, presentations and speeches by Ven. Myong-Ahn, Mooh-Sang and Duhk-Song Sunim as well as Mrs. Kelley Shim-Choi and Prof. Tracey Shors. We talked about our future plans and the work that Soshimsa Fellowship is doing at Rutgers University. Dr. Shors, who heads our meditation research study spoke of the impact of the Fellowship's and Soshimsa's work on the lives of students as well as the women at the battered women's center where Dr. Shors teaches meditation as part of the research. Ven. Duhk-Song, who serves as the Director of the 1000 Hands Outreach, had words of encouragement for the current participants of our Volunteer Program. He also congratulated past recipients of the President's Volunteer Award of which Soshimsa is a Certifying Organization (www.presidentialserviceawards.gov). The festivities concluded with our Abbot, Ven. Myong-Ahn officially adopting the Charter for Compassion (www.charterforcompassion.org) as Soshimsa Zen Center became a recognized Charter for Compassion Partner.

Words about words

In the near future, we’ll talk about chanting. But I thought it appropriate to first talk about words. Words can be fun, like a toy, we can play with them. “I went to a diner the other day, and order the chicken catastrophe, and eggs overwhelming.   The chicken was so undercooked that it walked down to the end of the counter and tried to beat up my cup of coffee. The coffee wasn't strong enough to defend itself. ” (paraphrased from a Tom Waits song.) Words are tools, descriptive tools. A group of us gets together, and we agree on the meaning of the word and we agree that this thing (word) is going to point to that thing that is the real article. I’m holding up a cup right now. I’m drinking “water”. I’m drinking “aqua”. I’m drinking “mool”, I’m drinking “woda”. Regardless of the word for water, in Spanish, Korean or Polish, the word itself just points to a thing. After all, we cannot drink the word “water”. Like a finger pointing to the moon. Don't get stuck on the finger or ...

Founder's Day 2023 (Abbot's Address)

I have, from time to time, on the rarest of occasions, been accused of being...verbose. I know! I was as shocked then as you are now. So, we are in imminent danger of the lunch getting cold. Yet, I don’t have the words (imagine that!) to express how fortunate we are to be in the mere presence of a Dosa. This is the stuff we each have to stick our head through the mystical curtain of mystery to glimpse. So, we won’t go there now. I thought to myself… if I absolutely had to, choose a single quality of IlCho Dosanim that I would want to highlight. What would that be? And of course, we go through the usual list: wisdom, compassion, knowledge, patience, etc. Yet, as much as all of these are true, today they won’t do. And so, I went on, sifting through and I think I found it. So here it is, the single most impressive quality of Il-Cho Dosanim, for me….expressed in a single word… succinct. Succinct. Never have I met someone who can distill the esoteric and the complexities of our human condit...

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