Soshimsa Zen Center Celebrates Sixth Anniversary

On Sunday, July 12, members of Soshima Zen Center assembled to celebrate the sixth anniversary of Its founding.

The Abbess, Ven. Ji-Hyon Sunim of Kwan Um Sa and her sangha were also present for the occasion.

Women of the Center once again donned traditional Korean dress called Han-Bok to facilitate the presentation of the Six Offerings (Yook Gong-Yang).

Four Soshimsa Zen members were presented with their Dharma names.

Five members spoke; some related their personal experience with the Center, and Ven. Duhk-Song Sunim recounted a bit of the history.

There was a musical performance of “My Own Two Hands”* with instrumental accompaniment by Robert Davey on piano and Rafael Rios on ukulele and vocal participation by the Lotus Buds children.

The Abbot of Soshimsa Zen Center, Ven. Myong-Ahn Sunim officially opened the 1000-day Kwan Um Prayer for the health and prosperity of the collective Soshimsa sangha family and with hopes of Soshimsa coming to own its own facilities in the 1000 day future.

Headwaters of Social Issues

Many people work in different ways towards resolving issues surrounding civil rights, racism, LGBTQ+ issues, violence, pollution, etc.. How does the Zen Center address these issues? It happens that there are many, many lakes which are polluted. Many are poisoned, making them either unsuitable or impossible for life to continue to exist in them. Many inhabitants of the lakes are sick and struggling because the waters are polluted or poisoned. The task of providing a healthy environment for the life of these lakes seems nearly impossible. We cannot seem to remedy the situation quickly enough. These polluted waters further flow into the one great ocean and it, too, becomes polluted. The way we, at the Zen Center, approach the hardships and suffering of the lakes—and ultimately the one great ocean—is by making sure the sources of water are pure. We address pollution by addressing the source. The source waters of the problems facing the LGBTQ+ community, social justice, women’s rights, raci...

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...

SOSHIMSA ZEN CENTER - BLOG

Search This Blog