General Practice Path

All practitioners at Zen Garland complete a General Path of training that provides a common foundation uniting us. Practitioners are invited to show equivalent practice, coursework or experience to meet and be excused from a requirement. People come to practice with us with different talents, life experience, maturity, interests and at different stages of their spiritual journey. We try to personalize our program to meet the appropriate needs of each individual.

At Zen Garland we take a holistic and phased approach to spiritual development, offering integrated training, practice and course work in the following areas:

♦ Zen Meditation
♦ Spiritual Guidance with lineage-holding Zen Garland  Zen Teachers
♦ Ethics, Social Justice and Social Service
♦ Embodiment
♦ Character Development
♦ Zen Buddhist Core Texts

Our General Practice Path has the following requirements. People with equivalent coursework or experience can apply to receive credit.

Zen Meditation

♦ Introduction to Zen Practice (course)
♦ Regular attendance in the Beginners Class
♦ Establishing a regular home and zendo meditation practice
♦ Attending three One-Day Retreats (zazenkai)
♦ Attending one Weekend Retreat (sesshin)

Spiritual Guidance

♦ Meeting with the various teachers at Zen Garland for dialogue
♦ Choosing a primary teacher at Zen Garland

Ethics, Social Justice and Social Service

♦ Foundations of Ethics East West (course)
♦ The Zen Garland Vows (course)
♦ Spirituality of Social Transformation (course)
♦ Practical Principles for Sustainable Living

Embodiment

♦ Introduction to Embodiment (course)
♦ Establishment of a personal embodiment practice

Character Development

♦ Inner Relationship Focusing, Level 1(courses)
♦ Counsel Practice or one trimester (participation in one of the ongoing groups)

Zen Buddhist Core Texts

♦ Survey of Buddhism, the First 2500 Years (course)
♦ Zen Practices (course)