About Wild Country Zen
Meaning of the name "Wild Country Zen"
I think of "Wild" as the true, boundless, wordless state of nature; "Country" is meant to signify an open, healing spaciousness, a joyful "allowing" of our true buddha-nature to emerge; "Zen" is my Buddhist lineage, as I am a guiding teacher of meditation and dharma with the A-Town Sangha in Aromas, California, and sangha member of the Jikoji Zen Meditation Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I hope you enjoy the name "Wild Country Zen" as much as I do--it always makes me smile! Let's see how it manifests going forward. Come walk this path with us and see... -- Taizan Gendo
Taizan Gendo (Mark Adams)
My own path in Zen began in earnest in 1989 with the winter residential practice (Ango) period at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and my first teacher, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, who set me on a 30 year path. In 2009, I received the Jukai precepts and lay ordination, and was given the name "Taizan Gendo" (meaning "peaceful mountain, subtle way") from Eiko Carolyn Atkinson, a dharma heir of Kobun Chino Otagowa Roshi. In 2018 I was ordained a Zen priest in Kobun's Phoenix Cloud lineage by Jikoji Zen Meditation Center's guiding teacher, Shoho Michael Newhall. I have come to love this practice. I hope to be a skillful vehicle in sharing it with all sentient beings...
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Practice with us in the "Dharma Rain" room
The A-Town Sangha of Aromas meets every Monday evening at 7pm. We practice a variety of guided, science based mindfulness meditations as well as traditional silent Zen (shikantaza), often with a dharma talk and discussion at the end. No cost. Nothing to join. Beginners and long timers, agnostics, and non-zen traditions of meditation or prayer--all welcome! Sit on chairs or bring your own zafu cushion or bench. Really welcoming and easygoing folks. Hope to see you soon! We meet in the Aromas Water District conference room at 388 Blohm Ave. Aromas, California. (see map below)
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