The Zen Center of New York City – Fire Lotus Center is located in Brooklyn, New York and is a center associated with the Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO). This Western Buddhist order was founded by Daido Loori Roshi in 1980. Even though they are an American order, they hold onto historical traditional practices that were part of ancient Chinese and Japanese Zen culture. This creates a backbone based on traditional Buddhism, as the community passes the dharma down, generation by generation. The founder, Daido Loori Roshi, was trained in the Zen Center of Los Angeles, where he was given the goal to spread and share the dharma, obtaining the “Inka (seal of approval)” by other Rinzai teachers. Once given this approval, Daido Roshi established the Mountains and Rivers Order which acquired its name due to Daido’s favorite sutra – “Mountains and River Sutra.”
Diving in deeper to the beginnings of the MRO will help give insight on how the Zen Center of New York City – Fire Lotus Temple came to be. Once Daido Roshi was given the opportunity to spread the dharma, he established the Zen Mountain Monastery (ZMM) in 1980. As claimed in the title, this monastery was located towards the bottom of a mountain and practiced many traditional Buddhist training methods. First founded on the basis of Daido Roshi’s love for art, he named it the Zen Arts Center. Once the order was well established and grew a sense of community, the majority expressed their true interest in the traditional Zen practices, and therefore agreed to change the center name to Zen Mountain Monastery.
In this establishment, Daido Roshi taught his Eight Gates of Zen which gave followers a set way of life that could be encompassed in these eight gates. He wanted to emphasize the importance that whether living a life outside of the monastery or within, these behavioral practices are crucial to take part in. These 8 gates include: Zazen, study with a teacher, Buddhist study, liturgy, right action, art practice, body practice and work practice. Zazen is a form of seated meditation that focuses on intense concentration and breathing patterns. Through this practice, one can “realize the unity of the self with the ten thousand things, which has the potential to transform our lives and those of others.” The second gate emphasizes the importance of students and teachers being intentional with personal study, as the dharma is transmitted through one’s mind to another. To keep the ancestry of the Zen practice alive, students and teachers are encouraged to have strong relationships. The third gate claims that learning and reading about Buddhadharma, even though it will not fully depict the tradition to its fullest. At least reading the words will provide a basis to further understand the beauty of the religion. The fourth gate recognizes the uniqueness of Buddhist liturgy than other Western religions. Liturgy allows members to understand their nature, as they are hoping to understand their own self and its connections to ten thousand things. The fifth gate is called Right Action and is an educating practice on Buddha’s moral practices and teachings. These ethical ways are all focused around the idea that there is no self and we are striving to achieve that realization. The sixth gate opens up the training to art practices, as it encompasses many different forms to prove that “creativity is an inherent human process.” This can be through painting, drawing, and more. The seventh gate allows followers to feel their physical body movement and use that to our benefit of reaching self-knowledge. From simple movements like brushing your teeth to more intense activities, the connection with our bodies and mind is powerful in self-realization. The eighth and final gate is work practice which encourages followers to perform some type of labor activity to help benefit our world. These tasks can range from small chore-like activities to longer, more thought-provoking activities. The idea of allowing your mind to understand and take on a task will help us understand how to adapt to mental challenges.
These Eight Gates of Zen aim to educate and reform the way these people understand our world, as it hopes one can come to the realization of self-enlightenment. The MRO has these locations, Zen Mountain Monastery and Zen Center of New York City – Fire Lotus Center, to continue to spread the dharma. The difference between these two areas is that ZMM is a retreat center that allows followers to be separated from the busy world and invested in Buddhist tradition and practices. The Fire Lotus Temple is a center that holds events and services weekly, allowing those who live in the area to be a part of a community.
In the Fire Lotus Temple community, there are artists, doctors, teachers, students and many other groups of people dispersed throughout New York City. Many different backgrounds of people come together for their one common belief: “To live a life that cultivates generosity, wisdom and morality.” There are a few practitioners that live in the Fire Lotus Center alongside the ordained monastics. When considering how this community practices the dharma, it can be expressed in many different manners. This includes meditation, art lessons, academic study, and liturgy, as well as very close student teacher relationships. Throughout all practices within this community, they all tie back to how the MRO perceives training in the Western Zen Buddhism culture. The Fire Lotus Temple is located in one of the fastest moving cities in the nation. Having a central location for followers to meet weekly can be a way to separate themselves from the distractions. New York City is full of a range of different kinds of people, which the center encourages in their population of followers. No matter the differences among these followers, they all come together in unity for one common goal.
As stated prior, there are a few practitioners who are residing within the temple. These residents are immersed in a Zen culture living with this spiritual community yet also are able to have other obligations outside of the center. The schedule of a resident consists of daily zazen, liturgy, community work and retreats. This opportunity of immersing oneself in this community allows followers to have a scheduled routine of spiritual practice. The duration of one’s stay is not rigid, as many can decide for themselves how long they desire to live this lifestyle. This great sense of community all with one common goal can allow followers to really spark their own personal growth. The implementation of certain practices within residency adds to one’s own individual experience with their growth within the religion.
Due to COVID outbreaks, the center had to shut down in person gatherings. Recently this September, the center was reopened for fully vaccinated members. This allowed people to come in for services, still required to wear masks. For those who are not vaccinated, the center tries to make specific accommodations. One very common type of in person gathering is zazen which is seated meditation. These occur during the nights on weekdays and as well as a few sessions in the morning on the weekdays as well. If a member is unable to attend, the sessions are also live streamed for those to watch. In regards to accessibility of this community online, they are on many social media platforms, have their own podcast, hold online zoom meetings for sangha practice groups, and also have many ways to contact teachers at the Temple online. This allows individuals to learn more about the community virtually. While adjusting to this new hybrid way of life, the Lotus Fire Temple emphasizes their efforts towards accommodating personal needs. Whether a member can come in-person or virtually, the center wants to create a welcoming community to all followers.
For the regular Sunday programs, since September this year they are no longer requiring pre-registration. Current members as well as newcomers are welcome to the programs. For those looking to learn more about the community and are considering becoming a part of the sangha, the center has an orientation session that can give them more knowledge about the Mountains and Rivers Order. The Sunday programs start at 9:30 but the doors open at 9 for those to gather and find seating. The schedule of the program goes as follows: liturgy chanting, zazen, walking meditation (kinhin), and a talk by a teacher or senior student. The program concludes around 12:30 and the center asks that everyone participating in the service stay for its entirety. These weekly programs, as stated prior, can be experienced in person without any pre-registration, or virtually on a livestream.
This center is a very welcoming Buddhist community that strives to spread the dharma to many followers. Having multiple ways to perform practices, the Zen Center of New York City – Fire Lotus Temple tries to make their traditions accessible. Whether in person or virtually, this Buddhist community is welcoming to all different practitioners and hopes to be a center of traditional Zen practices.
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