Written by Megan Wu
“Before your mind starts to work and you want to run away, accept every moment as an opportunity presented to you to practice facing reality as it really is.” – Dainin Katagiri
Located in the Bemis Park Landmark Heritage District in Omaha, Nebraska, and nestled between trees, is the Nebraska Zen Center/Heartland Temple. It is a small, unassuming building that would look like an ordinary house to anyone driving by, but is home to a dedicated Sōtō Zen Buddhist community.
One of the oldest Zen communities in the United States, the Nebraska Zen Center dedicates themselves to supporting each other in the practice of meditation and studying and cultivating wisdom and compassion for themselves and others. Their mission is “to provide a place where people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to learn about Zen Buddhism, to practice together in fellowship with others, and to pursue the project of awakening – to realize their true nature.” The Nebraska Zen Center is open to all regardless of age, race, national origin, disability, gender, creed, or sexuality.
Sōtō Zen Buddhism
Sōtō Zen Buddhism, one of the largest sects of Zen Buddhism, was first established in Japan in the 12th century by Eihei Dogen. Sōtō Zen originated in China from Dongshan and Caoshan, founders of the Caodong School, and it centers around the practice of meditation and stresses meditation without the goal of enlightenment because one is already inherently enlightened. Rather than seeking enlightenment through meditation, it is used as a way to help reveal one’s compassion and universal connection for all life and expand one’s inherent qualities of kindness, patience, wisdom, and generosity. Sōtō Zen is so widely practiced because it focuses on the idea of “everyday practice,” encouraging awareness of one’s own mind and living mindfully in one’s daily life. The accessibility of this form of Buddhism is attractive to many in Japanese society because people are able to practice Zen in all facets of their life including family, work, and community.
Sōtō Zen spread to North America in 1922 by Hosen Isobe. The Sōtō Zen North America Office was established in 1937 and was originally focused on dispatching priests to temples built by immigrants in North America and cultivating Sōtō Zen communities where there were large Japanese populations. Now the Sōtō Zen community has grown and spread to many different racial and cultural communities across North America.
Dainin Katagiri Roshi and the Founding of the Nebraska Zen Center
The Nebraska Zen Center/Heartland Temple (NZC) is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist community that was founded and established in 1975 by Dainin Katagiri Roshi, who is credited for playing an integral role in helping bring Zen Buddhism from Japan to the United States, particularly the Midwest, during its formative years. Originally born in Osaka, Japan in 1928, Katagiri Roshi was ordained as a monk and studied at Eihei-ji for three years before enrolling at Komazawa University, a renowned Sōtō Zen institution.
In 1963, Katagiri Roshi was sent to Zenshuji Sōtō Mission in Los Angeles by the Sōtō Headquarters Office in Japan to serve as a priest in a Zen monastery. He was then sent to another monastery in San Francisco where he helped out for around seven years before he relocated to Minneapolis in 1972. He chose Minneapolis because of the lack of Buddhist teachers located in the Midwest and realized that there was a need for more. While he was in Minneapolis, he became abbot for the Minnesota Zen Mountain Center. Evidently, he made his way to Nebraska and founded the Nebraska Zen Center in 1975. Dainin Katagiri Roshi passed away from cancer in 1990, but he left behind thirteen Dharma heirs–two of which ended up being Abbots for the Nebraska Zen Center.
Leadership History: Reverend Nonin Chowaney and Dosho Port Roshi
Reverend Nonin Chowaney and Dosho Port Roshi were both ordained by Katagiri Roshi in 1984. Reverend Nonin Chowaney trained with Katagiri Roshi and at Tassajara Zen Monastery in California as well as in Japan at Shogo-ji and Zuio-ji monasteries. He received Dharma transmission from Katagiri Rishi and was certified to teach by him and the Soto Zen Church in Japan. He became Head Priest of NZC in 1991 but had to stop teaching in 2016 due to health issues.
Dosho Port Roshi was originally teaching in Minnesota before moving to Portland, Maine to start a Zen group. In February of 2016, Nebraska Zen Center contacted him regarding transition issues, but the conversation eventually shifted to Dosho Port potentially becoming the abbot for the Zen Center. At first he was hesitant to leave Maine and go to Nebraska, but on his blog Wild Fox Zen, he stated that a dream had pushed him to make the move. “I dreamed that I was in a zendo again with Katagiri Roshi. It seemed to be just after morning zazen and Roshi was fluffing his zafu. I stood waiting for him with the question about what to do in the back of my mind. Suddenly, he stopped fluffling and looked over at me. ‘Go,’ he said.” This year, Dosho Port Roshi and his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, moved on to a monastery in Minneapolis. He currently still co-teaches with his wife for an internet based community called Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training.
Community
The Nebraska Zen Center is no doubt a very small Buddhist community–Google reviews vouch for it–with its membership probably coming out to around 20 people. Based on the limited amount of photos on their website, age seems to range from middle age to older and members are predominantly white–I saw one East Asian person in a couple of pictures. The past abbots, not including Katagiri Roshi, at the Zen Center have also all been white. The Zen Center welcomes everyone with open arms and, pre-pandemic, they would have visitors looking for tools that would help them calm their minds. Omaha is the biggest city in Nebraska and is home to many other Buddhist communities which could explain why Nebraska Zen Center has a smaller constituency.
Under Reverend Nonin Chowaney, a joint publication between the Nebraska Zen Center and Zen Center of Pittsburgh was established and consisted of over 20 volumes. These publications contain information about Zen concepts such as the Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts and dharma lineage. Both Zen Centers would include “Sangha Notes” where they would give announcements regarding any events taking place or recognizing good deeds done by members in the community. While it seems that this publication is no longer running, it allowed for these two Zen communities to connect with each other and share any updates on their respective Center.
While the Nebraska Zen Center is very traditional in regards to Zen Buddhism, it seemed to modernize more when Dosho Port Roshi became Head Priest. He reinvigorated the practice there by implementing new programs including introductory workshops and classes, revamping the organization internally and externally, and overall giving the Center a makeover. They also established a website, a Facebook page, and started sharing dharma talks on iTunes. Dosho Port Roshi stated in a blogpost that there was a new group of younger students coming in, which could be due to the changes he made to the Center.
The onslaught of COVID forced Nebraska Zen Center to quickly adapt to online forums in order to continue practicing in their community. Nebraska Zen Center and Dosho Port Roshi’s internet community, Vine of Obstacles, started to merge together with Zen Center students studying on the Vine. Together, they were able to continue doing Zen studies with online courses and engage with each other, allowing them to create a strong Zen community online.
Currently, the Nebraska Zen Center is only open for practice on a limited schedule, but they are slowly starting to incorporate more in-person events. Even on this limited schedule, they still offer a wide variety of classes and practices that are open to practitioners, as well as interested individuals. A morning zazen practice is offered daily Monday through Friday, in-person or via Zoom, and runs for an hour and a half. Morning zazen is split into 35 minutes of zazen, 10 minutes of kinhin, 35 minutes of zazen, and then followed by a short service. Every Sunday they have Open Zen which consists of zazen, a short service, dharma talk, and an open conversation over coffee or tea–these sessions run for two hours and are only offered virtually. The Zen Center has two upcoming events, one in December and one in January. In December, they are offering a one-day Rohatsu sesshin to observe Buddha’s enlightenment. In January, they are offering an “Introduction to Zen” which will cover the essentials of Zen practice and its history.
They have reduced the number of activities offered because of the pandemic and participants of in-person events are required to show a proof of full vaccination before being allowed to attend. However, prior to COVID-19, Nebraska Zen Center used to offer an abundance of classes and practices. Zazen practices used to be held six mornings and four evenings a week and they also used to offer private practice interviews with the Head Priest, meditation retreats, practice periods, study groups and classes, lay initiations and ordinations, prison group visits, high school and college visits, and special ceremonies (weddings and funerals).
Nebraska Zen Center is fully funded by membership dues and donations from the community and they accept donations through Paypal. Special events and classes offered also have a fee, typically reduced or free for members. In 2017, they launched a fundraiser for a garden in the backyard of the Center, named the Timeless Peace Contemplative Garden, and saw a lot of support from the community. Every year they participate in a fundraiser called Giving Tuesday, powered by SHARE Omaha, that seeks to help local nonprofits by matching donations given to an organization.
Although the Nebraska Zen Center is in a time of transition as they look for a new Head Priest, the small, tight-knit community is still earnestly practicing and supporting each other. They continue to provide a refuge for vibrant practice and a place for open-hearted inquiry of Zen Buddhism.
References
https://www.szba.org/introducing-soto-zen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dainin_Katagiri#Dharma_heirs
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildfoxzen/2016/06/moving-to-omaha.html
https://www.yumpu.com/user/prairiewindzen.org
https://www.sotozen.com/eng/activity/regional_office/north_america.html