By Ben Highland
Overview:
Located in Denver, Colorado, the Zen Center of Denver (ZCD) is a Buddhist sangha that offers Zen Buddhist practice and training. Associated with the Honolulu Diamond Sangha, the ZCD focuses on Sanbo-Kyodan, a combination of both Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen teachings. Although they are open to students of all ethnicities, its membership is composed primarily of lay Westerners, as demonstrated by its three Caucasian teachers. Through zazen, seated meditation, and other activities – including blogs, dharma talks, and a Facebook page – the ZCD attempts to help these members attain enlightenment. [1]
History and Lineage:
The Zen Center of Denver is a part of the Harada-Yasutani line of Zen Buddhism. As such, it traces its lineage to Daiun Sogaku Harada (1870-1961) and Hakuun Ryoko Yasutani (1885-1973), two modern Japanese masters who established a new school of Zen Buddhism known as Sanbo-Kyodan.[2] The new school adopted the emphasis placed on the primacy of zazen (seated meditation) by Soto Zen masters and the use of koans by Rinzai Zen masters. Unlike many other forms of Buddhism, Sanbo-Kyodan affords laypeople the same level of respect that was normally reserved for monastic practitioners. This fact, combined with Yasutani’s easing of linguistic and social barriers for non-Japanese practitioners, helped the tradition to become quite popular in the West.[3]
Next in the lineage of the ZCD are Philip Kapleau (1912-2004) and Koun Yamada (1907-1989), two major figures in Zen’s inheritance to the West. While working in Japan as the chief reporter for the International Tribunal for the Far East, Kapleau developed an interest in Zen. After briefly studying in a Rinzai Zen temple, he began to study under Harada and later Yasutani when his health started to decline. Although lacking the Dharma transmission, Kapleau was granted limited authorization to teach Zen stateside by Yasutani after 13 years of training. In 1966, he established the Rochester Zen Center, bringing the Sanbo-Kyodan school to the West for the first time. Similarly, Koun and was responsible for introducing Zen practice to many Christians, even authorizing some Catholic priests and nuns as Zen teachers. Most notably, though, he served as teacher to Robert Aitken, giving him transmission, and was instrumental in helping the Diamond Sangha grow, which was co-founded by Aitken.[4]
Last in the lineage is Danan Henry, the longtime spiritual director of the ZCD. Henry began his spiritual training in 1965 at the Gurdjieff Foundation in New York City, although he would later relocate to Rochester, New York in 1975, becoming a student and disciple of Kapleau. In 1989, Danan was sanctioned as a full teacher and as the spiritual director of the ZCD. After 1990, he traveled frequently to Hawaii in order to continue his formal Zen training under Aitken, who eventually authorized him as a Diamond Sangha teacher. On September 12, 2010, all three dharma heirs of Danan Roshi received full transmission and jointly assumed the spiritual directorship of the ZCD in the Ascending the Mountain Ceremony.[5]
Teachers at the Zen Center of Denver:
There are three teachers at the ZCD: Ken Tetsuzan Morgareidge, Karin Ryuku Kempe, and Peggy Metta Sheehan. Ken, who earned a Ph.D in Physiology at UCLA and is a former professor, became a student of Philip Kapleau Roshi in 1984, before receiving his lay ordination in 1986. As his education continued, he became a student of Danan Henry Roshi in 1988, completing his formal koan training in 2001. During his career, he has authored the book Dogs, Trees, Beards and Other Wonders: Meditations on the Forty-eight Cases of the Wumenguan, which offers an irreverent and sometimes humorous look at a major classic of Zen literature.
Karin, too, was a student of Kapleau, beginning at the Rochester Zen Center in 1971. She completed her koan training in 2005 with Danan Henry Roshi at the ZCD. After 25 years of practicing family medicine, Karin retired in 2012 but continues to teach mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Like Karin, Metta is a medical doctor. However, she continues her practice as a pediatrician, incorporating mind-body medicine and teaching mindfulness-based stress reduction. Metta studied with Danan Henry Roshi at the ZCD, receiving her lay ordination from him in 1999 and serving as Head of Zendo from 2001 to 2005. She completed her koan study in 2005 and was an assistant teacher at the Zen Center from 2005-2010. As previously stated, Ken, Karin, and Metta all received their transmission in September of 2010 from Danan Roshi.[6]
Teachers’ Ethics Agreement:
On their website, the teachers of the ZCD commit themselves as students of the Way and as teachers of the Diamond Sangha to right conduct in every aspect of their lives. To them, this means maintaining the Ten Grave Precepts, as they believe them to be guides for standards in thought, words, and deeds that cannot be improved upon. However, because the Precepts, themselves, are open to interpretation, the teachers of the ZCD establish a clear and specific set of minimum expectations to which they believe they should be held accountable. By publicly specifying these standards of behavior, they hope to sharpen awareness of ethical issues, ensure the trustworthiness of the Diamond Sangha, and to protect and perpetuate the Buddha-dharma. Further, they hope to foster a community based on trust that can faithfully transmit the Dharma.
In their capacity as Zen teachers, they recognize that they may fail their students in a variety of ways. Missing a phone call, for example, may disappoint a student. While even the slightest failure is unfortunate, the teachers recognize that they are fallible beings who will inevitably suffer minor lapses. The failures that concern them more, though, are the ones of greater severity that are demonstrably harmful to their students. As such, they outline a specific set of commitments to avoid such failures, including but not limited to:
- To use their power and authority as teachers to serve the interests of the sangha;
- To recognize the sangha as the highest authority in its own governance and to exercise discretion in our leadership so that we do not unduly influence decisions;
- To treat sangha members, including fellow teachers, with honesty and deep respect, not subjecting them to disparagement, coercive pressure, or undesired attention of any kind;
- To maintain confidences received from students, except as required by law or as explicitly permitted within the sangha;
- To practice openness and inclusivity in our relationships with sangha members, allowing personal affinities a natural place but avoiding destructive favoritism.[7]
These commitments allow the sangha to hold themselves and their teachers accountable. In this way, the ZCD clearly demonstrates the importance it places on adhering to the Ten Precepts.
Meditation Practice and Activities:
The primary practice of the ZCD is zazen, or seated meditation. At the heart of Zen practice, the teachers of the ZCD believe zazen to be both the full expression of our inherent enlightenment as well as the means of uncovering it. Although it is normally thought to take place in stillness (sitting meditation), it can also be practiced in activities such as walking meditation and work practice. Therefore, the teachers of the ZCD encourage a quiet, meditative atmosphere and use many traditional Zen forms to help their members.[8]
The ZCD offers several methods of getting involved:
First, their introductory seminars they describe as the best way to get started. During these three-hour classes, one can meet the teachers, ask questions about Zen, become familiar with their practice forms, and learn how to meditate in a comfortable sitting posture. After attending, newcomers are welcomed to join regular morning and evening sittings. These introductory classes are held roughly every six weeks on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Second, their “Beginners’ Nights” are held about once a month on a Tuesday or Thursday evening. Here, newcomers receive a very brief instruction in zazen, followed by a round of meditation and a discussion on beginning practice.
Third, their “Dharma Talks” are delivered by one of the three teachers or by a senior student at the ZCD. These talks are offered on most Sundays from 8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Before the talk, there are two twenty-five-minute rounds of meditation (with walking meditation between rounds) and a short chanting service. Tea and cookies are served afterward, and the teachers encourage newcomers to stay and get acquainted with members of the community.[9]
Along with regular morning and evening sittings, the ZCD offers a full range of opportunities for Zen training, including dokusan (private instruction with a teacher), samu (work practice), zazenkai (all-day sittings), and sesshin (week-long retreats).[10]
Works Cited:
[1] https://zencenterofdenver.org/about/
[2] https://zencenterofdenver.org/lineage/
[3] http://sweepingzen.com/sanbo-kyodan-fellowship-of-the-three-treasures/
[4] http://sweepingzen.com/yamada-koun-bio/
[5] http://sweepingzen.com/michael-danan-henry-bio/
[6] https://zencenterofdenver.org/our-teachers/
[7] https://zencenterofdenver.org/ethics-statement/
[8] https://zencenterofdenver.org/getting-started/
[9] https://zencenterofdenver.org/getting-started/
[10] https://zencenterofdenver.org/about/