Curiosity question for members - Why are you here?

[Zenkon]

I am curious. Why are you here, at Treeleaf? What are you looking to achieve, to obtain? What do you hope to get out of being a member?

Gassho

Zenkon
Sat/lah

[Bion]

Teacher - sangha - practice.

Sat Today

[Ryumon]

I stumbled in here by accident about 15 years ago, and I can’t find the way out.

Gassho,
Ryūmon (Kirk)
Sat

[Hōzan]

Great question. I practiced alone for a long time trying to understand the what and how of practice. Ended up with a Buddhist approach that was closer to ascetic practices I guess, which, together with my career focus and a need to please everyone, ended up with a burn out (a year today I think..). Trying to help me, my psychologist challenged me to sit and do nothing. Immediately a lot of aversion emerged and then a second later something clicked - soto zen it was. Having learnt my lesson that I need a teacher to guide my practice I looked. My only criteria was the style of the teacher. And here I am. Now learning to appreciate a sangha as well

Gassho, Michael
Satlah

[Risho]

I'm still waiting for Ryumon's bread recipes

Seriously, I have always been introspective and on the path - I just didn't know it; I came here via a comments section from a zen blog. I have to tell you - and I forgot who said it - but once you start this path, you never leave it. I've had frustrations, etc, but when life experiences break my heart, I always return home. Treeleaf feels like home to me; I don't care if there was a zen center by me, this is my first choice. When life feels chaotic or impossible, I have found no saner way than to try to keep the precepts and focus on the bodhisattva vows - I always fail of course, but orienting myself toward the impossible makes situations, no matter how dire, possible. It's a beautiful, beautiful practice, and I'm very grateful for this sangha, or I probably would never have taken Jukai.

Gassho

Risho
-stlah

[aprapti]

Every morning i take refuge in the buddha, the dharma and the sangha. I need the sangha to help me practice and to sit. For me the sangha has different families. There is the family of the Noorderpoort in the Netherlands, where my teacher, Jiun Hogen roshi, lives. But i live in Belgium, so i do not see them often. Than there is the family of Zensangha in Bruges where i live and with whom i do sit every week. And there is the family of Treeleaf, with the FSR where i can sit twice a day, mostly alone but always all one.. and sometimes on Sunday in the SSR.

I do like to read a lot here too and to ponder what i read, for instance Shokai's great capping verses in the 108 Dharma gates. I am trying not to write to much This is already much more than 3 sentences


so, thank you, sanghafamily of Treeleaf

aprapti

sat

[Meian]

Learning, sangha, and practice. Most of my friends are here. This is my home.

stlh

[Shōnin Risa Bear]

This is my home.

gassho
ds sat

[Risho]

Every morning i take refuge in the buddha, the dharma and the sangha.

I really like that; I do this zen coffee ritual; I may like coffee a bit too much lol, so I figure it’s a great way to sneak in a bit of liturgy. I usually say Buddha, Dharna, Sangha when making it, but I think adding I take refuge in is more meaningful

some really nice responses here

gassho

risho
-stlah

[Ankai]

After the war, (Iraq,) someone recommended that I learn to meditate.
I read some books, and I stumbled across Jundo while looking up info on Zen in 2007.
Sat.

[Rousei]

Being a part of a group activity makes me more likely to continue when I feel like not and being a part of a group makes me feel like I have some form of accountability, I feel more motivated to practice when I see others practicing at times when I do not feel like doing so. As for why Treeleaf? I live in the countryside and the temples around me, although many, are mostly Pure Land, not to mention the language barrier. I have no sense of trying to achieve something and no sense of trying to obtain something. I try to think of my practice as simply how I live my life.

Gassho
Rousei
ST

[Tosei]

What Bion said.

Gassho,


[[st]]

[Tokan]

Hey all

Much of what I would have said has been said, so I will only add that I like the lack of pretence - this is a "wart's-and-all" sangha, and you can be you, not always without correction, but that correction always comes with graciousness and kindness.

Gassho, Tokan

satlah

[Seiko]

I am curious. Why are you here, at Treeleaf?

I am here specifically because Treeleaf provides a way for me to engage with a sangha - as I am unable to travel to a physical temple.

What are you looking to achieve, to obtain?

To sit with people who want to sit. To chant, to chat, to learn.

What do you hope to get out of being a member?

Aside from further developing my magical powers?

The two-way relationship within a Buddhist community - to gain support and to support others if I can. To become more useful to others at Treeleaf and elsewhere.

Gasshō
Seiko
stlah

[Shujin]

I wound up here after a few years as a police officer. My work schedule was always changing. Between that, and having two little kids at home, I couldn't regularly attend the local Zen group. I found Treeleaf while searching for a place that would support sitting & study. It was unique then, and still is. At present, I don't think there's something I want to gain from being here. I try to support others as I have been supported.

Gassho,
Shujin

sat today

[Koushi]

I am curious. Why are you here, at Treeleaf? What are you looking to achieve, to obtain? What do you hope to get out of being a member?

There's not a Soto Zen place within 2 hours of me—4 if you count Atlanta traffic. Toss in some agoraphobia history and sprinkle some other health issues and I'm happy I found the always-on Treeleaf.

To achieve... nothing really. I only hope to give back to the sangha in some beneficial way—and to help keep the lights on for others who need a refuge that isn't readily found close by.

Gassho,
Koushi
STLaH

[Meian]

There's not a Soto Zen place within 2 hours of me—4 if you count Atlanta traffic. Toss in some agoraphobia history and sprinkle some other health issues and I'm happy I found the always-on Treeleaf.

To achieve... nothing really. I only hope to give back to the sangha in some beneficial way—and to help keep the lights on for others who need a refuge that isn't readily found close by.

Gassho,
Koushi
STLaH

Gassho2 stlh

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[Jacob Janicek]

Well one day my mother, bless her heart, believed a divine force was telling her to get pregnant after she had joined a cult...actually that might be a little too far back I think I misunderstood the question. While working in commercial pest control during the pandemic as an essential worker, seeing what human civilization would look like after we're all gone gave me deep existential questions that only several audiobooks could answer while I struggled to drown out the deafening silence of abandoned buildings. I listened to a few books on Buddhism and Zen and was intrigued. I sat with a local group on zoom but they closed down so a quick Google search led me here.

I'm hoping to achieve godhood like King Cyrus I of ancient Persia. While I work on that I'm hoping to learn more about how this "not-self" concept works.

I kind of dig the whole Japanese name thing so I figure I'll at least stick around long enough to find out I can't sew anything to save my life and have some sort of humiliating epiphany.

Gassho,
Jacob Jay
Sat today.
I also lent several hands.

[Koushi]

I figure I'll at least stick around long enough to find out I can't sew anything to save my life and have some sort of humiliating epiphany.

Careful, that’s how a lot of us wind up ordained

Gassho,
Koushi
STLaH

[Seiko]

I'll at least stick around long enough to find out I can't sew anything to save my life and have some sort of humiliating epiphany.

Hey Jacob,
I am partially sighted, so my sewing is far from perfect. I would encourage you to give it a try. It's a lovely insightful experience. But I'm not challenging you to a competition for the worst tailor - let's try to improve together instead.

Gasshō
Seiko
stlah

[Rick]

I was first exposed to soto zen during the 1990s in Kent, Ohio. I have lived in SE Virginia since 1999. The closest place I could go is 3 hours away.

Gassho,
Rick

ST
LAH

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[Gareth]

I came to Treeleaf because I was looking for a group of people who thought about life in a similar way. I had also been in a really bad way at one point, and thought that I could eventually learn to help others get out of or avoid similar states. I have settled on just trying to make small changes in the way I interact with the world and improving my practice.

Gassho,
Gareth

Sat today, Lah

[Onki]

I have been an active member of a few different Sanghas but none of them really fit. The last group that I was sitting with was very small. The teacher didn’t have enough experience to help me dive deeper into Zen. It’s actually quite funny; I was a member of the small Sangha and there was going to be a special guest speaker named Jundo from Treeleaf promoting his new book. I went to the talk. Jundo’s words really stuck with me; his presence. I knew that I had to become a part of the Treeleaf Sangha.
I’ve been here since 2020. I’m proud to call Treeleaf my home. I have made wonderful friends here; constantly learning new things every day. I plan on being here for years to come.

Gasshō,

On

Sat today

[Heiso]

Like many others I have a busy job and a young family so can't really get to a bricks and mortar zendo. I thought Treeleaf would be a good stopgap but instead became a home.

Gassho

Heiso
StLah

Sent from my RMX2001 using Tapatalk

[Tomás ESP]

Suffering and finding a way to healing

Gassho, Tomás
Sat&LaH