Mark your calendar for January 6 at 11:30
Tom Biddle will lead an exploratory meeting to prepare for a study of Dogen scheduled for February to March.
In order to prepare for his offering of a study of Dogen, the Soto Zen founder and a deep and challenging teacher of the Way, Tom Biddle has graciously offered to hold an introductory meeting to determine the interest of potential students of his class to be offered February 11 to March 11.
After a brief, general introduction to Dogen Zenji for all who are interested, an open discussion will identify the group’s particular interest in exploring one or more broad themes appearing in Dogen’s voluminous written works. Besides the major themes outlined in the book The Essential Dogen, edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt, other possible broad topics include:
the universal applicability of zazen and its meaning,
the inherency of Buddha nature and its implications,
the teaching and practice of suchness, and
the way to practice with traditional Buddhist scriptures and Zen dialogue encounters, or koans.
From the input gathered in this meeting, a series of discussions on the selected themes will be held over the five Monday evenings from February 11 to March 11.
Tom is a long-standing senior member of the Houston Zen Center. He has offered studies of Dogen in past years and has offered dharma talks to the sangha as well as serving in various leadership roles over the years such as Work Leader and acting Ino.
Please, plan to attend this brief introductory session and offer your ideas as to the areas of Dogen study you would most like to pursue.
