WHO WE ARE:
The Chester Zen Group was founded in 1986 and continued, with various ups and downs, until 1999. It is not presently active, but I have decided to leave this page up in the hope that it may be found useful.
Zen is a way of living which uses the traditional
disciplines of meditation, mindfulness and the precepts to develop compassion
for all beings, including oneself. "Zen is something to be practised
in our daily life as air is breathed by anyone at any time. Zen is nothing
but the total living of this encounter at each moment by throwing away our
preconceived ideas and our plans...This is the deepest root and foundation
of human life: it has nothing to do with following a religious sect."
[Hogensan]
Hogensan is a Zen monk who has trained in both the Soto and Rinzai traditions. For the last 25 years he has been the priest of Chogenji, a village temple in Japan. He began to visit Europe in the early 1980s and gathered together a small group of students committed to his way of practice. In recent years Hogensan has had to curtail his travels and nowadays comes to Europe mainly to lead retreats at Jiko-An practice centre in Spain. His British students are still however in regular contact with him and with each other.
Contact for the Friends of Hogensan: Richard Jones
Books on Zen are many and diverse. You will
find the ones listed below provide an excellent introduction to what Zen
is about:
Thich Nhat Hanh:
Being Peace and Peace Is Every Step
Shunryu Suzuki:
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Robert Aitken:
The Mind of Clover
Hogensan:
The Other Shore
Charlotte Joko Beck:
Nothing Special and Everyday Zen
Geri Larkin
Tap Dancing in Zen
ZEN ON THE NET
There are a great many web sites dedicated to Buddhism in general, and Zen in particular. Here are a few you might like to look at:
The Network of Engaged Buddhists
Adelaide Zen Group (useful advice on practice)