Open Mind Zen Louisville

08/29/2025

This week is part two on form and emptiness.

Our text is the Sandokai, written by 8th-century Chinese Chán (Zen) Buddhist teacher and author Kequin.

The mind of the great sage of India is intimately conveyed from West to East. Among human beings are wise ones and fools, but in the Way there is no northern or southern ancestor. The subtle source is clear and bright, the tributary streams flow through the darkness. To be attached to things is illusion, to encounter the Absolute is not yet enlightenment. Each and all the subjective and objective spheres are related and at the same time, independent. Related, yet working differently, though each keeps its own place. Form makes the character and appearance different; sounds distinguish comfort and discomfort. The dark makes all words one, the brightness distinguishes good and bad phrases. The four elements return to their nature as a child to its mother. Fire is hot, wind moves, water is wet, earth hard. Eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongue tastes the salt and sour. Each is independent of the other; cause and effect must return to the Great Reality. The words high and low are used relatively. Within light there is darkness, but do not try to understand that darkness; within darkness there is light, but do not look for that light. Light and darkness are a pair like the foot before and the foot behind when walking. Each thing has its own intrinsic value and is related to everything else in function and position. Ordinary life fits the Absolute as a box and its lid. The Absolute works together with the relative like two arrows meeting in mid-air. Reading words you should grasp the Great Reality. Do not judge by any standards. If you do not see the Way, you do not see it even as you walk on it. When you walk the Way it is not near, it is not far. If you are deluded you are mountains and rivers away from it. I respectfully say to those who wish to be enlightened: Do not waste your time by night or day.

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Tuesdays 5:30-7:00 pm EST sangha practice
in person and hybrid by request

Saturdays 9:30-11:00 am EST sangha practice
in person and hybrid by request

Saturday 11:30 am EST Precepts study & rakusu sewing

Daily open meditation 7:00-8:00 am by Zoom, see newsletter for link

Zoom Zendo Etiquette

You don’t need to sit for an entire hour if that’s not your practice. Longer is not better unless you are ready for that. Partial sits are ordinary and welcome. You can begin and end your sit at any time.

Camera on, sound off. Appear somehow on camera.

Bow (gassho) as you enter the Zoom room, and when you depart.

Sit at an angle to the Zoom screen, so that the screen is just in your field of vision but you are not looking directly at the camera.

Take care with your physical setup and sitting posture.

Move when and how you need.

Cats are always welcome, and sometimes a lot of trouble.

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Sunday morning Zoom OMZ sit & talk with rotating teachers
Sunday 10 am EST (sit at 10 am, talk at 11 am)
email for link and password

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omzlouisville@gmail.com
(502) 303-7259

Open Mind Zen Louisville
1013 Bardstown Rd., alley entrance through orange door
https://mailchi.mp/77fa2827258b/sandokai

08/23/2025

A late-summer altar! Sangha practice (talk, sit and discussion) available through Zoom by request: Tuesdays 5:30-7:00 pm, and Saturdays 9:30-11:00 am, EST. Weekly themes are announced in the newsletter- see link in bio to be added. Thank you for your practice.🪷

08/22/2025

This week at OMZL-- ways to think about form and emptiness

https://mailchi.mp/f0d2f0b3ca39/form-emptiness

08/13/2025

For the next few weeks, we will study anattā, the doctrine of "no-self" – how no unchanging, permanent self or essence can be found.

What might this doctrine actually mean for practice? How does it help us relieve suffering? What are some common or likely misapplications of the doctrine that don’t usually seem to relieve suffering? How is it key to liberation?

This week’s talk will explore anattā from a relative (personal) and scientific perspective.

Tuesdays 5:30-7:00 pm EST sangha practice

in person and hybrid by request

Saturdays 9:30-11:00 am EST sangha practice

in person and hybrid by request

Saturday 11:30 am EST Precepts study & rakusu sewing

Daily open meditation 7:00-8:00 am by Zoom
(Partial sits are welcome. Camera on, sound off. Bow as you enter the Zoom room, and when you depart. Move when and how you need!)

Email for OMZL Zoom zendo link omzlouisville@gmail.com

Image: “Together 11” 36 x 24” mixed media on canvas by OMZL sangha member Maureen Hagerman
https://mailchi.mp/920bc6e7de82/anatta?e=baa55c4694

08/11/2025

Tuesday evening! All are welcome. Note times are in Atlantic.

Since this event coincides with our Tuesday evening practice here in Louisville, we will zoom in together from OMZL for the talk and discussion. See post for zoom link and password.

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Join us this Tuesday evening for a discussion with guest teacher Angie Reed Shinho Garner from Open Mind Zen on:

*Access as a Joy Practice*

Change can be scary. Calls for change can trigger deep resistance. But what if changing our sangha spaces to work better for everyone is really about... joy? Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity (the bramaviharas) can instantly transform frightening terrain into places of wisdom and possibility.

Angie Reed Shinho Garner is an Assistant Teacher in Open Mind Zen (White Plum Asanga) in Louisville KY USA. She offers Zen training that is trauma-informed and inclusive regarding race, gender, age, disability, and neurodiversity.

Garner is an artist, activist and founding member of the Buddhist Justice Collective. She has lived on four continents, collaborated on anthropological research into veteran-civilian relations, taught drawing to sheikhas, and sustained a personal art practice which expanded into two art galleries in Louisville, Kentucky (garner narrative, garner LARGE). Other interests include improvisational theatre, powerlifting, cat-human communication with buttons, and pickleball.

Tuesday Atlantic times:
18:45- 19:15 Zazen
19:15- 20:00 Talk and discussion
To join online: Bit.ly/THZonline
Password: vow

08/06/2025

https://mailchi.mp/a8cd292f0ded/vasumitra

This week: group koan study (Vasumitra's impure vessel). Art by sangha member Maureen Hagerman.

07/30/2025

Welcome back and/or welcome! After our one-month summer break, OMZL resumes programming this Saturday, August 2.

This week’s topic is both a refresher and an orientation to our overarching theme for the next five months: taking refuge in Buddhamind.

Sangha Practice Schedule for August-December 2025

Tuesdays 5:30-7:00 pm* in person and hybrid by request
Saturdays 9:30-11:00 am in person and hybrid by request

Daily unprogrammed meditation 7:00-8:00 am by Zoom

(Partial sits are welcome. Camera on, sound off. Bow as you enter the Zoom room, and when you depart. Move as you need.)

Email to request hybrid and/or for the Zoom link: omzlouisville@gmail.com

Also happening this week:

meditation with Zoom support
daily 7-8 AM EST (partial sits welcome)

Zoom OMZ talk and discussion by Zoom with rotating teachers
Thursday 7pm EST
email for password

Zoom OMZ sit and talk by Zoom with rotating teachers
Sunday 10 am EST (talk at 11 am)
email for password

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https://mailchi.mp/759523eb06a9/welcome

06/25/2025

https://mailchi.mp/01efe3127ab0/practicing-with-anger

06/18/2025

Practicing with personal reactivity!

https://mailchi.mp/3acd9bf17d05/practicing-with-personal-reactivity?e=3d7362fee2

06/13/2025

https://mailchi.mp/612a8b321265/finding-the-way?e=baa55c4694

This week we continue our study and practice of the bodhisattva path by practicing to identify and accept any default, subtle & ordinary types of reactivity.

06/04/2025

Julie Nelson speaks this week at OMZL! Zoom and in-person, Saturday 11am EST. Follow link to register.

Sensei Julie Nelson will teach at Open Mind Zen Louisville as part of the speaking tour for her new book, Practicing Safe Zen.

05/28/2025

Sensei Julie Nelson will teach at Open Mind Zen Louisville as part of the speaking tour for her new book, Practicing Safe Zen. Please join us in person and by Zoom.

Saturday June 7, 11 AM EST

Julie Seido Nelson is a transmitted teacher (Sensei) in the Maezumi Roshi Zen lineage. Her home Zen community is the Greater Boston Zen Center, a sangha which has experienced three major upheavals due to teacher arrogance and abuses of power. This has led to the Resilient Sangha Project, and the book she will teach from for this special event.

Your registration is appreciated! (And it's necessary, if you need a Zoom link.)
https://forms.gle/1HzH5xExRKRx3eDY9

Practicing Safe Zen: Introduction
https://julieanelson.com/2024/11/21/practicing-safe-zen/

Praise for Practicing Safe Zen

“A must-read manual, born of the author’s long personal experience with misconduct, for how to protect yourself and your sangha from abuse of power, beginning with how to approach and engage safely and wisely with the teachings. Nelson identifies the problem of s*xual misconduct in Buddhist communities as rooted in more than one factor, including human psychology, institutional structure and the balance of power. This book belongs on the front shelf of every Zen Center.” —Willa Blythe Baker, author, The Wakeful Body

"Practicing Safe Zen fills me with gratitude, because here at last, in clear and compelling language, is precisely the book we need for addressing teachers’ abuses of power, s*x, and money, and for building resilient sanghas that exemplify both compassion and accountability. Julie Seido Nelson's vitally important book should be read by every Zen teacher, board member, and student." —Rev. Steve Kanji Ruhl, author, Appalachian Zen

Practicing Safe Zen dives deep into what every sangha member and especially every person of authority in a sangha must keep in mind. Watch out! Be aware of the perils of cultishness, the pitfalls of spiritual bypassing, the poison of thinking you have arrived, the hazard of minimization and much more! This is an important read for anyone immersed in Zen community and practice." —Genjo Marinello, author, Reflections in Awakening and Maturity

“In this important work, Julie Nelson points out the underlying problems, how Zen Centers go astray, how practitioners suffer and how to have a healthier practice place." —Grace Schireson, author, Zen Women

"Curious about Zen? Serious about Zen? Either way, read Julie Nelson’s edifying and empowering book. It’s a vital companion for anyone interested in a Zen path." —Scott Edelstein, author, S*x and the Spiritual Teacher

“This is a reflective and challenging read, questioning authority, tradition and lineages. Is Zen beyond conditions or must one take into account the conditions in which Zen is practiced? This is a thoroughly engaging exploration based on deep knowledge of the tradition as well as contemporary research." —Martine Batchelor, author, Principles of Zen

"Practicing Safe Zen imparts a lesson we all will have to learn if we want to truly mature in our spiritual practice. It asks us to face the emotionally difficult reality of our own idealizations and subsequent disillusionment... Nelson takes us through the history of one Zen community torn apart by scandal and teacher misconduct. Yet she also tells the story of how that community has tried to put itself back together, with shared communal responsibility taking the place of hierarchy, authority and submission. Hers is a Zen that has the potential to outlive—and outgrow—our fantasies of perfectly enlightened, Yoda-like Masters". —Barry Magid, author, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness

Open Mind Zen Louisville
omzlouisville.com

Event flyer: https://www.omzlouisville.com/julie-nelson-practicing-safe-zen