![]() In 1325 Emperor Go-Daigo requested that he come to Kyoto to become head priest of the great temple of Nanzen-ji. Later, in remembrance of the dream, he composed a new name for himself, forming his family name from characters meaning dream and window, and his given name from the first characters of the names of the two temples appearing in his dream it was this new name, Musō Soseki, by which he was to become famous. Kennichi confirmed Soseki's enlightenment after a period of time. For the most part, however, he practiced alone. When he awoke, he concluded that Zen must be his destiny, so he converted and went to study Zen at Kennin-ji Temple in Kyoto under Muin Enpan ( 無隠円範), Kōhō Kennichi ( 高峯顕日, 1241–1316), and others. ![]() In 1293 he dreamed that, while visiting two temples in China called in Japanese Sozan ( 疎山) and Sekitō ( 石頭) he was given a portrait of Daruma Daishi (the introductor of Chan Buddhism in China, commonly called Zen Buddhism in English) and told to keep it safe. In 1292 he took his vows at Tōdai-ji in Nara, and was given the name Chikaku. He entered a mountain temple in 1283, where he studied the Shingon and Tendai sects of Buddhism. At the age of four he lost his mother and was therefore put in the temple of Hirashioyama under the guidance of priest Kūa. Originally from Ise Province, now part of modern-day Mie Prefecture, Soseki was a ninth-generation descendant of Emperor Uda. His mother was the daughter of Hōjō Masamura (1264–1268), seventh Shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate. ![]() The most famous monk of his time, he is also known as Musō Kokushi ( 夢窓国師, "national teacher Musō"), an honorific conferred on him by Emperor Go-Daigo. Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.Musō Soseki ( 夢窓 疎石, 1275 – October 20, 1351) was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, and a calligraphist, poet and garden designer. We sit not only for ourselves, but to help all beings. Having a clear direction is what is most important in Zen. Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success? And we are proud of every person who comes to practice with us, for their great efforts to wake up and to help this world. We’re proud of our facility, which has been a ton of work to make as beautiful as it is. We are proud of our tradition! We are proud that we have been offering this up free of charge, seven days a week, 365 days a year for almost forty years. We seek to help folks settle down, clear their minds, and help others. Many thousands of people have come through our doors in the last three decades, including student groups from many area high schools and colleges (MIT, Harvard, BU, BC, Tufts, Berklee School of Music, Brown, Stonehill, Yale, Lesley, Emerson, Northeastern, and many more too numerous to mention) We offer up the ancient wisdom of Zen in a modern setting. The Cambridge Zen Center is extremely unique. Tell us about Cambridge Zen Center – what should we know? Of course every community has its struggles, especially when you have 35 people living together! But because of our Zen practice and our clear residential guidelines the ride in general has been very smooth overall!Īlright – so let’s talk business. Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome? I have been involved as the Guiding Teacher with this center for many years, and we welcome you to stop by and visit, enjoy our gorgeous Zen garden, partake in a meal, and come to practice with us! We do community service and have a special meditation session every week for Millennials. There are about 35 residents who live here, most of whom attend school or jobs outside the Zen center during the day. The daily practice and the classes and talks are free and open to the general public. Meditation practice is held twice daily (every morning and evening) as well as public talks, retreats, workshops, and classes. It is the largest residential Zen Center in the United States, occupying almost a city block in Central Square. Jane, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.Ĭambridge Zen Center is a not-for-profit meditation center established over thirty years ago. Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Dobisz.
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