Lotus in the Fire: A Portrait of the Zen Center of NYC

[Music] nestled on a side street of downtown Brooklyn just minutes from the skyscrapers and apartment towers of Manhattan lives an American Buddhist temple the community or Sangha that practices here is comprised of teachers doctors artists students and all walks of life that make up the city of New York a handful of people live here at fire Lotus temple along with a small group of ordained monastics all are united in their commitment to live a life that cultivates generosity wisdom and morality a life dedicated to waking up [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] starting my day with Zaza and really changes my day helps to ground me and it kind of infuses his practice into my whole day gives me a base of kind of reality to go off of I guess for me the thing that really has changed my life in a census is being able to come here on a morning before going into work being able just to start the day off here before going to Manhattan it's really nourishing for me it's like I come here to learn how to live and practice my life and out of cultivate a life that's meaningful and satisfying is appreciate the center and I love it for them [Music] geoffery Shubin Arnold is the head of the mountains and rivers order and is the abbot of both Zen mountain monastery and the Zen Center of New York City people can come in very easily but I think because they can come here and be very much immersed in this place which is so clearly a place of practice and there's a sense of a tradition here I think the possibility of there's being this enhanced sense of integration and an infusion with their spiritual practice in their life is greater very early on in history of the monastery because there were so many people interested in practicing through lived in the city we started having what were originally just informal sitting groups we were in rental spaces and different parts of Manhattan and at a certain point we rented a space in Chelsea which was really the beginning of fire letters temple I started practicing around 1982 1983 my first introduction to practice was at the monastery I went for intro Susanne weekend and when I was there I found out about fire Lotus so they said there's a temple a setting group in Manhattan so when I came back I looked it up found out about it you're practicing back then was it was nice the Chelsea space it was a loft it was like a large loft I think it's all like the 10th floor of a building and so in in some ways it was very intimate I came around sort of in the waning years of that practice place it was very crowded and we really needed a home and it was a great place to practice but it was very tight for space I guess looking back it had the feeling of something that was that was ready for the next step before mm I'm you know sensei who was charged with leading the Sangha in the city at that time decided that it was time to look for property that we could purchase and I found this property here in Brooklyn at 560 I think when we were looking at buying a space there was a concern that leaving Manhattan would be leaving where most of the then practitioners were and would they you know go over the bridge over the water to Brooklyn I think the major thing that supported that decision was the closeness to the Atlantic Avenue subway station which is you know the crossroads for a lot of different subway lines East Side on one side and other lines in Manhattan and it wasn't in deep Brooklyn it was in near Brooklyn and so it represented really a short jump from the city we began to intervene negotiations with the YWCA right next door my neighbors and we're able to purchase it and then we moved in we purchased it in June of 2002 and thereafter you know this this place didn't look that that great when we first came in there was a lot of work that need to be done and the floor needed fixing and the walls needed fixing and there was leaks everywhere and it was it was a mess and then we're about there about 20 of us working on it we were really into there was that very exciting the moment you know when you feel something new was happening something new was being born it was it was a fixer-upper it's me but what was what we got right and and and everyone fixed it up [Music] you know Fort Greene in Boerum Hill were rougher neighborhoods then they certainly are now the neighborhood now is just you know full of life and restaurants and shops and all kinds of people and families and every other thing you can think of and you know if you look now this is prime building area in Brooklyn you note I really really had an intuitive sense about this neighborhood and about Brooklyn I mean Brooklyn is an international brand now right everybody wants to be in Brooklyn it's no longer that I can't live in Manhattan I'm gonna go live in Brooklyn people want to live in Brooklyn and want to live around here it was me Oh tae sensei that really left a indelible imprint on the temple she worked very very hard and really loved this place and then at a certain point decided that she would even teach on her in her own right it really wasn't until 2004 when she left to teach independently in upstate New York and I know she asked me to come down and step in to her place then I was here full-time and began to really experience the place in a deeper and broader way I think dad was his vision of the center in the city went through changes over the years he liked the idea of having a mountain monastery as well as a an urban city center which is really part of the tradition has ended many centers both in the West as well as in Asia will have an urban center as well as an Associated mountain retreat monastery it's like they're two hands of one body and they fulfill these two very essential roles for contemporary students one is the continuation of the of a traditional monastery form of training and setting and a more cloistered situation and the other a much more porous and sort of flowing lay center base training and yet that they're they're really flowing together they're working together rather than I understand I think that people might be surprised you know people who aren't familiar with fire Lotus might be surprised actually to find that that same depth of practice that we typically associate with a with a cloistered monastery really exists it's really in full bloom at the Zen Center in the city also we have session you know there's the the depth of the liturgy that's available here and then the different retreats that we offer so there's a singular purpose but it's just unfurling and much more of a you know kaleidoscopic environment almost every weekend at the Zen Center of New York City we have retreats which are offerings and the various escapes of practice here we have da Xing Kai which are all day meditation intensive art practice retreats our practice is a big part of our training here in the mountains in reverse order you could have not touched a paintbrush since you were in kindergarten and be completely inspired or you can be like me a professional artist with decades of experience and be completely inspired and it's really it's just really personal how its presented and and how it can be taken out the way we practice here it's not just about meditation you know we have art practice we have academic study we have liturgy you know we have the student-teacher relationship we have so much here you know the the precepts the moral and ethical teachings there's there's so many ways to practice the Dharma that's emphasized here as time has gone on over the last 10 years we've continued to develop the training here both in terms of residency and just the larger Sangha for most residents we start the day at around 6 a.m. with zazen and we have a liturgy service in the morning and then we'll have breakfast we'll have Oreo Key breakfast during Congo and other times of the year we have an informal breakfast and then we have caretaking and some people go out to work out in the world and some people stay here and do caretaking here and some people do a balance of those things I was going through difficult transition and I needed a place that I could go to where I felt safe where I could heal where I could practice and get my life in order and during that time I mean I'm just so grateful that the temple was here when I needed it you know to have access to such a calm oasis in the middle of the city and in the middle of my life and it allowed me to work while I was doing that and you know I wasn't in a position where I can go to the monastery and just not work for that period of time so I was able to get my life in order support myself and so forth and do this really intense practice and training at the same time and I just loved being in residence I think that it's nice that the main temple is up on the mountain and it's nice to be able to get away out of the city but I live in the city I work in the city actually in the drug counseling I work with young people and I think that there's a need for it here I think I think I was led to it I'm not sure why but there was something calling my name and I kind of answered it and it's just needed it's it's needed I think Dido even talked about this stutter oh she the founder of the order he said that the monastery was in some ways the source of stability you know the the monks have taken lifetime vows to be there you know it's I think at least thirty-five years old so it's been around a lot longer than our temple has so that's really kind of like the anchor that you know it's a place where I can go to to immerse myself in a week of deep silence but my life is here right so that's why I this as a place that I can come to on a regular basis you know and I have done short term residences at the temple because it just works with my life so in some ways it's a nice parent it makes for a very dynamic kind of practice so dick is going to be finishing some painting in the zendo and Ryan's gonna be painting on the back hallway here someone to work with him anyone do that Pierce is going to be doing some work on those endo floor someone worked with him Therese is going to be today we're doing fish and samo which is a Tsonga workday which is something we do periodically I think it comes from the tradition of when there would be a big project at a monastery in China gets to pay on a Korea and they would get all the monks that would usually stay in zendo they get everyone out in the field to like to harvest or to build a building we have a lot of people that volunteer our regular basis and come in and do sort of maintenance stuff and cook and stuff like that but so this is a day for more people to be here as we're getting some stuff done and we don't get to most of the time and it's also just kind of nice time for the Sangha to be together the floor in the zendo we understand was laid back in the 1920s when this room became a chapel and it has shifted over time has been repaired we're finding in many small ways now we're making our own small improvements right yeah let's call him that and I think it was not so important for the previous owners because they had shoes on but we're walking around tears or we're new to seeing all the little sharp edges on the floor there's a little steel ridges that go in between the blades and so we need to eliminate those don't cut ourselves up walking camping caretaking to me is one of the ways that I feel comfortable investigating my practice and deepening my mind my practice people who do caretaking we are building this temple we're weaving this temple continuously and the temple continuously unravels itself and I've noticed that a lot you know like things break down and you have to patch them up and that's that's just what goes on you know so I think it's a beautiful it's very beautiful thing with respect to caretaking you put it together and you're putting things together here and another part of it is crumbling or or changing or modifying transmuting into into something else and somebody else will take care of that not necessarily me but when I pass away I know like this temple will be still present who knows in which form but it will still be be present I feel whether it's cleaning the bathrooms or working on the mountain record or just you know answering phones I think it gives people a meaningful way to not only support a community that they appreciate and that feeds them but to just feel what is it to bring work practice alive you know every single day we have volunteers coming to help us this is their practice and this is their life and this is their way of giving and this is their way of doing Bodhisattva activity and it's practice you know Zen does not only take place on the sofa in a dark room in the morning with incense zazen practice is standing walking lying down working loving you name it cooking it's all Zen practice so as they come in they're not just serving a function they're not just making our lunch they are practicing their lives this is all a way to become awake I come in I usually cook for anywhere from three people to twelve it's always a mystery you walk in they tell you here's a recipe this is how many did cook four and take it from there I find it a part of my week that I completely look forward to so it nourishes me and at the same time I get to nourish others by cooking said that's a very lovely piece of it you know being a parent is what got me here and practice and this temple has made me an infinitely better parent much more patient kind understanding of myself and therefore of Graham so being a parent in this temple is an amazing experience I couldn't imagine doing it without it I have been able to sort of access the monastery much less since I've had two kids a night I feel the difference I mean I I understand sort of how powerful it is to kind of remove myself and to really be thoroughly immersed in monastic life but at this stage of our family's life it's not really an option so for our family life this option of being able to drop into an intensive meditation retreat in the city and really drop in you know and then at 6:30 leave and be home you know to put my kids to bed to eat dinner together is significant but I also think it's so important for my kids to have exposure to the temple physically coming to this space that being welcomed in a space where mom and dad go to practice is very very important then kids is a program at fire Lotus Temple it happens once a month and it's a group of parents and students of the order coming together to work with kids of various ages and and kind of open them up to the ideas of Buddhism and mindfulness in a very non-religious way and so there's different themes so there's I you know like maybe one of the teachings around generosity or patience or regret and so that theme will be brought forth without a specific connection to the Buddhist teachings although the whole container is held in a Buddhist context we do art activities books theatre activities planting building community with other kids their age and having a nice time together my name is Ellery s : and my relationship to this temple is due primarily to my son's interest Romney began to show a serious interest in Buddhism I'm not sure how many years ago but it's been a while for a young guy he's 15 it was a bit unknown to me so I learned a lot along the way I think working with my parents in this practice especially Zen practice is not an easy thing but I think it's something that needs to happen and it's a necessary step and really being able to explain the Dharma to other people without friction or you know rough patches being in high school sophomore year especially is difficult it's not an easy thing for anybody to do and I think it's a pretty critical time for most people my age it's not something that I think is to be taken lightly because it's definitely that part where you develop who you are and what you put out their fire Lotus to me is a community and it's a refuge and Fire Lotus really is a place where I can come and ask these questions and have a place to practice it's a place where I feel safe and comfortable within my own zazen and there's room for everything in-between [Music] you know in life walk around I wanted with attachments like I remember for a long time there were things about my relationship with my parents and my father in particular and I had a lot of feelings about that baggage about it and for me what Zen training allows you to do is to let go of those things and to be free of them I got to kind of live lighter fear wiser away compassionately and it's I've experienced that over and over again and that I think for me that's the qualitative difference between just sitting at home and that you know maybe develop being a comfortable meditation practice and actually being as a training center is the is that transcend training since we really kind of guided and pushed and moved forward and encouraged to let go of those attachments to more fully realized true self you know there's a time in a person's life when continuing to live with and support and perpetuate our own suffering becomes intolerable unacceptable and we are searching for a path we call it at the arising of bodhichitta the way seeking mind there's also a moment in the life of a people a city a culture a nation when supporting and perpetuating the suffering they were inflicting upon ourselves in each other becomes intolerable has to become intolerable whether it's one individual consciousness or collective consciousness fundamentally it's the same that's why practice is so essential we can't just decide to no longer be attached to things if you don't believe it I encourage you to give it a shot give it your best shot and then come and sit and really do the work one of the ongoing programs here is a group called the Green Dragon Earth Initiative it's part of a sangha wide response to issues regarding climate change and social justice it's developed by chicken sensei and group of students including myself who felt a deep imperative that we need to take action we need to learn deeply about this fundamental issue it's a crisis that our world is facing there's anybody here for the first time we have been doing this for four years and so it's basically a solid effort that we meet once a month we examine different issues we engage in different actions so what we're doing as always we're always trying to translate it is something it's happening something that happens to affect change so it's not just you know information or intellectual stuff so it's an ongoing of all the effort and we also are doing this within teachings of Buddhism looking at and relating the different teachers and principals of Buddhism and practice to the work that we're doing including the principles of the Bodhisattva as in how to avoid suffering how to be fearless how to actually hold grief the grief thing we might feel towards the planet and not have that paralyze us so that we can actually be effective I think we have such a vibrant saga this the the fact that you know people are taking chances working on environmental issues you know joining groups on examining their own biases it's a Sangha that engages right that engages issues that engages themselves that engages each other to me the words fire Lotus mean blooming in the heart of activity blooming in the fire and the heat and that that activity refines that that heat that fire refines a gentle flower [Music] flowers me talking to you me offering you food you offering me food except are you accepting me my own is chigan sensei has actively worked to try and put together a program that allows people from diverse backgrounds and experiences to teach us how to teach them and as best as I can tell as I said it's a work in progress but it's an ongoing positive contribution that's actually crucial if you're going to be in the EOC if you see people who resemble you in some way or another that you can identify with then I think it establishes a feeling of confidence or the potential to move ahead and feel acceptance as you move along this path one of the things I've been involved in here is the person of color group it's a very exciting initiative that we're doing here at the temple where we're trying to deal with issues like healing from racism racial and ethnic identity within the context of New York City in the United States 21st century and to bring a Zen Buddhist perspective to it kind of what does Zen Buddha's have to offer a person of color practicing when it comes to an issue like healing from racism the opportunity for the temple to serve many different people who aren't just students who are just then practitioners is amazing and that was also one of Dido's things he wanted to serve everyone the person that just comes on Sunday the person who wants to deepen their practice so that everyone is taken care of in any way that they feel that they're ready for and that I find extremely exciting chicken sensei leaves the training here at Zen Center of New York City but when he's away at the monastery there's a number of budding new teachers that are stepping into leadership roles and leading workshops and giving talks during the Sunday morning program and these new teachers give the community and anyone who walks through the doors really a number of perspectives on the buddhadharma and it's it's an incredible reflection of where the mountains and rivers order is today and who we are as a Sangha for me that's one of the things that are so essential about the city and why I feel like it's so important that we're here because really it's like the epicenter you know both in terms of things that are amazing and beautiful and exquisite and also in terms of things that are very challenging and difficult when daily events are particularly piercing because of the suffering experiencing and seeking refuge and not a refuge away from that but how to hold how to live in this world that we're creating particularly when things are happening close to home and how to understand those things how to cultivate compassion how to respond to those things to engage the world in ways that at times is very difficult and to do that together as a Sangha because we do that together it can be both very serious and full of intention but it's also joyful and that's free [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Zen Mountain Monastery

Views: 2,358

Rating: 4.9272728 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: jVXTp8qVvEI

Length: 31min 29sec (1889 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 13 2020