Address: 6556 35th Ave NE Seattle, WA 98115
Service: Sundays at 9:30am and 11:15am in-person or online
Phone: 206-525-8400
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UNIVERSITY UNITARIAN CHURCH
Zen Meditation and Study
A Practice of Awakening
UUC provides a convenient and supportive environment to meditate and learn about Zen Buddhism with others. You’ll encounter regular participants who have an established practice in Zen or another contemplative tradition, and you’ll also meet first-time or occasional attendees, some of whom are just beginning a meditation practice. Most attendees are UU, some are not. All are welcome.
Zen practice at UUC is offered several times throughout the week:
- Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 am – noon (on-site & online) – Zazen, dokusan, check-in, study & discussion
- Early Morning Zen Tuesday through Sunday, 6:30 -7:00 am OR Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 7:30-8:00 am (both options online only) – Zazen, Verse of the Kesa, Four Vows
- Sunday evenings, 6:30-7:45 pm (online only) – Zazen, recorded Dharma Talk, check-in & discussion
Drop-in attendance is welcome for all regular practice periods. Come when you can! You do not have to be a Zen practitioner, a Buddhist, an experienced meditator, or a Unitarian Universalist (UU) to attend. There is no charge to participate.
Day-long and multi-day practice opportunities are also offered from time to time, usually in concert with Empty Moon Zen - a larger UU friendly sangha with which we are affiliated. These events will be announced through the group's email list, UUC News and Calendar. Registration is open now for the Awakening with the World: Silent Forest Retreat, December 5-8 in North Bend, WA.
We use the Empty Moon Zen liturgy book for chants during all practice periods - it is available here for online viewing or downloading to print (scroll down a little on the home page, and you'll see the link). The books are provided for use at all on-site practice periods.
Join our Zen Meditation & Study group in UUC Connect (login required) to find Zoom links, or contact Janine Larsen for connection info.
Our current Dharma Text:
The Intimate Way of Zen: Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey
by James Myoun Ford, Roshi
About the book, published by Shambala in 2024: "Lightly structured by the archetypal Buddhist oxherding images, Ford’s exploration is rooted in the Zen way while being deeply enriched by various strains of world mysticism. The book, sprinkled with insights and quotes from Buddhist, Daoist, and Christian traditions, serves as a map and a companion to spiritual seekers or pilgrims—whether within one religious tradition or cobbling together a way of one’s own. “Here is the most natural of all natural experiences,” writes Ford. “In the midst of our suffering, our longing, our desperation, we capture a glimpse. Something touches us. And with that, if we are lucky and really notice some movement of some spirit within us, we turn our attention to the intimate way.”
James Ishmael Ford is a UU Minister and is the founder and Guiding Teacher of Empty Moon Zen Sanghas, our dharma family.
General Information about our UUC Zen meditation group:
Ready for Summer 2023 Commuter Retreat
Our two-hour meditation & study group on Tuesdays & Fridays are the most widely attended of our various practice periods (briefly outlined above). It includes simple opening and closing chants, two periods of silent sitting, walking meditation, refreshment, and teaching. (View or download our liturgy book so that you can join us – or just listen if you prefer.) Most often, the group explores teaching through a book; sometimes there may be a dharma talk or other discussion.
Dress comfortably. Most participants sit on chairs, which are provided. Floor sitting supplies are also available, or bring your own cushions or meditation bench – remove a chair and replace it with your supplies. A variety of sitting supports and light blankets are also available for your comfort.
Arrive 5-10 minutes early if possible. Choose your seat and settle into your posture. If you arrive after the sitting period has begun, please enter quietly and take any available seat. At the beginning of the first period, the practice leader will ask if anyone needs meditation instruction, and may lead a guided meditation for all or offer a separate room for those who wish assistance. Otherwise, simply follow this general advice for meditation practice:
Sitting still, just pay attention to what is going on around you and within you. Notice your breathing or other sensations in the body. Allow curiosity to arise in its own time. Be gentle with yourself. Just start again when the mind wanders.
– Rev. Janine Seitetsu Larsen, Osho
Bright Cloud Zen Resident Priest
Empty Moon Zen Teacher
(Photo: SeitetsuOsho)
Sitting still, just pay attention to what is going on around you and within you. Notice your breathing or other sensations in the body. Allow curiosity to arise in its own time. Be gentle with yourself. Just start again when the mind wanders.
– Rev. Janine Seitetsu Larsen, Osho
Bright Cloud Zen Resident Priest
Empty Moon Zen Teacher
(Photo: SeitetsuOsho)
Bright Cloud Zen students and teachers after May 2019 retreat
(Photo: Summer 2021 Sesshin)
This group sits as Bright Cloud Zen, an affiliate of the Empty Moon Zen Sanghas and a member sangha of the UU Buddhist Fellowship. Bright Cloud Zen practice groups are supported by Rev. Janine Seitetsu Larsen, our Resident Priest and a transmitted Teacher with Empty Moon Zen. Janine is also UUC’s Director of Ministries.
The Bright Cloud Zen practice groups regularly offer precept study for those who wish to receive the first five precepts (sewing the Wagessa and vowing to live ethically), or Jukai (sewing the Rakusu and committing to the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts and the Empty Moon lineage). Talk to Janine to learn more about receiving the precepts.
Opportunities to sit with Bright Cloud Zen Sangha (virtually or in-person)
- See top of page for weekly practice periods.
- See the link to Empty Moon Zen, below, for additional practice periods offered by our affiliated Empty Moon Zen sanghas.
- Saturday Zazenkai: We join the Empty Moon Zen Sanghas for monthly Zazenkai via Zoom on the first Saturday of each month. On occasion, we meet at UUC to sit together in person, too. Full day participation is encouraged; drop-in attendance is allowed. No charge. An offering bowl or online giving link will be available for contributions to support sangha activities.
- Multi-day retreats (Sesshin): Two or three times a year, we engage multi-day retreat with the Empty Moon Zen Sanghas. May be residential (locations vary), or “commuter” (daytime attendance only; usually at UUC). Zoom attendance is usually an option as well.
- See the Empty Moon Zen website or ask Janine for information on online programs offered daily by our affiliated Sanghas.
(Photo: Bright Cloud Rohatsu, 2019)
Rohatsu Sesshin and Janine’s ordination as a Zen priest, at UUC in December 2019
The links below offer additional information about Bright Cloud and Empty Moon Zen and other recommended practice opportunities.
Click links below for:
Information on James Myoun Ford, Roshi
James Ford’s blog, Monkey Mind
Empty Moon Zen website. Join the mailing list there to receive emails with news and updates from our larger Sangha family.
Other opportunities for Retreats & Events:
In addition to regular practice and events offered by Bright Cloud and Empty Moon Zen, we recommend teaching and residential retreats (sesshin) at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, OR. See their schedule here. The “Beginner’s Mind” introductory retreat is offered monthly. Practitioners over age 60 may wish to inquire about “Silver Dragons” retreat options.
Practice opportunities with other Seattle area Zen groups we recommend (check their websites to confirm current information):
Seattle Soto Zen – Tuesday evenings
Chobo-Ji – Rinzai Zen, M-S mornings, T/Su evenings
One Drop Zen – Water Moon Dojo – Rinzai Zen, T/Th/S mornings
Still have questions, need Zoom links, or want to join the email list-serve for Bright Cloud Zen group communications? Email Janine or call her at UUC, (206) 454-7724.
