SALEM ZEN CENTER
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Mission Statement
The Salem Zen Center's (SCZ) primary purpose shall be to express, make accessible, and embody the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha and support formal Zen training in the Sanbo Kyodan style which originated from the Harada-Yasutani lineage presently flows through the Maria Kannon Zen Center as established in Salem, Oregon, with our first teacher Lee Ann Kanren-An Nail (Sensei An) and her successors or designees. Emphasis is given to the value of developing a meditation practice in daily life. Regular sitting meditation is offered on Wednsday evenings in conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem and other retreats and activities take place throughout the year. Our central value is to express the non-duality of practice and awakening through the practice of Zen and the "Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts." SZC acknowledges and values the expression of the practice in both formal settings and in daily life and affirms the value of lay individuals and their practice as expressions of the Bodhisattva Way. Further the SZC has been organized and operates exclusively for charitable, scientific, religious, and educational purposes. Subject to limitations stated in the Articles of Incorporation, the purposes of this corporation shall be to engage in any lawful activities, none of which are for profit, for which corporations may be organized under Chapter 65 of the Oregon Revised Statutes (or its corresponding future provisions).
About This Cause
For over a thousand years “work-service” (samu in Japanese) has been considered one of the principle components of Zen practice. While this has often come to mean making donations and holding fund-raisers in lieu of performing actual deeds of public service, the Salem Zen Center (SZC) encourages its members to participate in various volunteer activities. While much of our group samu focuses on taking part in activities on behalf of or sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Salem, who graciously allow us to use their facilities free of charge. These activities include cleaning the stretch of road the church sponsors, helping on grounds maintenance days, and thanking the church by serving coffee and cookies to parishioners occasionally after their services. Beyond that, members have organized a program teaching meditation to "short-timers" at the Santiam Correctional Facility in Salem Oregon, have aided in the supervision of emergency warming shelters, and taught meditation at recreational and senior citizens classes. The center makes donations to other nonprofit organizations including the Unitarian Universalist Church of Salem, the Stones and Clouds Sangha and dojo of Lake Oswego, and the Corvallis Zen Center. Two other principal components of Zen practice are meditation and teaching. Meditation or zazen is the heart of our practice. Zazen literally translates as just sitting and that is the aim of our meditation practice. For us, just sitting is, suspending all judgmental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them. Teaching includes informal Dharma talks, formal commentary or teisho and private meetings or dokusan with the teacher or roshi. Our teacher, Roshi Lee Ann Nail, has practiced Zen Buddhism for over thirty years and has trained formally at two monasteries. She is a regular speaker at the International Lay Buddhist Forum annual meetings and volunteers all the time she provides to the SZC. During the regular Wednesday evening meditation gatherings (held from 5:00-9:00pm) she presents an informal prepared talk and is available for individual private interviews (dokusan) during most of the rest of that time. This kind of teaching and training is an essential element of Zen Buddhist training and is made available to anyone that walks in the door. Finally, many people come to the center just to find out about or to acquire skills at meditation and the center provides a weekly beginning class in meditation in general along with a quick introduction to Zen practice.