Sweeping Pine Sangha is a Sōtō Zen practice community in the lineage of Gudō Wafu NishijimaGudo Wafu Nishijima (西嶋愚道和夫) (November 29, 1919 - January 28, 2014) practiced Zen Buddhism for over seventy years, taught students from around the world, founded the group known as "Dogen Sangha", and translated Buddhist texts from Japanese and Sanskrit, including Dogen's ninety-five-fascicle Kana… Read more about Gudō Wafu Nishijima » and Jundo CohenChigen Jundo Cohen (智源 純道 b. July 14, 1960, New York, New York) is a Sōtō Zen Priest, founder and teacher of the Treeleaf Zendo, a Soto Zen Sangha located in Tsukuba, Japan. He was ordained in 2002 and subsequently received Dharma Transmission from Master Gudo Wafu Nishijima in the Niwa-Nishijima… Read more about Jundo Cohen ». Guiding teacher Sekishi Weik started practicing with JundoChigen Jundo Cohen (智源 純道 b. July 14, 1960, New York, New York) is a Sōtō Zen Priest, founder and teacher of the Treeleaf Zendo, a Soto Zen Sangha located in Tsukuba, Japan. He was ordained in 2002 and subsequently received Dharma Transmission from Master Gudo Wafu Nishijima in the Niwa-Nishijima… Read more about Jundo » at Treeleaf Sangha in 2013 and received Dharma Transmission in 2023.
We are a small group of householder practitioners who support each other in a community devoted to "Practice Without WallsPractice and realization are not confined to the formal container of the zendo. The forms (sitting, liturgy, retreat) are indispensable, but they are not the boundary of the path; the same awakened activity expresses itself in the kitchen, the forest, the workplace, and the work of easing suffering… Read more about Practice Without Walls »". Our practice is found under trees and among wildflowers, in homes while washing dishes and sweeping the floor, and out in the marketplace while carrying out our day jobs: in the midst of our ordinary householder lives.
Together we offer daily online zazenShikantaza (只管打坐, shikan ta za) — "just sitting," or more precisely, "nothing but wholeheartedly sitting" - is the zazen practice central to Soto Zen Buddhism. It is objectless, goalless, method-free meditation: open awareness without a focus point, without striving toward any particular state. Read more about zazen » (shikantazaShikantaza (只管打坐, shikan ta za) — "just sitting," or more precisely, "nothing but wholeheartedly sitting" - is the zazen practice central to Soto Zen Buddhism. It is objectless, goalless, method-free meditation: open awareness without a focus point, without striving toward any particular state. Read more about shikantaza »), a bi-weekly zazenkai (zazenShikantaza (只管打坐, shikan ta za) — "just sitting," or more precisely, "nothing but wholeheartedly sitting" - is the zazen practice central to Soto Zen Buddhism. It is objectless, goalless, method-free meditation: open awareness without a focus point, without striving toward any particular state. Read more about zazen », ceremony, and a Dharma talk), and periodic retreats both online and in person. It is our sincere hope to maintain a community that practice conssitent with Sōtō Zen that allows individuals to participate in the ways that make sense for their life circumstances.
We have no monastery and offer no residential training. For the time being we intend to stay a "pocket Sangha". a place for good friends on the path (kalyanamitraKalyāṇa-mittatā (Pali; Skt.: -mitratā; CHN: 善知識) is a Buddhist concept of "admirable friendship" within Buddhist community life, applicable to both monastic and householder relationships. One involved in such a relationship is known as a "good friend", "virtuous friend", "noble friend" or … Read more about kalyanamitra ») to support each other in living domestic and professional lives in accord with the Buddhadharma.