"Lift the stone and you will find me. Cleave the wood and I am there." Jesus
"Things are not what they seem. Nor are the otherwise." Lankavatara Sutra
Zen meditations are led by Barbara Muso Penn, Zen priest and sensei, and a dharma heir of Charlotte Joko Beck. Barbara has taught Zen for many years.
Zazen
 Zazen is seated meditation, taking Zen practice to the cushion, but it is not the meditation normally thought of as quieting the mind. Zazen is active.
You get acquainted first of all with how you think or your "little" mind – where does it spend most of its time…planning the future? regretting the past? Over time, you'll start to see that most problems and challenges in life are caused by self-centered thoughts (those that revolve around "me") and feelings separate from everyone and everything else. You will learn ways to see these imaginings for what they are – unreal and often damaging.
You will be able to really answer, "What is wrong with now if I am not thinking about it?", and to see for yourself what life and death really are about, and to become who you really are.
 Our Zazen sessions include both walking and seated meditation, a private one-on-one "daisan" talk with the teacher, a dharma talk or tape, and Q & A. All newcomers receive instruction either in a separate sit or 15 minutes before their first sit.
Sesshin
 Sesshins are extended sits, from 2 to 6 days. Literally translated, sesshin means “to gather the one mind”.
Sesshins
include periods of Zazen, Oryoki (meal practice - "What does it mean to contain just enough?"), a Zen service (participants remember those ill and those who have died), Samu (work practice, cleaning, gardening, painting or doing what tasks are needed at the facility where sesshin is being conducted), and daisan/dokusan (one on one face to face conversation with the teacher).
Sesshins are
completely silent, but participants can always ask questions of the teacher(s), monitors or timekeeper.
Zazenkai
A one-day sit.
Weddings and Funerals
As both a Zen priest and Zen senseai, Barbara has conducted marriage ceremonies for her students, as well as memorials for people and animals, celebrating their lives and their deaths. |
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Zen Sitting Locations and Schedule
Two-three hour weekly or twice a month Zen sits (zazen-meditations) are conducted in several locations in the Triangle and the Sandhills (NC) and in Berskhire County, Massachusetts.
Zen Meditation in Chapel Hill, NC - Friday evenings 6 - 8 PM. Suggested fee: $14. No one is turned away because of inability to pay.
The Artistic Life: A Living Meditation: Special One-Day Workshop for Artists
For latest schedule, locations, and fees, please call 910.690.2937 or 413-269-0233 (in Massachusetts) or email
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