Our Spring Koan Series will begin this Sunday, April 20 (Happy Easter!)
from 3:00 to 5:00 PM
7528 Jenkin Place
Colorado Springs, 80919
The remaining sessions will be April 27,
May 4, 11 and 18.
Each session will be led by Sarah Bender, Sensei or Andrew Palmer, Sensei.
Koan interaction is a beautiful, powerful art peculiar to Zen practice, ancient and modern.
Rather than telling you about transformation and freedom,koans “face the world and move sideways” and so offer the experience itself–intimate, vivid.
Koans hang out at the borderlands where language and the unsayable meet.
When we gather in a small group to encounter the koans, each other, and our lives together,
we invite something to happen at these borderlands. We go out to meet the koans where they hang out,
and we invite them to join us in the very everydayness of being here.
At this moment in our history, we have a new tool to bring to the meeting.
So one thing I’d like to do a little differently this time is to invite you to spend a little time, for each session, with a short section of Joan Sutherland’s new book,
Acequias and Gates. This won’t so much be a book study, as a chance to notice how the teachings in the book can inspire our koan experience.
We’ll send out the short section and a koan or two ahead of time.
Our koan series is for everyone. No previous experience is required.
If you have questions or want to join us, please contact Sarahsembender@gmail.com or Andrew alpsensei@gmail.com .
As soon as you let us know you are coming, we’ll send you the section and koan for this week.
We hope to see you there.
Sarah and Andrew