Zen Center Philippines - Quezon City

Brief History of Zen The origins of Zen are shrouded in the mists of time but it would be safe to say that the practice of one-pointed concentration and absorption are deeply rooted in ancient yogic practices. The first human in recorded history who used zazen to come to enlightenment is Siddhartha Gautama. Born in the noble warrior class of the Shakya people of the Terai region of what is now Nepal, young Siddharta was beset with the problems of old age, sickness, suffering and death. The ZCP Welcome to the homepage of the Zen Center for Oriental Spirituality in the Philippines, more commonly known as Zen Center Philippines or ZCP in short. The Center is a lay Zen sangha – a community of spiritual seekers practicing the way of Zen in order to realize wisdom, compassion and wholeness in our lives and in the larger context of society. Our Center provides a setting that enables our members to practice zazen (sitting meditation) and to sustain the Zen experience in daily life. Our community took form in 1976 when Sr. Elaine MacInnes, OLM established the Manila San Un Zendo with the blessings of Yamada Koun Roshi of Sanbo Kyodan, Kamakura. In our early days, zazenkai (meditation session) was conducted on Sunday mornings in a temporary zendo (meditation hall) in the chapel of St. Bridget’s School at the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) compound in Quezon City. Our sangha belongs to the Sanbo Zen International (Three Treasures Zen) lineage of Kamakura,Japan. Sanbo Zen combines the best practices of the Soto (intensive zazen) and the Rinzai (koan practice) schools of Zen. The Sanbo Zen lineage (formerly known as the Sanbo Kyodan) was founded by Yasutani Haku’un Roshi on January 8, 1954. Word from the Abbot Message of Yamada Ryoun Roshi, Abbot of Sanbo-Zen International about the Zen practice and Zen Center Philippines.