Zen Master Seung Sahn encouraged his students to live together in Zen centers where they can derive strength and support from each other’s continuing practice. The regular schedule of practicing, eating, and working together allows us to see our karma appear and disappear. We use the analogy of washing potatoes together in a pot of water. As the potatoes bump into one another, they clean each other more quickly than if each was cleaned one at a time.
In a Zen center, we can see clearly how our opinions create problems by coming between us and the situations we find ourselves in. When we let go of these opinions, it is possible to live our everyday lives with clarity and harmony. As we learn to cooperate, to see clearly, and to accept people and situations as they are, our minds become strong and wide. Then it becomes possible to act for other people with no trace of ourselves.
The practice forms are designed to help us see our opinions—and our minds that don’t pay attention—in each situation in which we find ourselves. If we keep a mind that wishes to leave no trace of our passage, these forms fall easily into place.
The monthly training fee is currently $725 for a private room with shared bathrooms throughout the building. The monthly training fee covers all retreats at PZC (including the long Kyol Che retreats), utilities, food, filtered drinking water, and wireless internet access throughout the building. Group practice is every morning and evening 7 days a week. There are monthly weekend retreats and long Kyol Che retreats each Winter and Summer. Residents can receive regular interviews and attend talks by our Guiding Teachers and visiting KUSZ teachers.