The Story So Far...

If I had to identify the two primary factors that set me down the path toward Zen practice, they would be Catholicism and ADDHD.  Growing up I had a lot of difficulty sitting still and paying attention.  When I was old enough to become an alter server, I took the opportunity.  Being involved in the mass gave a sense of being involved in spiritual practice (and having something to do during church).  Outside of church, my parents enrolled me in Tae Kwon Do so that I could develop some self-discipline to deal with my attention and hyperactivity problems.  The middle school and high school years, these two activities served me well. When I went away to university, both fell to the wayside.  Although those particular forms fell away, they left their mark.  I continued to maintain a great interest in the spiritual journey and in Asian culture.

My university years eventually lead me in the direction of teaching.  When I left teachers college, I was hired to teach history and World Religions in a small Catholic high school in rural Ontario.  Although I had studied religion in university, the focus was purely Christian and Catholic.  World religions were just never a part of what I interested in.  I taught that first year from the textbook, and set into summer vacation with the intent of visiting places of spiritual practice in the major traditions.  An internet search on Buddhism lead me to the homepage of Zen Mountain Monastery.  That summer I made the day long drive to Mount Tremper and participated in an introduction to Zen practice retreat.  I had prepared myself by doing some zazen based on descriptions I found online.  The retreat itself was a pivotal experience in my life.  Although it would take some time to clarify my new found drive, I sensed that there was a resonance that went much deeper than the trappings of the Japanese monastic model.

I did my best to maintain my home practice, which to me just meant zazen.  The following year I returned to ZMM and participated in my first sesshin.  This was another major experience in my life.  For the next six years or so, I continued my home practice with a drive that both ebbed and flowed, but never vanished.  Returning home to Amherstburg, I set out to find supports for my home practice, using ZMM's eight gates of Zen as a model.  Pursuing my interest in Japanese culture, I began training in Aikido as a form of body practice.  I also began looking for a sitting group that worked in the tradition of Zen Mountain Monastery.  I contacted a man in Detroit, who redirected me to Toledo, where, in the spring of 2004, I met Jay Chikyo Weik.

Jay and his wife Karen ran the Toledo Meditation Group in a portion of Jay's Aikido dojo.  Over the years I visited occasionally for some combination of Aikido and Zen practice, turning to Jay with questions periodically.  As a satellite member of this growing group I observed many changes.  Jay changed teachers, and he and his wife were given new Dharma names;  Rinsen and Do'on.  The community began to grow in size and depth.  Rinsen began giving dharma talks, established the Drinking Gourd Podcasts, offering retreats and doing private interviews.  

As the meditation group grew into the Toledo Zen Center, it's gravity pulled me in and helped my practice dig under my skin.  In February of 2010, TZC celebrate two important ceremonies, the ordination of Rinsen and Do'on as Zen Priests, and TZC's first Jukai ceremony.  I was fortunate enough t be part of that first group of 16 practitioners to receive the precepts.

That is the simple summary of the vast confluence of circumstances that has brought me to this point in my life.  The forces that move my life are ever changing, and my choices thus far have lead me in a good direction.  It is my hope that keeping this blog will be an enriching practice, and of use to others.

Gassho,

-Kaishin