Everyday Zen
Our house-community is a mostly cheerful group of eight to twelve people, with a mixture of German and Swiss German languages. We meditate together in the morning and evening and keep the Felsentor going during the day and its guests in good spirits.
Our interaction with each other is attentive, open to the differences and weaknesses of each individual. We live in or around Felsentor and earn a basic income that covers our needs. We have chosen, over a short or long period of time, a way of life that is demanding from a work point of view, but which offers each of us so many more opportunities than would normally be found in the world of work. This versatility motivates and inspires over and over again. A good portion of humor, idealism and devotion support this way of life.
A sense of community and a stable personality is required to enjoy living, practicing and running this center together. We seek our individual ways, as a Zen community we try to combine spirituality, work, ecological behavior and animal welfare.
The forms of our daily practice are rooted in the Soto Zen tradition, which we cultivate and pass on as authentically as possible. Zazen, the common meditation practice of sitting in silence, is the heart of our practice and accompanies our life in the most everyday actions. We hand-sew our robes ourselves; this according to ancient tradition is a special practice that helps us to clarify and promote our steps on our own path. During sesshins or practice periods we eat our meals in the traditional (oryoki) way in the Zendo. All these forms help us cultivate an attitude of silence, serenity, and especially kindness towards ourselves and others. Furthermore, the daily work (samu) is in the Zen tradition a central point of spiritual practice, because it is regarded as an opportunity to practice mindfulness and an open mind.