Taking Part in the Gathering, term 3 2026

Spring Term, 2026:

“Every step an arrival”

The unending walk continues.  What is it?  It’s the way that life and a turbulent world meet us head-on, each time igniting a stronger clarity about what this ancient Zen practice may truly be.  And finding how it sets our hearts and minds alight.

On the way, encountering Zen ancestors who turn out to be real people, life-long companions in fact, walking on with them, catching a glimpse of the radiance of ‘ordinary’ mind, making it your own.

Freely proceeding, a bit like Denise Levertov’s dog in "Overland to the Islands",

Let's go—much as that dog goes,

intently haphazard …

Under his feet

rocks and mud, his imagination, sniffing,

engaged in its perceptions—dancing

edgeways, there's nothing

the dog disdains on his way,

nevertheless he

keeps moving, changing

pace and approach but

not direction—'every step an arrival.'

It’s spring!  Season for picnicking in the hills, following the scented grasses, returning with the falling flowers.  I’d hate you to miss the pooling of minds and hearts that happens in each session of Taking Part in the Gathering. Every fortnight: teisho, meditation, and rich dharma inquiry.  

Taking part starts here.

 If you have no idea what goes on, here’s a taste - the final session of Winter term on SoundCloud.       

 https://soundcloud.com/zen-open-circle/tpig-23-aug-26-to-study-zen-is-to-study-the-mind

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Roshi Susan Murphy.

Please note to join this gathering, you must be a member of Zen Open Circle,  https://www.zenopencircle.org.au/member-fees