Dear Visitor,

At Open Door Zen, practice is direct and unembellished. It is a commitment to the living dharma. This living dharma is grounded in the non-dual Mahāyāna sūtras and informed by the Zen lineage we come through.

We sit in silence without ritual or performance. The work is to study experience as it arises—to see how perception constructs identity and reality. There is no separation between formal and informal training. What begins on the cushion continues in conversation, action, and relationship. Practice is not confined to meditation periods or framed teachings; it moves through the entirety of life.

This is not a space for belief, identity, or emotional reassurance. It is a structure for training in clarity, responsibility, respect, and freedom. Two quotes from my teacher, Jun Po, capture the essence of our practice:

“Because our ego is a wholly conditioned process and not a fixed entity, it can and must be reconditioned to become liberated.”

“What is most essential is the practice of Dhyāna, meditative mindfulness, which enables us to experience the Absolute Purity of our deepest nature and to hold that transpersonal truth in the complexity of our personal lives.”

See below for details on our next weekly session, or to schedule a conversation with me.

I look forward to practicing with you.

Umi Dan Rotnem