Bright Way Zen

Our Bright Way Zen Lineage - Week 10 - Sangha As Teacher

In our lineage, your relationships in Sangha are considered one of your most fertile fields of practice. This includes relationships with individuals, your sense of yours

Sejiki Ceremony 2026

Sejiki is our annual Soto Zen "Festival of the Hungry Ghosts." Mythologically, "hungry ghosts" are beings who have been reborn after death in a hungry ghost realm because

Sangha Q and A - Domyo

Every so often, our teacher opens the floor to answer questions from Sangha.  We began with a guided meditation, then allowed whatever question or subject that arose to r

Our Bright Way Zen Lineage - Week 9

Vow and Paths of Practice & the Equality of Lay and Ordained: From the beginning, Buddhism has included both lay (or householder) and ordained/monastic practitioners. Eac

Do You Have to Abandon Worldly Entanglements? - Domyo

At our annual Continuous Practice retreats, we study excerpts from Dogen's Gyoji, which includes a section that seems to suggest that we abandon all worldly entanglements

Our Brightway Zen Lineage - Week 8 - The Transmission of the Dharma

Authentic transmission of the Dharma through the generations requires teachers – lay or ordained – who have verified the truth through their own direct experience, and ha

How Many Zens, Again? - Anjo

Using Tang-era Chan master Guifeng Zongmi's "Five Zens" framework, Anjo explores our relationship with zazen and the way it can change over time.

The Importance of Sesshin - Guzan and Jinryu

In this recording, Sangha holders Guzan and Jinryu discuss the important role of Sesshin in our Zen practice and invite fellow sangha members to speak to their experience

Forgiveness - Domyo

The Buddha knew it can be very difficult to forgive others, but taught that it could be done. Domyo offers that forgiveness begins with willingness, and has nothing to do

What Characterizes Our Dharma Cloud Lineage? - Our Bright Way Lineage - Week 6

What Characterizes Our Dharma Cloud Lineage? An overview of twelve things that characterize our lineage. These are things we emphasize, value, or offer; we employ the "Dh

Shining the Light Inward - Domyo

In Fukanzazengi, Dogen says "Learn to take the backward step that turns the light and shines it inward." In this, he indicates the essential point of our practice: studyi

The Trail Markers On Our Personal Zen Path - Tyler

In this Tuesday talk, Sangha member Tyler leads a Sangha discussion around our personal Zen path and our relationship to it over time. Using prompts from Dogen's Uji, as

What Does Zen Mean By Not Picking and Choosing? - Domyo

The Zen Buddhist instructions to let go of ideas of right and wrong, true or false, good and evil, love and hate, and deluded or enlightened, might sound familiar to you

Our Bright Way Zen Lineage - Week 4

In this episode Domyo talks about the establishment of Westside Zen Circle in 2009, incorporation as Bright Way Zen, the evolution and mission of our Sangha. This talk in

Appropriate Longing For Buddhists - Domyo

The Buddha's basic teaching is that life is marked by Dukkha, often translated as "suffering", and the cause of that is Tanha, sometimes translated as "craving" or "thirs

Our Bright Way Zen Lineage - Week 3 - Domyo's Training

In this episode, using journal enteries and poetry from her early life, Domyo guides the Sangha through her path of Soto Zen

The Koan of Effort in Practice - Domyo

Why are we intensifying our practice during Ango?  In Zen, the question of effort vs. non-effort in practice is, in itself, a Koan. Should we aim for vow, intention, moti

Fall Ango Opening Ceremony

Bright Way Zen's Sangha opens a new season of practice with acknowledging all who have practice roles, chanting the Heart Sutra, and singing "Shantideva's Way of the Bodh

Our Bright Way Zen Lineage - Week 2

In the second week of our study series on our Bright Way Zen Linieage we look at the Dharma Cloud lineage including Sanghas established by Kyogen and Gyokuko Carlson and

Making Vows and Living By Vow - Jomon Laura Martin

Our guest speaker leads Plum Blossom Zendo in Vancouver, Washington, and is a teacher and resident of Great Vow Monastery. Here, she shares a little bit about vows and ho