About Us
The name of our community has deep and special meaning. The Three Treasures refers to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. The sanskrit word Buddha means "The awakened one." Dharma literally means "carrying, holding," referring to the teaching, the universal laws. Sangha means "crowd, host," and refers to the community of people who practice together. In Buddhist communities, these Three Treasures or Jewels are a place of refuge and also the foundation of practice.
Mission Statement
To create a compassionate and open environment for all people interested in the study and practice of Zen;
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To offer a Zen Buddhist approach to religious practice and understanding as well as other meditative and spiritual practices to help relieve the suffering of oneself and others;
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And to foster the transmission of Zen Buddhism in a western context.
Our Philosophy
Our community exists to provide an educational model of practice with the thorough appreciation that Zen training can be of real value to everyone, the level of commitment being determined by the participant's own pace, interest and aspiration. Dogen Zenji, the founder of Japanese Soto Zen, wrote in Genjokoan:
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"To study the Buddha Way is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things. To be enlightened by the ten thousand things is to free one's body and mind and those of others. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment is continued forever…"
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This is not an easy matter. For that reason, Zen practice uses skillful means such as meditation practice, intensive retreats, and working with a teacher, to help us clarify and truly appreciate our life.
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Being one of the centers of the White Plum community, TTZC subscribes to the code of ethics developed and published by the White Plum. You can familiarize yourself with this code here:
http://www.whiteplum.org/WPACodeofEthicalConductFinal--10.11.14.pdf
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We welcome you in this endeavor to alleviate the suffering of oneself and others.