Woodfish 30th Anniversary Edition

Newsletter of the Chogye International Zen Center of New York 400 E. 14th St., Apt. 2E • New York, NY 10009 • (212) 353 - 0461 • www.cizny.org

Issue No. 24Winter/Spring 2005

Editors; Guillermo Echanique,John Holland, Paul Majchrzyk,

Calligraphy: Sung Hae Sunim

Design: James Gouijn-Stook

Printing: Marlboro Press

WOODFISHWOODFISH3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y E D I T I O N

A Dharma SpeechGiven by Zen Master Seung Sahn at the opening ceremony of the International Zen Center of New York on April 20, 1975.

(Holding up his Zen stick andhitting the table, slowly, threetimes) Is this closed? Is this open?If you say “closed,” you fall into the

hell without doors. If you sayopen, you are dancing withall the demons.

Why?

(Holding up his Zenstick and tracing a circle in

the air; then holding the stick perpendicular to the table)One two three four; five six seven eight.

(After a few moments) Thank you very much forcoming to our ceremony even though you must be verybusy. It is not an accident we are gathered here today. Itis the result of our past karma. It is very good karma thathas brought us to meet here in front of the Buddha’s altar.

This karma means finding your true self and attainingthe Absolute. It means leaving behind the world of desireand journeying to the land of true freedom and peace.

That is why we founded Won Gak Sa* one year agoand are opening the International Zen Center today.

But the Sutra says, “Form is emptiness, emptiness isform.” So all names and all forms are emptiness. Won GakSa, the International Zen Center of New York, this openingceremony - these are also emptiness.

The Sutra says, “All beings are already Buddha.” Sowhy is chanting or reading sutras or sitting Zen necessary?

But we don’t know ourselves. Desire, anger, and igno-rance cover up our clear mind. If we cut off all thinkingand return to empty mind, then your mind, my mind, andall people’s minds are the same. We become one with thewhole universe.

Therefore, an eminent teacher said, “All things in theuniverse return to the One.”

True empty mind is before thinking. So thinking doesnot appear or disappear.

In the realm where nothing appears or disappears, thereis no life and no death, no suffering and no happiness, nogood and no bad, no you and no I. So it is said that allthings in the universe return to One.

But where does this One return?

Once somebody came up to the great Zen Master MangGong and asked him, “If all things return to the One,where does this One return?” Mang Gong said, “Thespring geese are flying north.”

What do you think this means, “The spring geese areflying north?”

Even though you may understand enough to smashMount Sumeru into a million pieces and swallow theocean in one gulp, you will not understand this.

Even though you may understand enough or kill orgive life to all the Buddhas of the three time-worlds andall eminent teacher and all people, you will not begin tounderstand this.

Then how can you understand the true meaning of“The spring geese are flying north?” Only keep don’t-knowmind. This don’t-know mind is the mind that is stuck andcannot budge. It is like trying to break through a steelwall or trying to climb a silver mountain. All thinking iscut off. But as soon as you penetrate this condition, yourmind will explode. Then you can see the stone lion runacross the waves and devour the sun.

But you will still be bewildered. Go one step further.Then you will arrive at your true home, where springcomes and the flowers are blossoming everywhere. If youarrive here, not only will sutras and bibles be true, but alsothe sound of water and wind, the color of the mountain,the barking of a dog in the St. - everything that you see or

Zen Master Seung Sahn

(continued on p. 2)

W O O D F I S H — 3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y E D I T I O N

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sense, everything as it is, will be the truth.

Therefore, Zen Master Mang Gong said, “The springgeese are flying north.” The truth is just like this.

All things in the universe return to the One; wheredoes the One return? Throw away Small I and enterEmpty I. Then when you open your eyes, everything thatyou can see and hear will be like this.

A little while ago I hit the table three times. Mang Gongsaid, “The spring geese are flying north.” The meaning ofmy action and the meaning of Mang Gong’s words–arethese the same or different?

If you say the same, I will hit you thirty times. If yousay different, I will still hit you thirty times.

Why?

KATZ!!!

Open the door to Broadway.

*Won Gak Sa was the temple founded at the 20th St. locationby DSSN and Poep An Sunim.

From Dropping Ashes on the Buddha. Reprinted by permission of the Providence Zen Center.

I n March 1975, shortly before the official opening of theChogye International Zen Center of New York, Zen

Master Seung Sahn made a calligraphy that consisted of abrush stroke circle, a few Chinese characters, and theEnglish words, “What is this?” Thirty years later, this calligraphy still graces a wall in the ZenCenter.

The circle points us toward one of the central principles of Zen, empty/full.Clear mind is empty of preconceivedideas, constructs, opinions, and the notionof a self sufficient self, yet full of the infi-nite potentialities readily available throughthe direct perception of an interconnecteduniverse where things are just as they are.

The question, “What is this?” is one ofthe fundamental kong-ans of the Zen tradi-tion having originated at the time of theSixth Patriarch of Chinese Zen. A monknamed Huai Jang came to call on the SixthPatriarch. The Patriarch asked, “Whereare you coming from?” Huai Jang replied“From Seung Sahn.” The Patriarch said,“What is this that has come from SeungSahn?” Huai Jang couldn’t answer, andaccording to some versions of the story, he returned toSeung Sahn and practiced looking into this question continuously for eight years before he had an opening.“What is this?” and “What am I?” are two of the principalkong-ans used in the Korean Zen tradition. I recentlyasked one of our Sangha who knows some Chinese the literal meaning of the Chinese characters in Dae Soen SaNim’s calligraphy. He said it just means, “What is?”

“What is?” is an invitation to look clearly and experi-ence directly. Simultaneously it urges us to let go of whatis hindering us from perceiving the world and ourselves

just as it is or as Dae Soen Sa Nim would often say “justlike this.” Practicing with the great question, “What isthis?” brings us face-to-face with the absolute mind beforerelative comparisons like self and other, inside or outside,same or different appear. At that moment, there is only

Don’t know, only clarity and openness.The question also helps us look at eachmind-state that arises moment to momentand cut through the myriad delusions.

At the beginning of his Dharma speechat the opening ceremony of the ChogyeInternational Zen Center of New York,April 20, 1975, Zen Master Seung Sahnheld up his Zen stick, hit the table threetimes and asked, “Is this closed? Is thisopen? If you say closed, you fall into hellwithout doors. If you say open, you aredancing with all demons.” We need to recognize the difference between the concept of openness, which invariablyleads to the opposite, unopeness, and theprimary experience of openness that is nota concept at all. “What is this?” is itselfalready the experience of openness whichis clear like space.

In some classical Zen dialogues, the master admonishesthe student with, “Keep the great question for 30 years.”

The Chogye Zen Center has silently kept the questionalive for us for 30 years through this calligraphy, by providing a place wherein we find like-minded people topractice with, and through the continuance of Zen MasterSeung Sahn’s teaching and vision. Please open the door,come in, and lend support to this endeavor. When youleave, open the door to Fourteenth St. and connect practice with daily life.

The Great Question for Thirty Years Zen Master Wu Kwang

(continued from p. 1)


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One moment is thirty years

Thirty years is one moment

Thirty years passes quickly

One moment crawls along

Blink your eyes

They’re both gone

One moment breathe in

Thirty years breathe out

W hen Bodhidharma studied with Prajnatara,Prajnatara predicted the appearance of Zen Master

Ma Jo in eighth century China. When Zen Master SeungSahn came to New York, he only had two empty hands.How could he have known about 14th St.?

We each came to the Zen Center expecting something.We each found out in our own way that what we expectedgot in the way of seeing what we already have.

A monk asked Joju, “For a long time, I’ve heard of thestone bridge of Chao Chou, but now that I’ve come here, Ijust see a simple log bridge.”

Joju said, “You just see the log bridge; you don’t seethe stone bridge.

The monk said, “What is the stone bridge?”

Joju said, “Asses cross, horses cross.”

Over 30 years many people have passed through thesedoors. Many of them have come and gone; some havestayed almost the whole time. But we owe all of them adebt of gratitude, for participating in the energy that hassustained our practice and this Center all these years.

In the Zen Center, we use the Sangha to help us studythe Dharma to see our Buddha nature. Outside the ZenCenter, we practice the Dharma to use our Buddha-natureto relate to the world-sangha.

When Zen Master Su Bong was doing a solo 100-dayretreat, he had finished 50 days and felt that his energywas good. So he found his way to a telephone and calledDSSN. He said, “This retreat is very easy, and I feel good.Why should I continue?” DSSN immediately, shouted,“Not for me!’” and hung up.

As we celebrate the anniversary of our Zen Center, letus remember the air we all share.

Looking Back, Looking Forward, Looking HereKen Kessel, JDPSN

CIZCNY, 17th Street circa 1985


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Thirty years is so long ago, it’s ancient history. Let mesee if I can get this right.... There was a time when the

Zen Center was struggling to find a home. First we wereon 20th St.? And then we were in a dance studio on 16thSt.. But then we were homeless.

So I invited the Zen Center to my two-room apartmenton East 7th St., up three narrow flights of stairs, overSurma’s Ukrainian shop and two doors down fromMcSorley’s Bar and Grill. My living-room was one of thoserailroad flat rooms: long and narrow. It was lined with

cushions down both sides and open for practice at seveno’clock every night. I don’t remember how long it went onbut I really liked having the Sangha come to me. I have abeautiful photo someone took of DSSN sitting on a cush-ion in front of my old red secretary, with his wooden stickraised.

“International Zen Center,” seemed a little grandilo-quent for us in those days, but DSSN’s teaching certainlybecame international in the years after that. n

– Carole Korzeniowsky

A Brief History of the CIZCNYKen Kessel, JDPSN

ä 1975-77: 40 East 20th St. We shared space with Won Gak Sa following Choi Bosal Nim’s encounter with Dae Soen SaNim and Poep An Su Nim in a coffee shop, when she prevailed upon them to open a temple in New York.

ä 1977-78: 105 East 16th St. We used the dance studio space of Sun Ok Lee, a Korean traditional dancer, who was astudent of Dae Soen Sa Nim’s.

ä 1978-79: 11 East 7th St. We used Carole Marshall’s (then Korzeniowsky) apartment, located next to McSorley’sand above a Ukrainian gift shop. We did retreats in those days on Long Island, in the basement of BobOrens’ house. He was a lawyer who lived in Long Beach.

I ’m quite sure the apartment was in the building east ofMcSorley’s. It was a tiny apartment. I used to go to

McSorley’s for a couple of half-pints before practice.Those half-pints seemed to improve my ability to achievesome sort of a tranquil state — if not exactly the essentialone. The owner of the apartment was a writer namedCarole Korzeniowsky.

I remember a weekend-long retreat there when DSSNslept on the little loft bed in the small bedroom in back,which barely accommodated him. The rest of us squeezedonto the floor in the little living-room. The retreat hap-pened to coincide with the opening ceremonies for thehuge Ukrainian church directly opposite. I believe everyUkrainian in the world attended! Their celebration tookplace in the street. There were lots of off-key singing andloudspeaker speeches. On our part, I think there was afeeling of barely concealed sheepishness for somehowfailing to provide DSSN with the proper atmosphere for aretreat. He, of course, treated it as the “ideal” atmospherefor a retreat. The retreat was very strong, deep, andspiced, as always, with his sense of humor.

I sat another retreat on Long Island. Bob Orens hadcleared everything out of his garage. The floor wascement. It was the hardest surface that I have ever sat on.It was excruciating to enunciate, “Don’t-know!” DSSN

held interviews in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Actually,that was the first interview I had with him.

The retreat would have been in 1978 or 1979. It wasa full three-day retreat, which was rather difficult for themajority of us who were novices. Even robes were a novelty — and of course the rituals as well. Our chantingmust not have been very good. Luckily, it was probablyinaudible to all but us because of the church-opening ceremonies. There were never more than about six of usin attendance. Still, it was something of an accomplish-ment to prepare meals in the passageway that passed forCarole’s kitchen. Eating in silence seemed odd. DSSNsat the entire retreat with us. Each evening he gave aDharma talk. I was already familiar with his style fromhaving practiced some at the Cambridge Zen Center in1972/73. I know that he charmed us all — even thoughthat was not his primary intention — and that his mannermade it possible for us to get through the retreat. HisEnglish was much less developed than it was later. Hismain teaching was same-or-different style — as a way ofgetting to now. He would point to a teacup and to his Zenstick and say, “This and this — same or different — if yousay same I hit you 30 times. If you say different I hit you30 times. So what can you do?” Then he’d usually laughand with his big smile wait for someone to fall into a self-made trap. Another of his main teachings was, “The


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apple does not say ‘I am red.’” You can get an idea of hisstyle at that time from Dropping Ashes on the Buddha,although even there the stories have been “normalized”and his style seems to have been trimmed a little. The

actual impression that he gave us at the time was of just-off-the-boat-Zen. Instinctively, each of us knew that therewas nothing else like it. n

– Alan Davies

ä 1979-1984: 39 East 31st St.. We bought this building and shared it with the Korean Sangha for a few years.

I was going to grad school in Wisconsin and also studying tai chi. It was 1979 and I had read some books

about Zen when I heard that my cousin Ken Kessel hadbeen to Korea to pursue his interest in Zen. I attended anintroduction to Zen session with a local group. I felt rightaway that the practice was for me, and began sitting regularly with the group. But I couldn’t really connectwith their style.

That summer, on vacation, I visited Ken at the 31st. St.Zen Center, and met DSSN. I liked his sense of humor. Ihad bought a “Laughing Buddha” cookie in Chinatownand we ate it after Chinese food. “Good!” said DSSN whenhe saw what I had brought, “We eat the Buddha.” He was

there for a few days, wearing gray monk pants and awhite T-shirt all the time while he answered letters andtried to fix something in the bathroom.

One afternoon, he was holding a big hammer, andlooked like he really was motivated to try to bang onsomething in there, but I decided I had to ask him rightthen about “joining.” I said to him, “That other group istoo tight for me,” squeezing my fist. “Yeh, too tight!” hesaid, squeezing his face up. He gave me a little smile. Wesat down on an old sofa for a little while and talked. Thatwas that. Then he picked up the hammer and disappearedinto the little bathroom. n

– Jan Potemkin

Icame to New York in 1983 with the intention of estab-lishing a meditation practice. I visited a number of

places I found listed in the New-Age paper called FreeSpirit. Since I was new to the city, I walked everywherein an attempt to learn about its neighborhoods. Whendusk fell one evening, I headed out to find Chogye at 31 East 39th. St., where a free dharma talk was listed. Ipassed one factory after another until I came to whatshould have been number 31 but was a vacant lot – Void! Istood there, creeped-out by the bleak buildings, tired,with no telephone in sight, rechecking the advertisementin the newspaper, hoping that 31 would morph. Then itoccurred to me that maybe this is a Zen barrier gate and Iwas being scrutinized to see if I was “ready.” Maybe Ishould sit in the lotus position until the Zen masterarrived. Or maybe this was some sort of Taoist magic: theZen Center was cloaked in invisibility; only the TrueStudent could see it. As I peered through sodium vaporyellow light, I tried to conjure up a floating Buddhist tem-ple. No luck. I must be deficient. I was becoming giddy,checking the sky for The Mother Ship. Perhaps Chogyelanded only long enough to pick up the initiated and wasthen pulled back to The Source on laser tractor beams. Ormaybe, like the Tardis flying booth in “Dr. Who,” Chogyezoomed through the heavens at warp speed changing

shape and size at will and might plop down at my feet atany moment.

When my hysteria retreated, I felt very much alone. I found a telephone. A friendly voice – coming not, I judged, from The Mother Ship, told me to come to 39 East 31st. St., where a good talk was about to begin. As I walked to the new address, I still speculated that themisprint in Free Spirit was a Zen joke on me.

Thus when Ken Kessel opened the Dharma-roomdoor for me and gave me a little push inside, my mindtook an indelible snapshot. I was in a large, low-ceilinged,carpeted room that appeared to be dark and bright at thesame time. I saw two men facing a group seated on cush-ions. The locutors were Richard Shrobe and Linc Rhodes.Richard spoke about having a Great Question and fuelingthat question instead of looking for answers. He said thatanswers would always be unsatisfying. He said that in Zenthe path is in the question, in grabbing hold of the GreatQuestion in Not Knowing. This was an epiphany for me. Ihad been so haunted by questions that I couldn’t answer –and now they were gone. I didn’t have to worry any moreabout finding answers. I had to have trust in not-knowing.What a relief! I had such a sense of discovery that I knew

(continued on p. 6)


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I would not search any further for a teacher or practice.Within a week I had moved into Chogye; within fourweeks I was de facto Housemaster.

For my first two weeks, I camped out in the Dharmaroom until I was permitted to move into a tiny adjacentroom that was also the interview room. One evening whenI returned to my room I opened the door to see an orange-knit hat sitting at the head of my bed. Then it moved, anda pair of eyebrows appeared and a pair of laughing eyes

as well as part of a nose. “Hello, sister,” came a voicefrom under the covers. That is how I first met theSupreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism – and learnedthat my room was also the guest room.

One Friday afternoon when I got home from work Iput on some tea. Then I was in the process of sittingdown on the couch when I peeked under an orange cloththrown across it. There were those eyebrows again underthe orange-knit cap. “Hello, sister!” n

– Syndria Mecham

ä 1984 – 1987: 42 West 17th St. (between 5th & 6th Avenues). After selling the building on East 31st St., we rent-ed a large two-bedroom apartment with a very large living-room area. We continued to share it withthe Korean Sangha.

I n 1983 I went to the temple located at 31st St. andPark Avenue South. Full of self-doubt, I hesitantly

made my way there in search of the right teacher. When Iknocked, a student named Steve opened the door. Heasked why I was there, and then what kind of practicewas I following. I explained that I was curious about Zen,and that I was practicing Soto Zen.

“You are in luck,” said Steve, “because the Zen Master ishere!”

With great trepidation I went in. My head wasbuzzing with questions. What would this exalted being,the Zen Master, look like? How would he behave towardme? I pictured encountering an ethereal person. I wasalso afraid that, not knowing the protocol, I would lookfoolish by doing something stupid.

To my surprise, when I entered the room DSSN was sitting watching TV in the company of five or six students.Steve introduced me, “This is Willie who practices SotoZen.” DSSN looked at me and asked, “What is your prac-

tice?” “I count my breaths,” I answered. Then, in a voiceloud enough to make me jump, DSSN said, “JUST DO IT.”I’ve been trying ever since.

After the Center moved to 17th St. in 1984, I attendeda three-day sitting led by DSSN. I distinctly remember acertain degree of concern from other building tenantswho apparently did not appreciate our early morningprostrations and chanting. DSSN then changed the schedule so the noisier aspects were reserved for later inthe morning. Richard Shrobe, now Zen Master Wu Kwang,was a JDPSN at the time and listened as DSSN conductedthe interviews.

Other people I met in those days included LincRhodes, Syndria Mecham (now at the Providence ZenCenter), and Kwang Myong Sunim, JDPSN (Nina Davis),the present guiding teacher at Queensland Zen Center inBrisbane, Australia. n

– Guillermo (Willie) Echanique

ä 1987- present: 400 East 14th St., Apt. 2E. The Korean Sangha moved to Woodside and subsequently, in 2005, to 42 West 96th St.

The first time I visited, in 1991, CIZCNY was in its current location, but half its current size. Ruth Forero,

Jan Potemkin, and Susan Baer were the regulars then, inaddition to the Zen Master, so my Zen stem cells imprintedonto them, and they are therefore entirely culpable for whatever my Zen practice has become. Mymain memory is that there were many free spirits appear-ing and disappearing then, unlike today’s hard working

crew. (Have real estate values pushed the free spirits outof the vicinity?) My other memory is that coverage ofweekday practice was a little iffy. When Ruth realized thatI was a musician, she put me on her special intensive train-ing course. I began covering weekday practice about threeto four weeks after my initial visit. Ah, they don’t makeHead Dharma Teachers like they did in the old days. n

– Paul Majchrzyk

(continued from p. 5)


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I first arrived at the Center on a Sunday in August in1994. I found an ad in the New York Spirit. The Centerwas already on 14th St., but half the size it is today.Inspired, as I was, after reading Zen Mind, Beginner’sMind, the visit was supposed to be the first of many visitsI would make to a variety of Zen centers that summer.

I remember being mildly disappointed at being greetedby a couple of kind, middle-aged women, who were host-

ing the Sunday evening introduction. I had been hoping tomeet a short, Asian, teacher with a bad attitude, whowould shout out commands, and take over my life.Instead, after being given a simple set of instructions anda short Dharma talk, I was sent home. I showed up againthe following week, and again the one that followed.

I never made it to any other center that summer. n

– Socrates Aguayo

Ha! What did I think the first time I trudged up the firstset of stairs at 400 East 14th St., NYC, and entered

the Dharma room?

That’s easy! Even though I’d been going to Kwan Umgatherings in Los Angeles for a few months before movingto the opposite end of the continent, I thought, cringing,that everyone here—c’mon, it’s New York, right?—mustknow what was going on—and why they were there. Andthat they, unlike me, already were climbing some secret

path leading to higher consciousness or some such. I feltlike an imposter, hoping they wouldn’t realize that I hadhardly a clue about any of it.

I still feel as though I am searching for that path...butnow I think many of us are doing that. And that maybe weare among the lucky ones. n

– Liz McGuinness

Ten years ago or so, I used to sit with the Kwan Umgroup at Brown University in Providence. There was

always about half an hour of meat and potatoes—sitting—and then about an hour of dessert—Dharma talk andquestions. I especially loved dessert!

Then I moved to New York and came tothe Chogye International Zen Center on aSaturday morning. All that bowing. All thatchanting. Lots of meat and potatoes andthen…no Dharma talk, no dessert. Like anddislike mind appeared. Who needs bowing,who needs chanting, who needs Sangha, Iasked myself?

I drifted off and practiced by myself—ordidn’t. Somehow, I found that withoutSangha, I would sometimes “forget” mymeditation for as long as six months.

After a few years of occasionally drop-ping in at the CIZNY, Zen Master Seung Sahncame to me in a dream. In it, he was walking very fasttowards me, and I was trying to get away from him. Iknew he was going to ask me some question I could notanswer. Finally, he caught up with me, and of course, hedid have a question.

He held up the front of the Compass of Zen and said,“You can see from the picture on the cover what the frontof Buddha’s eyes look like. But I ask you, what do theback of Buddha’s eyes look like?”

Of course, I couldn’t answer, but the good news was,somehow, I took this dream as a sign that I really shouldcome to the Zen Center regularly. I had better get some

help finding out what the back of Buddha’s eyes lookedlike.

So I came. Even though I didn’t like chanting and bowing, I stayed. Slowly, I learned to use the time to

watch and learn about the mind that likesand dislikes rather than being attached toit. For example, I used to dislike theHomage to the Three Jewels. Now I like it.Likes, dislikes, coming, and going—cloudsmoving through the sky.

I now realize why Sangha is so impor-tant to practice. How can I take up ateacher’s time in kong-an interviews if Idon’t practice regularly? How can I helpother students if I don’t? When I went on asolo retreat recently, I kept going some-times because I didn’t want to have to tellSangha members I couldn’t do it and othertimes because I wanted to inspire other

Sangha members to try it themselves.

I also really enjoy our teachers and learning from themthat to be human is truth. I enjoy their different styles,quirks, and dedication. Part of the reason I hit the cushionevery morning is because I know they do.

What I’m trying to say is that now I love CIZNY. Sothank you Zen Master Wu Kwang and everyone else whohelped start it and everyone who keeps it going. And asfor helping find out what the back of Buddha’s eyes looklike, thanks for showing me it’s very simple: Put it alldown! n

– Colin Beavan

Buddha statue on altar at400 E. 14th Street


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The Zen Center was at its present location on 14th St.when I first visited in 1998. I was standing outside the

building, not sure which apartment numberto buzz, when lucky for me, Paul Majchrzykappeared, asked if I was looking for the ZenCenter, and led the way in.

This was my first one-day retreat, andalthough I had sat two-day retreats before, Ididn’t realize what the one-day schedulewould be, until sitting period followed sittingperiod, for six hours, with no breaks andtwo rounds of interviews with Ken Kessel,JDPSN. The number of students and theintensity of practice that somehow fit natu-rally into this small physical spaceimpressed me. Since then, these first impres-sions have been confirmed many times over,by the sincerity and direction of our Sangha, the supportoffered here for practice, and the clarity and kindness ofboth the senior students and our very generous ZenMaster and Ji Do Poep Sa Nims. n

– Karen Spicher

Elizabeth DiSalvo led the Sunday intro night the firsttime I went in 2000. I remember it was summertime

because during the sitting instructionElizabeth reminded us to stay present,come back to the Dharma room, listen tothe hum of the air conditioner. A Sanghamember, whom I haven’t seen since, gavethe Dharma talk that evening. I remem-ber her hands, made strong, I think, fromgardening. They made a sturdy mudra. Iremember thinking, “Oh, this is just anapartment!”

For a long time, in the beginning Iwould be bothered, while sitting, by thehanging scrolls being blown by the ceil-ing fans so that their bottom woodenparts would knock against the wall. Then

one day I noticed that the wooden anchors had gone. Iguessed but was never sure until recently, that the framedcalligraphy from 1975 marked the Zen Center’s inaugura-tion. We are almost the same age! n

– Eugene Lim

My first impression was “Wow, it’s a New York Cityapartment.” The floor reminded me of a friend’s

house when I was a kid. But, still, it was exactly a ZenCenter. It was very clean and smelled of incense.

Was it a coincidence that I was in another Kwan UmSchool of Zen Center? I had first learned to meditate at

the Cambridge Zen Center but I had not been there for along time. When I moved back to New York, it turned outthat a friend of a friend, Michael Batshaw, sat at thisCenter. I remember really loving the Zen Master’s Dharmatalk. n

– Clare Ellis

Ifirst visited CIZCNY in the mid-1980s when it was on31st St. I was checking out various meditation centers,

mostly from the Japanese tradition. I thought Chogye wasa friendly, welcoming place. It was colorful, not justblack-and-white. I liked the paper lanterns from theBuddha’s Birthday Celebration hanging from the ceiling.

My visits were intermittent over the next few yearsuntil the Center moved to 14th St. when I began attendingmore consistently. In 1990, I became a member and took

Five Precepts. I really don’t know what kept me returningexcept that don’t-know was very appealing, and I foundthe people to be friendly.

My experience at the Center has had an enormousimpact on my life for which I am very grateful. Thank youZen Master Wu Kwang and thanks to all the sangha foryour contribution of love, dedication, hard work, and yearafter year of strong practice. n

- Susan Baer

My first visit to Chogye was in January or February1998 at its current location. I went to a Friday night

practice but showed up late during chanting. I could hearthe chanting in 2E, as I stood frozen in front of 2D. I did-n’t want to interrupt, but I wanted to go in. Then I pacedup and down the hall asking myself should I go in?Should I go home? What should I do? Will they get madif I barge in? As I was about to leave, Steve Cohenpassed me and was about to enter 2D. He smiled at me,cocked his head towards the door, and waved at me to

follow him in. I can’t remember if Steve said anything, orif it was just the motions, but he was clearly indicating,“Come on in! No problem!” So I followed him in, put ona robe, was handed a chanting book, and sat down. Afterpractice, I chatted with others at Chogye, and found that,to a person, they were friendly and warm. This warmth,this “Come on in! No problem!” kept me going until mywork took me abroad.

After a hiatus of a couple of years, I was back in NewYork and decided to start going to Chogye again. I found a

CIZCNY; 400 E. 14th Street


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It was early 2003, and I was still feeling the impact of9/11. I left One World Trade Center only 6 1/2 hours

before the first attack. I found myself in need of a medita-tion teacher and a Sangha. I couldn’t do it alone. My night-time job made it impossible for me to go back to the Zengroup I had attended many years ago, or to any othermeditation group for that matter.

One day I noticed an ad, with a flower, in Tricycle thatsaid, “An Introduction to Zen takes place at ChogyeInternational Zen Center of New York every Sunday from6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.” I attended the class and I continue toattend it most Sundays. It does not matter how manytimes I hear the introductory talk. I am just delighted tobe there. I enjoy each Dharma Teacher’s take on the sub-

ject. I have learned that the founding teacher was ZenMaster Seung Sahn, whose books inspired me years ago. Ihave sat quite a few retreats.

Finally, in April 2005, I took Five Precepts at the PZCwhen I received the Buddhist name Won Hwa (OriginalFlower). On the way home from Providence, I remem-bered that 49 years ago I took the Roman Catholic confir-mation name of Therese (the French version of Theresa),in honor of a nun who made the whole unpleasantprocess more bearable. As some of you may know, St.Theresa is known as “the Little Flower.” Coming to CIZChas been a homecoming for me in many ways. My thanksgo out to everyone. n

– Kathy Weissman

retreat on the calendar and decided to go. The weekbefore, I worried about what would happen when I wentback. What would they say? Should I go? Maybe Ishould start by going to Morning Practice. Maybe Ishould start next month.... When I woke up on the morn-ing of the retreat, I wanted to return to sleep, but my legs

just took me to the Zen Center. I buzzed the door andwent up to 2D. When I went in, everything was the same,except this time, all the people I’d missed practicing withhad broad smiles as they hugged me. It was still thesame, “Come on in! No problem!” n

-– Larry Lee

Will Love and Nina Crumm were the only early morn-ing risers at the Zen Center in 1984 that I can recall.

We practiced together over a period of three months. Thatwas when Linc Rhodes was an intermittent emissary fromthe Providence Zen Center. And it was in that Fall that myhealth deteriorated rapidly because of a pelvic tumor.The tumor destroyed my right hip, putting me on crutchesfor nearly three years before I got a hip replacement.

When I found my way to First Avenue and 14th St. in1998, I told my old friends, Richard Shrobe (whom I hard-ly knew as a Zen Master) and Ken Kessel (whom I did notknow as a JDSPN), that I felt a calling to practice regular-ly again but, “Please NO Political Involvement!”

At that time, Morning Practice ended with sitting medi-tation. When I was driven to start doing the Morning BellChant, followed by the other chants, and then conclude

Morning Practice with a reading, it was fortunate for methat the residents, Socrates Aguayo and Matt Keeler, hun-gered for formal practice. In less than a year, what startedas my “regular” practice morphed into the CIZCNYAbbotship, the penultimate political involvement, youmight say. Not long thereafter, Zen Master Wu Kwanginvited me to sit by his side in the Dharma room. Hissteadfast practice has served as a beacon for stability anddependability. Just as his example has given direction tomy life, the Zen Center and our Sangha collectively arethe safe harbor at its core. n

Happy birth-day. Unhappy death-day.When happy and unhappy disappear;Twenty-nine plus one equals thirty.

– Steve Cohen

Temple bell.

Silence.

Chugpi!

– Bright faces at Neptune.

Same or different?

– John Holland


The Sangha

Zen Masters/JDPSN Teachers

ZM Bon YeonZM Soeng Hyang ZM Wu Kwang

Steve Cohen, JDPSNMyo Ji Sunim, JDPSKen Kessel, JDPSNLincoln Rhodes, JDPSN

Dharma Teachers

Socrates Aguayo(Won Mun)

Alyson Arnold(Do Myeong)

Susan Baer(Chong Haeng)

Elizabeth DiSalvo(Jeong Um)

GuillermoEchanique

(Bul Soeng)

Ruth Forero(Seong Myeong)

Carolyn Goodridge(Ji Hwa)

Frank Hartin(Mu An)

Russell Eidmann-Hicks (Gong Hae)

John Holland(Dae Won)

Matt Keeler (Dae Sahn)

Jeff Kowatch(Man Jok)

Eugene Lim (Wu Bong)

Paul Majchrzyk(Ja Poep)

Michael O’Sullivan(Man An)

Trish O’Sullivan(Man Ja)

Jan Potemkin(Gak Poep)

Josh Race (Bul An)

Jess Row(Man Do)

Tony Scionti (Ji Myong)

Karen Spicher(Hae Um)

David Spiher(Won Do)

Jeff Timmins(Hae Shim)


Active Members

Michael Batshaw(Haeng Poep)

Irem Calikusu(Poep Jung)

Chris Cheyney(Kwan Haeng)

Hyun KyungChung (Tae

Kwang Nyung)

Alan Davies(Chong Am)

Mark Ekwall(Man Seong)

Mary Ekwall(Myo Sek)

Carl Fisher (Myo An)

Nick Gershberg(Do Am)

Glenn Godin(Kwan Haeng)

James Gouijn-Stook

(Haeng Shim)Richard Kahn(Mu Haeng)

Ruth Klein (Jin Hyang)

Larry Lee (Mu Jeong)

Liz McGuinness(Jo Hwa)

Lisa Malcolm (Ja Shim)

Myra Mniewski(Chong Haeng)

John Schneider(Poep Kwang)

Pin-Pin Su(Jeong Haeng)

Ying Su (Chong Il)

Claudia Vieira(Hae Ja)

Kathy Weissman(Won Hwa)

Julia Wojcik(Won Hwa)

Sookyoung Lee(Hae Shim)

Michael Holscher Ikkyu Kim Christine Lennon

Practicing Nonmembers

Active Members, Nonmembers, and Friends not pictured

Jane Borell (Won Hwa)

Shirley Collins (Peop Mi)

Sarah Leahy Cerami (Bul Kwang)

James Crotty

Fred Dunbar

Anthony Galbraith (Do An)

Francisco Irby (Ji Sahn)

Kieth Kwan (Poep Seong)

Sonya Lazarevic (Kwang Seong)

Jae Hoon Park

Edward Rigney (Won Haeng)

Carolyn Schroeder

Amy Trent(Dae Mi)

Brian MorriseyClare EllisKen Arnold

Cornelia Zelter(Ji Um)


Syndria Mecham (Ja Kwang)

Ralph Hendrix(Won Poep)

DAY MORNING EVENING

MONDAY

SUNDAY

SATURDAY

FRIDAY

THURSDAY

WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY

5:20 AM to 7:00AM108 Bows, Sitting and Chanting





6:30 PM to 7:40 PMChanting and Sitting


6:00 PM to 8:00 PM2 Sitting Periods, Chanting, Zen Interviews*



8:00 AM to 10:00 AM108 Bows, Sitting and ChantingZen Interviews*

No Formal Practice

6:00 PM to 8:00 PMIntroduction to Zen Practice. Guided Sitting and WalkingMeditation, Chanting. Question and Answer Period

No Formal Practice

OUR DAILY SCHEDULE

* Zen Interviews are formal interactions with a Teacher who has the authority to teach Kong-ans. Either Ken Kessel, JDPSN or Steve Cohen, JDPSNattend on Thursdays. On Saturdays, Zen Master Wu Kwan and/or either of the above teachers attend.

For information on the schedule of special events (Meditation Retreats, Dharma Talks, and Special Occasions) please call 212-353-0461 or visitCIZNY.org or KwanUmZen.org.

The Chogye International Zen Center of New York is a non-profit Buddhist organization founded in 1975 in New York City. CIZCNY ispart of the Kwan Um School of Zen following the teachings and guidance of Zen Master Seung Sahn, the first Korean Zen Master toteach in the West. Through our Zen practice and personal lives, we do our utmost to develop compassion and insight, and to save allbeings from suffering.

TeachersZen Master Wu Kwang

Ken Kessel, JDPSNSteve Cohen, JDPSN (Abbot)

Closing Poem

The way from Union SquareIs clearly markedBut few can find itOut of ten million

Not no oneBut only a few

When you arrivePress 2E

– Ken Kessel

Woodfish 30th Anniversary Edition

Documents

Transcript of Woodfish 30th Anniversary Edition