Dear Sangha of Zen Center Athens, The next Zen Day will take place on Sunday 17 March from 10:00 to 18:00, at the new temporary space of the Center, at DAN.C.CE, 76 Pireos Avenue, 3rd floor. The program includes 6 sessions with intermediate Kinhin (meditative walking) and lunch. Please note that Zen Day is a form of intensive practice and you must have experience to participate. Please arrive at the venue strictly by 10:10. After the zazen begins and once the door to the room is closed, you will not be able to enter. The lunch break will take place…

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OPENING THE HAND OF THOUGHT KOSHO UCHIYAMA Translation – prologue: HARIS MITSOURAS “When we let go of all our preconceptions, there is no other possible reality than the one that exists right now. […] This undeniable reality is the reality of life, which is fundamentally connected to everything in the universe. Therefore, it is the right now that matters most. Remaining in the here and now, in reality itself, letting go of all the things that randomly appear in our minds, is what I mean by ‘opening the hand of thought’.” Very few texts delve as deeply into Zen philosophy…

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Dear Zen Center Athens Sangha, The next Zen Day will take place on Sunday, 21 of January, from 10:00 to 18:00, at the Center’s new temporary location, at DAN.C.CE, Piraeus Avenue 76, 3rd floor. The program includes six zazen periods with Kinhin (meditative walking), in between, and lunchtime. We would like to remind you that Zen day is a form of intensive practice and you must have experience to participate. From 11:00 to 12:00 we will have the opportunity to connect with and listen to Koten Roshi’s Dharma talk, right after which there will be enough time for questions. Please note that the platform room will only be open during the Dharma…

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Dear friends and practitioners, Zen Center Athens has been operating and flourishing for ten years in the place we all have lived and know. The time has come to make a change that will lead to the final destination, which is to house the Zen Center in its permanent location, at 76 – 80 Agisilaou Street in Keramikos, in a Center specifically designed and built to house the Sangha and the Arts. Temporarily, however, from 8/1/24 onwards, Zen and the Arts will be housed in the following spaces: Zen and Yoga at DAN.C.CE, 76 Pireos Avenue, Athens (opposite the new…

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Dear Zen Center Athens Sangha, As the days grow cooler and the daylight wanes, we hope that your practice is steady source of nourishment and peace and that we can each offer that peace to this world on fire. On the evening of Novemeber 14th at 7:30pm we will gather to offer our usual Introduction to Zen but this time with a special guest. Τhe beloved friend of the Zen Center Athens Bernd Bender will accompany the conversation with our abbot Jiho san Konstantino Sgoumpopoulo and everyone present. Bernd Bender is the guiding teacher of Akazienzendo in Berlin and has been practicing Zen since 1987. He lived for 18 years at…

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KAISANJI YOGA & ZEN RETREATS 25 – 31 MARCH AND 25 – 31 MAY 2024 With Alexandra Sotiropoulou and Antaratma Theodoros Chiotis Kaisanji Serifos Greece The purpose of the Retreat is to support a change in lifestyle and our perspective on things for this time period and beyond. All teachings agree that in order to have an expansion of awareness we need to experience a condition outside of our mechanistic way of living and interacting. This change in habitual way of life is deeply connected to a change in habitual way of thinking. It is therefore very likely that during…

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  Yoga Nidra and Inner Silence Meditation Every Tuesday and Thursday, 17:15 – 18:15 Starting November 2 Yoga Nidra, or “yogic sleep,” is a deeply relaxing and transformative practice derived from the ancient yoga teachings. It is a guided meditation technique that induces a state of conscious relaxation, promoting physical, mental and emotional well-being. In Yoga Nidra, the practitioner remains in a state between wakefulness and sleep, where deep healing and self-awareness can occur. Origins: Yoga Nidra has its roots in the yogic tradition and was systematized and taught by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. It is based on the principles of…

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Tuesday 16 May 2023 19:00 – 20:30 On the occasion of Koten Roshi and Doiku Sensei‘s visit to Athens for the Spring Sesshin at Zen Center Athens, we are organizing an open event, so that those of you who will not be attending the Sesshin can get in direct contact with these important teachers. The event will take place on Tuesday, May 16 at 19:00. It will be a 1.5 hour talk on Zen, during which in addition to the practical part of the teaching on zazen meditation, there will be time for questions and discussion with the teachers. The…

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Don’t we all long for healing? Two years of pandemic lockdowns, a war in Europe, and many other armed conflicts worldwide, a global climate crisis – all of this leaves many of us bewildered, feeling isolated and lonely, and in fear about what our future will look like. Zen is a healing practice that offers a way to transform our feelings of isolation into connectedness, our sense of doom and doubt into confidence and trust, and our anger and despair into care and compassion. This weekend will be an opportunity to meet and practice together. The retreat is open to…

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