The White Wind Zen Community is the Sangha of students of Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi. The Community was founded in 1985 and has several aspects: the Northern Mountain Order which is the monastic core of the community, and the community of formal, general, associate and public students.
In 1985, when Zen Master Anzan Hoshin was asked to name the Sangha of students who had gathered around him, he named this community White Wind Zazenkai - Hakukaze Zazenkai, after the monastery that his own teacher had founded, Hakukaze-ji, and the name of the stream of Dogen's Lineage of Zen that he had inherited and has now passed on.
Zazenkai means "gathering together for zazen." The Zazenkai was renamed White Wind Zen Community in 1989 and is now based in the Zen Centre of Ottawa. It also has branch centres in Guelph, Ontario; Wolfville, Nova Scotia; and Harrow, England; and students practising individually around the world.
Programs
The Community provides an ongoing environment of training and study of the vast body of the Dharma for monastics and lay students. This includes morning and evening sittings, monthly sesshin and seven-day O-sesshin four times a year (intensive training periods), Dharma Assemblies, and opportunities for students to schedule retreats and periods of residential training. As well as the extensive collection of teisho (formal presentations of the Teachings) presented by Zen Master Anzan Hoshin, his Dharma heir, Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei also continues to present Dharma Talks. All of the Dharma Talks that were previously presented by his late Dharma successor, the Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei (1942 - 2020) are listed here.
Ongoing programs for the public to contact the Dharma include monthly Introduction to Zen workshops and the Long Distance Training Program. The Zen Centre of Ottawa also hosts tours and makes available speakers to grade schools and high schools throughout the region.
- Introduction to Zen Workshops
- Long Distance Training Program
- Upcoming Events at the Zen Centre of Ottawa
Enrolment
Enrolment in the While Wind Zen community as a student in this Lineage takes seven basic forms: associate student, general student, probationary formal student, formal student, monastic, branch student, or public student, as described in Entering the Gates of Practice.
Associate students attend the weekly Thursday evening associate sittings, receive daisan (private meetings with a Dharma Teacher) or practice interviews (private meetings with a practice advisor) and have access to recorded teisho and Dharma Talks. They may attend Dharma Assemblies, schedule retreats or engage in a period of residential training . General students attend at least one general sitting and one formal sitting and may arrange to attend all scheduled sittings except for those sittings and sesshin specifically designated for formal students or monastics.
Probationary formal students and formal students study and practice intimately with the Roshi or Jinmyo sensei and attend scheduled formal sittings and monthly sesshin. Formal students committed to deepening their own practice and becoming a resource for the practice of their fellow students may enter the rigour of monastic training as a laymonk or monk. Branch members practise at centres or groups established under the direction of the Roshi. Residential training at Dainen-ji is available.
Public students (students living outside commuting distance of the monastery) from across Canada, the United States, Europe, India, China, Japan, the Middle East, and West Africa practise through the Long Distance Training Program. These students practise at home and receive regular instruction by email, telephone, and letter. They have access to recorded teisho, Dharma Talks and classes from the online Recorded Teachings library.
eMirror Newsletter
The eMirror is a free newsletter published weekly and emailed out every Friday. Each issue is illustrated and includes quotations from teisho and information about our schedule and activities.
Practice Calendar
For a monthly view or to print the calendar, please go to visit the online calendar page.