http://pamsulazen.org/affiliates

Youngstown Zen Center, 1105 Elm Street, Youngstown, OH (2026)

05/01/2026

The great affair, the love affair with life,
is to live as variously as possible,
to groom one's curiosity like a high spirited thoroughbred,
climb aboard, and gallop over the thick,
sun-struck hills every day.
Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding,
and despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours,
Life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography,
only a length.
It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery,
but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.
— Diane Ackerman A Natural History of The Senses

The dreamers and thinkers of the world are of race apart
and, for the most part, a lonely and misunderstood people,
whose interests and visions separate them
from the petty concerns with which the masses busy themselves.
— Manly P. Hall

Greetings Friends,

April 30th was Youngstown Zen Center’s 4th Birthday! Woo hoo!

Tomorrow, Saturday May 2nd, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EDT (08:00-09:00 CDT; 06:00-07:00 PDT).

Zazen
Kinhin
Q & A / Discussion

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505: upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we realize Life began in mystery, and it will end in mystery,
and we live in the savage and beautiful country that lies in between.….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

04/17/2026

Whatever you do, you should do it in a way
that can’t be repeated a second time.
What can be repeated is best left to the robots.
Life doesn’t run on tracks.
Birds don’t sing in major or minor.
Bodhidharma’s teaching doesn’t fit on lined paper.
The buddha-dharma is wide and unlimited.
When you try to hold it still, you’ve missed it.
It isn’t dried cod, but a live fish. Living fish have no fixed form.
— Kōdō Sawaki

A person is a fluid process, not a fixed and static entity;
a flowing river of change, not a block of solid material,
a continually changing constellation of potentialities,
not a fixed quantity of traits.
— Carl Rogers

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday April 18th, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EDT (08:00-09:00 CDT; 06:00-07:00 PDT).

Zazen
Kinhin
Zazen

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/ Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505:
upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we realize the buddha-dharma is wide and unlimited, a fluid process, a flowing river of change, a continually changing constellation of potentialities….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

04/03/2026

You can be kind and call out mistreatment.
You can be kind and fight against injustice.
You can be kind and refuse to tolerate disrespect.
You can be kind with a protective temperament.
You can be kind and make your boundaries known.
You can be kind and full of fire.
Kindness isn't only a gentle, agreeable whisper that fearfully accepts anything and everything. Kindness can be a force which arises with firmness to protect yourself and the ones you Love. Kindness is about doing what is right
even if it disrupts external perception.
Especially if.
A kind spirit is not a free pass to be treated like s**t.
— Samira Vivette, "The Villain's Crown"

There is power in staying awake when so much around you
is engineered to lull.
There is moral clarity in refusing to applaud the circus.
And there is quiet courage in naming wrongness out loud,
not because it's fashionable,
but because silence would feel like betrayal.
— Judith Dayal

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday April 4th, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EDT (08:00-09:00 CDT; 06:00-07:00 PDT).

Zazen
Kinhin
Q & A / Discussion

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505: upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we are kind, naming wrongness out loud then respond appropriately….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

03/21/2026

Zazenkai in Youngstown / Zoom Tomorrow Plus Jukai Ceremony— Saturday, 21 March

When something happens, the only thing in your power
is your attitude toward it.
It is not the things that disturb us, but our interpretation
of their significance.
Things and people are not what we wish them to be
nor are they what they seem to be.
They are what they are.
— Epictetus

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
― Simone Weil

Like a shadow
I am,
and I am not…
— Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi

Greetings Sangha,

Hope all are well & healthy.

Tomorrow, Saturday 21 March, we will have the 2nd Zazenkai / Half-Day Meditation of our Winter Ango Practice Period — In-person at Youngstown Zen Center plus via Zoom.

And, in the afternoon, a Jukai / Receiving The Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony for Jack Auman. Also Hybrid: In-Person at UUYO in Youngstown & Online. 1:30 EDT / 12:30 CDT / 10:30 PDT

I & Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505:
downstairs in Channing Hall (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

It is possible to come and go as one needs….

Hope You can join us as we pay attention to realize that people are what they are and our only recourse is to attend to our response & attitude towards reality....

May You all be well & healthy.

Take good care.

Blessings,
Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation: Venmo. www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

Zazenkai Schedule EDT
( -1 hour for CDT; -3 hours for PDT )

07:25 – Be in Seats
07:30-07:55 Meditation
07:55-08:00 Kinhin (Walking Meditation)
08:00-08:25 Meditation
08:25 — Verse of the Kesa

08:30 – 8:55 Breakfast Break - Silent

09:00-09:25 Meditation
09:25-09:30 Kinhin
09:30-10:00 Dharma Talk

10:00-10:15 Brief Break

10:20-10:45 Meditation
(Dokusan with Roshi Daiken will be offered during this block of sessions)

10:45-10:50 Kinhin
10:50-11:15 Meditation

11:15-11:20 Kinhin
11:20-11:45 Meditation
11:45 — 4 Bodhisattva Vows

11:45 – ≈12:45 Lunch Break / Discussion: Paying Attention

CDT
06:25 – Be in Seats
6:30-6:55 Meditation
6:55-7:00 Kinhin (Walking Meditation)
7:00-7:25 Meditation
7:25 — Verse of the Kesa

7:30 – 7:55 Breakfast Break - Silent

8:00-8:25 Meditation
8:25-8:30 Kinhin
8:30-09:00 Dharma Talk

09:00-09:15 Brief Break

09:20-09:45 Meditation
09:45-09:50 Kinhin
09:50-10:15 Meditation
10:15-10:20 Kinhin
10:20-10:45 Meditation
10:45 — 4 Bodhisattva Vows

PDT
(from 9:00 EST session)
6:00-6:25 Meditation
6:25-6:30 Kinhin
6:30-7:00 Dharma Talk

7:00-7:15 Brief Break

7:20-7:45 Meditation
7:45-7:50 Kinhin
7:50-8:15 Meditation
8:15-8:20 Kinhin
8:20-8:45 Meditation
8:45 — 4 Bodhisattva Vows

03/06/2026

Basically speaking, neurosis is temporary
and sanity is permanent.
When we begin to take that attitude,
we realize that our occasional freakouts and panic
and our feeling of being trapped are no longer applicable.
In realizing that we are eternally free, eternally liberated,
and eternally awake,
we begin to experience vast mind.
— Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Normally, we do not bother to look for goodness
in negative actions in ourselves or in others.
That’s a mistake, because there’s always one excellent quality:
every negative act has within it the seed of purification.
There is no such thing as absolute negativity.
There is no absolute bad karma.
Impossible.
— Mingyur Rinpoche

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday March 7th, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EST (08:00-09:00 CST; 06:00-07:00 PST).

Zazen
Kinhin
Q & A / Discussion

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505: upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we are eternally free, eternally liberated, and eternally awake,
then we begin to experience vast mind….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

02/20/2026

The important thing is not to think much,
but to Love much, and so to do whatever
best awakens you to Love.
— Teresa of Avila

Nothing that can be known has existence in itself.
It depends on a knower.
The knower is consciousness.
— Jean Klein

Greetings Friends,

Blessings of the New Moon for all Beings….

Tomorrow, Saturday February 21st, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EST (08:00-09:00 CST; 06:00-07:00 PST).

Zazen
Kinhin
Zazen

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505: upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we experience the knower then do whatever best awakens us to Love ….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

02/06/2026

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday February 7th, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EST

Zazen
Kinhin
Q & A / Discussion

It is possible to come & go as You need.

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we in a state of discovery of our true nature….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

01/16/2026

No matter how many years you sit doing zazen, you will never become anything special.
— Kodo Sawaki

Our destiny is to go on beyond everything, to leave everything,
to press forward to the End and find in the End our Beginning,
the ever-new Beginning that has no end.
— Thomas Merton

Too often in a search for a richer life, a fuller life,
one’s eyes become blinded to the immediate wonder of the life that is.
— Gerald May

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday January 17th, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EST (08:00-09:00 CST; 06:00-07:00 PST).

Zazen
Kinhin
Zazen

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505: upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we never become anything special, enter into the ever-new Beginning that has no end, aware of the immediate wonder of the life that is….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

01/02/2026

Hope is not a feeling of certainty that everything ends well.
Hope is just a feeling that life and work have a meaning.
― Vaclav Havel

The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart,
in the human power to reflect,
in human meekness and human responsibility.
― Vaclav Havel

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday January 3rd, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EST (08:00-09:00 CST; 06:00-07:00 PST).

Zazen
Kinhin
Q & A / Discussion

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505:
upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Please join us as we experience a sense of salvation through our feeling that Life and action have meaning….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

12/19/2025

That's why Lao-Tzu said, "The five colors make a man blind
The five tones make a man deaf"
Because if you can only see five colors, you're blind
And if you can only hear five tones in music, you're deaf
You see, if you force sound into five tones
You force color into five colors, you're blind and deaf
The world of color is infinite, as is the world of sound
And it is only through stopping fixing conceptions on the world of color and sound
That you really begin to hear it and see it
— Alan Watts, The Unspeakable World

How do you know but ev’ry Bird that cuts the airy way,
Is an immense world of delight, clos’d by your senses five?
— William Blake

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday December 20th, I will lead the Youngstown Zen Center via Zoom — we will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EST (08:00-09:00 CST; 06:00-07:00 PST).

Zazen
Kinhin
Zazen

It is possible to come & go as You need.

Local folks will meet in person at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church
1105 Elm Street Youngstown, OH 44505: upstairs in the Youth Room (follow signs).

PM for Zoom Link

Hope that You might join us as we stop fixing conceptions on the world so that we really begin to hear it and see it….

Be well.

Blessings,

Roshi Daiken

Begging Bowl: Please support our continued offerings—make a donation:
Venmo: www.venmo.com/Daiken-Nelson

Join Our Mailing List:
https://tinyurl.com/PZCMailListSignUp

Youngstown Zen Center

05/01/2026

04/17/2026

04/03/2026

03/21/2026

03/06/2026

02/20/2026

02/06/2026

01/16/2026

01/02/2026

12/19/2025

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