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

10/02/2026

Meditation/Discussion Tomorrow Morning with Youngstown Zen Center — 09:00 EDT (08:00 CDT)

Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing.
Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.
Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.
— Sabaa Tahir

Some day after we have mastered the winds,
the waves and gravity,
we will harness for God the energies of Love;
and then for a second time in the history of the world,
humans will have discovered fire.
—Teilhard de Chardin

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday October 3rd, I will lead The Youngstown Zen Center for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EDT (08:00-09:00 CDT; 06:00-07:00 PDT

Zazen
Kinhin (Walking Meditation)
Discussion / Q & A

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 live this single moment that comes along to define every second that comes after.…

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

09/18/2026

Zazenkai in Youngstown / Zoom Tomorrow— Saturday, 19 September

Listen to your Life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is …
because in the last analysis of it, all moments are key moments, and Life itself is Grace.
— Frederick Buechner

Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.
It is today that our best work can be done.
— W.E.B. Du Bois

Greetings Sangha,

Hope all are well & healthy.

Tomorrow, Saturday 19 September, we will have a Zazenkai / Half-Day Meditation — In-Person at Youngstown Zen Center plus via Zoom.

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 listen to our Life then understand that it is today that our best work can be done so that all moments are key moments, and Life itself is Grace....

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
7:30-7:55 Meditation
7:55-8:00 Kinhin (Walking Meditation)
8:00-8:25 Meditation
8:25 — Verse of the Kesa

8:30 – 8:55 Breakfast Break - Silent

9:00-9:25 Meditation
9:25-9:30 Kinhin
9:30-10:00 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 EDT 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

07/31/2026

Meditation Tomorrow

There is no separate future waiting somewhere ahead,
because today is the future you once imagined.
Life does not have a final destination where you suddenly arrive,
like reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
Wherever you are today is the summit of your life in this moment.
When we are always waiting for a future climax—
success, happiness, achievement, or recognition—
we may miss the beauty of the life we already have now.
The art of living is to enjoy today and fully accept who you are,
what you are, and where you are.
From this attitude of acceptance and presence,
you can still work sincerely toward a better future—
but without sacrificing today.
— Chogyal Rinpoche

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday August 1st, I will lead The Youngstown Zen Center for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 10:00am EDT (08:00-09:00 CDT; 06:00-07:00 PDT

Zazen
Kinhin (Walking Meditation)
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 aspire to not miss the beauty of the life we already have now then to enjoy today and fully accept who we are, what we are, and where we are.…

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

06/19/2026

All the natural movements of the soul are controlled by laws
analogous to those of physical gravity.
Grace is the only exception.
Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it,
and it is grace itself which makes this void.
The imagination is continually at work filling up all the fissures
through which grace might pass.
— Simone Weil

Create no images of God.
Accept the images that God has provided.
They are everywhere, in everything.
God is Change—
Seed to tree, tree to forest; Rain to river, river to sea; Grubs to bees, bees to swarm.
From one, many; from many, one;
Forever uniting, growing, dissolving— forever Changing.
The universe is God’s self-portrait.
― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday June 20th, The Youngstown Zen Center — will meet for our twice monthly hybrid Meditation — 09:00am – 11:30am EDT (08:00-10:30 CDT; 06:00-08:50 PDT; 15.00–17.30 CEST).

Extended Zazen & walking Meditation/Kinhin for 2.5 hours, then potluck lunch for the local folks

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 Grace and the forever uniting, growing, dissolving— forever changing nature of reality.…

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

06/05/2026

I think a HERO is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.
— Maya Angelou

Our job is to Love others without stopping to inquire
whether or not they are worthy.
That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business.
What we are asked to do is to Love,
and this Love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.
— Thomas Merton

Greetings Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday June 6th, 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; 15.00 CEST).

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 be a Hero, intent on making this a better place for all people & Love others without stopping, which will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.…

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

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

Youngstown Zen Center

10/02/2026

09/18/2026

07/31/2026

06/19/2026

06/05/2026

05/01/2026

04/17/2026

04/03/2026

03/21/2026

03/06/2026

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