A warm welcome to the Southernmost Buddhist Sangha in the known world!
Based in Invercargill, New Zealand, Deep South Zen aims to bring the beauty, peace, and insight of Soto Zen practice into the local and international community. The website will be the principle vehicle for this but, over time, the intent is to establish both local and online practice and sitting groups.
So where EXACTLY is Invercargill…
Thanks for asking, I knew you would, that’s why I have included the following image. Although you could google earth it, I just love the way the website below works, click on the image to open in a new window, and have a play. Anyway, Invercargill is the Southernmost city of New Zealand and, as you can see, NZ (Aotearoa) is, itself, really quite out there in planetary terms.
That’s great to know, but what are you?
Deep South Zen is a Soto Zen Buddhist sangha (community) in the making. Soto Zen is one pathway that has emerged from 2,500 years of Buddhist inquiry into the nature of our existence. Soto Zen practitioners do not believe that Soto Zen is the only way to practice Buddhism, but most people who practice Soto Zen would say that it’s particular flavour of practice suits them.
Soto Zen itself has it’s roots in Chinese Buddhism and was further developed in Japan by Zen Master Dogen, in the 1200’s. In the past century it’s practice was reinvigorated and began to spread to other parts of the world, notably Europe and America. Soto Zen is now commonplace in the West with many new traditions being established thanks to dedicated teachers and practitioners.
Deep South Zen is aligned with the Treeleaf Sangha of Jundo Cohen Roshi, a dharma successor of Nishijima Roshi, and follows the practices and traditions of that sangha. I have not received dharma transmission and so I am not authorised to teach in this lineage, but I am able to lead a practice community, and can guide beginning practitioners in developing a Zen practice.
Deep South Zen 