Home Page Modified November 14, 2023

Welcome to the Floating Zendo, we are a Sangha, a Buddhist Community, that has been practicing Soto Zen Buddhism in the Bay Area since 1999,under the guidance of our teacher, Angie Boissevain, Sensei.

We offer a weekly online Soto Zen meditation practice (Zazen) on Tuesday nights, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, and a monthly Saturday in-person “half day” practice from 9:15am to Noon at the San José Friend’s Meeting House, on 1041 Morse St.

Beginners are welcome and individual instruction is provided upon request.

On Tuesday nights after sitting meditation and a short service, Angie, or a senior student, leads us in a study that is based upon a foundational Buddhist text (a sutra), the writings of Dogen (Soto Zen’s founder), or other Buddhist literature. The nature of the self and how to know this self are recurring themes during our studies.

At our monthly in-person practices, we begin with seated meditation (Zazen). We face a wall with our eyes half-closed and maintain silence. The sound of the bell tells us when to begin and when to end. You are welcomed to bring your own meditation cushion, or you may use the pillows and chairs that are provided.

• • • Zazen is followed by a shorter walking meditation (Kinhin); another Zazen period, and a short service.
      
      

  As a community of lay practitioners, we approach Buddhist precepts practically, asking how they can be applied to our daily lives. We are very grateful to be students of a dedicated and wise teacher in the evolving lineage of American Zen Buddhism.

  Although we don’t have our own meditation center (a Zendo), there are many opportunities for service and socialization within our Sangha.

  “…we are all connected to that empty circle at the top of the lineage chart, with not only all the many names that follow the red line down, but with the countless others those names stand for, including myriad women.”

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  “Zazen practice brings us back to our only-ness, our aloneness, our oneness. It helps us face the lies and the sometimes difficult truth of how our life is going. Even when we discover mistakes and lies we’ve been hiding from our self, in the end there’s a tremendous freshness and a great relief to be honest. ….Our only activity is to return to the present, to be this right now place. “ Angie Boissevain, Seeds of Virtue, Seeds of Change… pp. 106-108

   

   

  
  Our Meditation Practice

  We meet weekly online via Zoom and monthly in person:

  Meditation, Dharma Talk, Dharma Studies:

  **Tuesday evenings: 6:30 to 8:00 PM via Zoom

  **In-Person: Usually the 4th Saturday of the month: 9:15am to Noon in-person

  For more information; for access to our weekly Zoom meeting; to learn when our monthly Saturday in-person “half day” practices are; or to request individual instruction, please contact the Floating Zendo Secretary at: [email protected]