Soto Zen Buddhist Meditation in Chicago
Ancient Dragon Zen Gate is a community of practitioners committed to Soto Zen Buddhist meditation practice in Chicago, and now online to many distant practitioners. Our guiding teacher is Taigen Dan Leighton, author, scholar, and Dharma teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. We invite you to read his teachings or listen to audio recordings of Dharma talks by Taigen and many others. Sunday mornings we welcome brand new visitors to attend our online zendo to learn meditation before our regular program. Please email info@ancientdragon.org
IN-PERSON EVENTS RESUME AT EBENEZER LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Board of Directors of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate voted at their June 19th meeting to resume in-person zen practice at Ebenezer Lutheran Church for Sunday morning and Monday evening services, effective Sunday, June 26th, with the previously established and published safety protocols. Masks will continue to be required at in-person service, with N95 masks encouraged, and sangha members will also be able to attended remotely via Zoom. Please review our COVID policy for attending in-person events, which can be found here. Please see our calendar, the Sangha Events section, and the Meditation Events sections of this site for news about upcoming events.
Guiding Dharma Teacher Taigen Dan Leighton will be available for dokusan by telephone or zoom, as will Dharma Teachers Nyozan Eric Shutt, Eishin Nancy Easton, Hogetsu Laurie Belzer, and Visiting Dharma Teacher Zengyu Paul Discoe. Please send requests for dokusan to our info@ancientdragon.org mailbox. Lay Teacher Douglas Floyd and Practice Leaders Gyoshin Laurel Ross, and Shudo Paula Lazarz also are available for practice interviews and can be reached through info@ancientdragon.org.
Finally, our Sangha Care Committee provides and facilitates support for Sangha members and their loved ones. We view caring for our community as an opportunity of mutual benefit, a chance to live out our Bodhisattva precepts and to realize our interconnectedness as beings. Challenging times during which the Sangha Care Committee could be of support include times of illness, grief, or hardship. Examples of support include our Dharma Buddies Program, support during times of illness or hospitalization, and mobilization of sangha resources and mutual aid. Please contact sanghacare@ancientdragon.org to be in touch.
Click the Online Zendo button above to enter our online zendo via ZOOM. Please bow to the camera when entering or becoming visible on Zoom, but then do not face the screen directly during zazen.
Please refer to our calendar for a complete schedule of services and events in our online zendo. As well, please refer to our Online Zendo page for instructions on accessing the room.
Latest Dharma Podcast Episodes
Who’s Driving the Bus
ADZG 1005 ADZG Monday Night Dharma Talk by Gerrie Griffin
Featured Podcasts: Buddhism in Kamakura Japan
Click here to learn more about some recent dharma talks given by our guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton, about key buddhist figures in Kamakura-era Japan.
Featured Events
FLOWER ORNAMENT SUTRA READING GROUP – Friday, July 1, 2022 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
This reading group, open to all, will be reading aloud together the classic expansive and psychedelic Mahayana Buddhist text, Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Ornament Sutra). Participants are not expected to purchase this text and are welcome to drop in for any reading group gathering. Participants will also be invited to sit for optional seated meditation at each gathering. There is no registration or fee to attend, but donations are welcome. Email info@ancientdragon.org with questions.
ZAZEN AND DHARMA TALK BY HOZAN ALAN SENAUKE – Sunday, July 10, 2022 @ 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Dharma talk by Guest Teacher Hozan Alan Senauke, Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. Sunday Morning Public Program at Ebenezer Lutheran Church and in our online Zendo via ZOOM.
LGBTQ+ DHARMA GROUP – Friday, July 15, 2022 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
The LGBTQ+ Dharma Group meets quarterly in our online zendo. The program begins with 30 minutes of group zazen followed by reading and informal discussion of a short text relevant to the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community and their intersection with Buddhist practice. For more information, email info@ancientdragon.org.
Featured News
RESPONSES TO THE END OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Click here to read a post from our guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton, responding to comments by his dharma sister, Konjin Gaelyn Godwin Roshi of the Houston Zen Center, regarding the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.
RECEPTION FOR HOGETSU LAURIE BELZER
On June 2nd, 2022, our sangha was grateful to celebrate the dharma transmission in May of Hogetsu Laurie Belzer from her teacher Taiyo Lipscomb in Asheville, NC. The joyous and warm reception was held at Kathy Bingham’s residence. Kathy and Eishin Nancy Easton hosted a festive gathering of dragons as attendees brought potluck dishes to share, as well as personal stories of Hogetsu’s instrumental impact on the founding and growth of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. Gifts were given in honor of Hogetsu’s transmission, including a Green Tara statue from the sangha and a kotsu handcrafted by sangha member Michael Soter from a tree at Tassajara. The sangha is thankful to Hogetsu for her helpful leadership, ceaseless support of our sangha, and tender spiritual friendship to all. She now joins the other transmitted teachers at Ancient Dragon. Hogetsu has long been our sangha’s sewing teacher for sewing Buddha’s robe. Her teacher Taiyo is Dharma brother of our guiding teacher Taigen.
Check out our Sangha News page to look at older news items previously featured here.
ARCHIVAL TALKS
Sangha Calendar
Zen Meditation and Dharma Talk by Gyoshin Laurel Ross
Tuesday Morning Online Zazen with David Wray
Meditation and Recovery Online
Wednesday Morning Online Zazen with Gerrie Griffin
Thursday Morning Online Zazen with Hogetsu Laurie Belzer
Donate when shopping at AmazonSmile!
Every little bit helps! Amazon will contribute a small percentage of your purchase when choose us, Ancient Dragon Zen Gate NFP, when you shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/41-2219998.
Click the Online Zendo button above to enter our online zendo via ZOOM. Please bow to the camera when entering or becoming visible on Zoom, but then do not face the screen directly during zazen.
Please refer to our calendar for a complete schedule of services and events in our online zendo. As well, please refer to our Online Zendo page for instructions on accessing the room.
IN-PERSON EVENTS RESUME AT EBENEZER LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Board of Directors of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate voted at their June 19th meeting to resume in-person zen practice at Ebenezer Lutheran Church for Sunday morning and Monday evening services, effective Sunday, June 26th, with the previously established and published safety protocols. Masks will continue to be required at in-person service, with N95 masks encouraged, and sangha members will also be able to attended remotely via Zoom. Please review our COVID policy for attending in-person events, which can be found here. Please see our calendar, the Sangha Events section, and the Meditation Events sections of this site for news about upcoming events.
Guiding Dharma Teacher Taigen Dan Leighton will be available for dokusan by telephone or zoom, as will Dharma Teachers Nyozan Eric Shutt, Eishin Nancy Easton, Hogetsu Laurie Belzer, and Visiting Dharma Teacher Zengyu Paul Discoe. Please send requests for dokusan to our info@ancientdragon.org mailbox. Lay Teacher Douglas Floyd and Practice Leaders Gyoshin Laurel Ross, and Shudo Paula Lazarz also are available for practice interviews and can be reached through info@ancientdragon.org.
Finally, our Sangha Care Committee provides and facilitates support for Sangha members and their loved ones. We view caring for our community as an opportunity of mutual benefit, a chance to live out our Bodhisattva precepts and to realize our interconnectedness as beings. Challenging times during which the Sangha Care Committee could be of support include times of illness, grief, or hardship. Examples of support include our Dharma Buddies Program, support during times of illness or hospitalization, and mobilization of sangha resources and mutual aid. Please contact sanghacare@ancientdragon.org to be in touch.
Latest Dharma Podcast Episodes
Who’s Driving the Bus
ADZG 1005 ADZG Monday Night Dharma Talk by Gerrie Griffin
Featured Podcasts: Buddhism in Kamakura Japan
Click here to learn more about some recent dharma talks given by our guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton, about key buddhist figures in Kamakura-era Japan.
Featured Events
FLOWER ORNAMENT SUTRA READING GROUP – Friday, July 1, 2022 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
This reading group, open to all, will be reading aloud together the classic expansive and psychedelic Mahayana Buddhist text, Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Ornament Sutra). Participants are not expected to purchase this text and are welcome to drop in for any reading group gathering. Participants will also be invited to sit for optional seated meditation at each gathering. There is no registration or fee to attend, but donations are welcome. Email info@ancientdragon.org with questions.
ZAZEN AND DHARMA TALK BY HOZAN ALAN SENAUKE – Sunday, July 10, 2022 @ 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Dharma talk by Guest Teacher Hozan Alan Senauke, Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. Sunday Morning Public Program at Ebenezer Lutheran Church and in our online Zendo via ZOOM.
LGBTQ+ DHARMA GROUP – Friday, July 15, 2022 @ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
The LGBTQ+ Dharma Group meets quarterly in our online zendo. The program begins with 30 minutes of group zazen followed by reading and informal discussion of a short text relevant to the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community and their intersection with Buddhist practice. For more information, email info@ancientdragon.org.
Featured News
RESPONSES TO THE END OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Click here to read a post from our guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton, responding to comments by his dharma sister, Konjin Gaelyn Godwin Roshi of the Houston Zen Center, regarding the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.
RECEPTION FOR HOGETSU LAURIE BELZER
On June 2nd, 2022, our sangha was grateful to celebrate the dharma transmission in May of Hogetsu Laurie Belzer from her teacher Taiyo Lipscomb in Asheville, NC. The joyous and warm reception was held at Kathy Bingham’s residence. Kathy and Eishin Nancy Easton hosted a festive gathering of dragons as attendees brought potluck dishes to share, as well as personal stories of Hogetsu’s instrumental impact on the founding and growth of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. Gifts were given in honor of Hogetsu’s transmission, including a Green Tara statue from the sangha and a kotsu handcrafted by sangha member Michael Soter from a tree at Tassajara. The sangha is thankful to Hogetsu for her helpful leadership, ceaseless support of our sangha, and tender spiritual friendship to all. She now joins the other transmitted teachers at Ancient Dragon. Hogetsu has long been our sangha’s sewing teacher for sewing Buddha’s robe. Her teacher Taiyo is Dharma brother of our guiding teacher Taigen.
Check out our Sangha News page to look at older news items previously featured here.
Sangha Calendar
Zen Meditation and Dharma Talk by Gyoshin Laurel Ross
Tuesday Morning Online Zazen with David Wray
Meditation and Recovery Online
Wednesday Morning Online Zazen with Gerrie Griffin
Thursday Morning Online Zazen with Hogetsu Laurie Belzer
ARCHIVAL TALKS
Donate when shopping at AmazonSmile!
Every little bit helps! Amazon will contribute a small percentage of your purchase when choose us, Ancient Dragon Zen Gate NFP, when you shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/41-2219998.
