Sensei Michel Dobbs speaks on Zen Koans at Canio’s Books
05:00 pm
Canio's Books, Sag Harbor,
On Saturday, February 16 at 5 p.m. Canio’s Books hosts a talk by Sensei Michel Dobbs on Zen koans called “Freeing Your Mind: an introduction to zazen and Zen koans.
Koans are stories traditionally used to see through our ideas and opinions and investigate the nature of our lives. Koans can be a way “to approach happiness by unbuilding, unmaking, tossing overboard, and generally subverting unhappiness.” Michel Engu Dobbs will give basic zazen instruction, discuss the use of koans in Zen training, and will lead a playful and intense examination of several koans from the book, “Bring Me The Rhinoceros” by John Tarrant.
Michel Engu Dobbs is a Zen priest and Dharma heir of Peter Muryo Matthiessen-roshi and a co-teacher at the Ocean Zendo. He has alleged connections with Roshi Bernie Glassman’s Order of Disorder, and is a member of the White Plum Asanga. A husband and father of three children, Engu has been a baker and bakery manager for over twenty years. He began practicing Zen with the late Kyudo Nakagawa-roshi in 1992 and began study with Muryo-roshi in 1994. He was ordained in 2001 and received Dharma transmission in 2005. All are welcome to attend the talk.
Looking ahead:
Sat. Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. Poetry of Well Being. Maggie Bloomfield, Susan Grathwohl Dingle and Nina Yavel, three poets who are also psychotherapists read from their collection of poems.
Sat. Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. African American Read-In. Come read a selection of work by your favorite African American writer: poetry, prose, drama, all manner of written works by African American writers will be celebrated. The event is co-sponsored with the John Jermain Library. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served following the event.
