Meditation is the main focus of Zen Peace Centre practice and serves as a base for all other elements. shikantaza is our main practice but koans are practiced extensively. This combination has the advantage of providing a broad range of methods so that the needs of individual students can be met.

Ritual is seen as an essential counterpart to meditation, they complement each other. Whereas zazen cultivates our independence and our individual responsibility, in ritual the emphasis is more on our dependency on the Buddhas and ancestors for their instruction and also on our interdependency with all sentient beings.

Study is primarily geared towards discovering how the scriptures can help us wake up to our innate wisdom. The scriptures can help us wake up to our innate wisdom. In combination with actual meditation training with a living teacher, the words of the old masters start to resonate on ever deeper levels and also serve as a testing device for true understanding.

Bodhisattva Activity as an element of training explores ways to manifest our true nature in the everyday world — in other words, where it really counts. In principle, the first three elements naturally wake up the Bodhisattva within us; yet most of us need clear reminders during the course of the day for responding to life’s situation with wisdom and compassion