Sangha

Sangha (Sanskrit, “crowd”, “flock”) refers to the community of Zen practitioners. Practicing Zazen together with familiar people and in the knowledge of community solidarity supports and deepens the experience and makes it easier to maintain the practice in everyday life.

Sesshin

Sesshin (Japanese) literally means “the gathering of the heart spirit”. A sesshin is an intensive period of practice, usually lasting several days, during which one participates from beginning to end and in all sitting hours. The instructor holds a teisho (lecture) every day and offers the opportunity for docusan (individual conversation). An introductory course in Zen is required beforehand.

Shakuhachi

The Shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute made of bamboo. It was introduced from China in the 8th century and developed in the 17th century in a Zen context into a meditation instrument. Its mellow sound is considered typical for the traditional music of Japan.

Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung

Shaolin Chi Kung refers to 1,500-year-old physical exercises from the famous Shaolin monastery, which according to legend were taught by Bodhidharma, the first Zen patriarch; they serve to strengthen and refresh the body and mind. The “Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung” based on these teachings is direct and effective and easy to learn, so that it requires only a few simple movements. The canon of exercises includes classical Shaolin exercises as well as breathing and energy exercises.

Short sesshin

A short sesshin gives you the opportunity to retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life into silence and to practice zazen for a whole weekend. The teacher gives a daily teisho (lecture) and offers the opportunity for docusan (individual conversation). An introductory course in Zen is required beforehand.

Spirituality

Spirituality (Latin: spiritus “spirit, breath”) is a religious attitude, which forms a counterbalance to the superficially material. It is based on the basic human experience of something sacred, non-tangible, transcendental (God, primordial, essential nature, etc.) and seeks to cultivate this experience. Its goal is to let this experience permeate and shape everyday life, awake, mindful and conscious.

Stress Balance

Stress, like all effort, knows positive and negative forms between performance and burden. However, too much stress and the wrong way of dealing with it damages body and psyche. The “stress balance” is about finding the balance between tension and relaxation, between activity and rest, and finding your inner center again.

Sufi Mysticism

Sufism (Arabic) describes the mystical current in Islam. Followers of Sufism are called Sufi, also dervishes. The goal of Sufi mysticism (like all mysticism) is to overcome ego attachment and to experience the divine in this world through meditation, asceticism and physical exercises. The relationship between God and the Sufi is described and experienced as a love relationship.

Sumi-e (ink painting)

Sumi-e (Japanese: “ink picture”), the art of ink painting, is one of the Zen arts. It requires great care and skill, because every brushstroke on silk or paper is irrevocable. The reduction to black, white and grey contrasts detaches the motif from its surroundings and makes its inner structure and character perceptible. The more sparing the means of representation, the more intense the expression of the motif line.

Sunmudo

“Sun-mu-do” (Japanese) is literally the “Zen martial arts path” and goes back to a centuries-old defensive monastic tradition that is still practiced in the Golgulsa Temple in South Korea. In Sunmudo, meditation, yoga, Taiji and Qigong are combined with traditional martial arts. The aim is to harmonize body and mind and to experience one’s own nature.