Lineage & Legacy of the Silent Thunder Order

 

The Sangha of the Silent Thunder Order traces its origin to Master Eihei Dogen, founder of Soto Zen in 13th-Century Japan. A few generations later Master Keizan popularized Dogen Zen throughout Japan. Dogen is often called the "father" of Soto Zen in Japan, while Keizan is called its "mother." We have chosen cloud, or "un" in Japanese, as the family name for members of our Order, after the dharma name his teacher gave to Elliston Roshi : Taiun, meaning "Great Cloud." 

Our lineage founder, Zengaku Soyu Matsuoka Roshi, was born in 1912 and died in 1997. He came to the United States in 1939, when he was just 27 years old. He said his mother told him, "go die in America." He was tireless in propagating Soto Zen to Americans, first on the West Coast and later in the Midwest, and one of the first to promote the practice of Zen meditation for westerners. Sensei, as he asked his student to call him, was a student and friend of Daisetz Suzuki, the famous scholar who popularized Rinzai Zen in the West. 

A black-belt in Judo, he was very active in the martial arts, adviser to the Chicago Police Department Kyokushinkai Karate Association and National Karate Association, promoting the practice of zazen.

By the 1960s when Elliston Roshi - founder of the Order - first met him, Matsuoka Roshi had established the Chicago Zen Buddhist Temple, where he conducted his lay ordination...

Read the Full Article - with a slide show - about our Silent Thunder Order Lineage and Legacy.

2011 World Tai Chi Day

Only TWO WEEKS LEFT until a new edition of this historic event ...

This year, on Saturday, April 30^th,

WORLD TAI CHI DAY
 

will be celebrated at the Dothan Area Botanical Garden

On that particular day, at 10.00 AM local time, Tai Chi and Qi Gong Practitioners from all over the World, from Tokyo to Paris and Atlanta are going to practice. Here in the Wiregrass, we will  meet on the beautiful lawns of the Botanical Garden. 

Please join us for this Free event with your whole family - no special  clothing required - T-shirt and short or jogging pants. 

 

Take this opportunity to visit our gorgeous Botanical Garden, the Herbs and Rose gardens,  The KOI pond with its beautiful Japanese bridge. And stay for a picnic right after the event...

This year we will practice gentle stretching and balance enhancing moves from the Yi Jin Jing, a set of exercise developed in 6^th century China by Zen Master Bodhidharma. 

When the First Patriarch came from India to China to teach Zen, he settled at the Shaolin Monastery. According to the Legend, as he found that the monks there were not in very good physical shape, he taught them special Yoga moves that would enhance their Health. He specifically taught 2 exercises Yi Jin Jing, and Xi Sui Jing.

This year, we will practice together the moves of Yi Jin Jing.

 

For those willing to be BETTER PREPARED for this world event, 1 Free Seminar will be offered on Thursday, April 28^th at 6 PM at Westgate Park.

World Tai chi Day is sponsored locally by Frédéric Lecut’s School of Martial Arts and the City of Dothan Department of Leisure Services..

For more information about the whole worldwide event, please visit the remarkable website of the World Tai Chi and Qi Gong Day Organization (www.worldtaichiday.org)

For more information about the local event,  please contact

Frédéric Lecut (334) 798 1639 – frederic.lecut@gmail.com

Larry PATRICK (334) 615 3712 – lcpatrick@dothan.org

Directions to the Botanical Garden

Zen & Tai Chi & Iaido

Back from Atlanta where I participated in the July Sesshin at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center. I attended from Thursday Noon till Sunday Noon.

Sitting 8 to 9 hours a day is an interesting experience to say the least. I had never sat for such an extended period of time. Of course, we did not sit 8 hours in a row. Sitting periods last between 25 and 50 minutes, separated by 5 to 10 minutes of Kinhin - Walking meditation to release joints and muscle tension.

I had the privilege to teach a Tai Chi class to a group of Zen studentwho needed and enjoyed it (More about this later), and also gave a demonstration of Iai Jutsu, an interesting illustration of the Samadhi of Action.

The subject of this Seeshin being the Buddhist precepts, it occurred to me that at a basic level, these are equivalent to the numerous rules we need to learn to respect in order to draw our sword. Very hard at the beginning, then, once you master them, you can forget them...