Practice Meditation at FUSN

FUSN has a long history as a spiritual home for meditation practices within Buddhist traditions. The FUSN community and the public are welcome to weekly gatherings. Dana or traditional free-will offerings for group support are not expected but are accepted.

Empty Sky Vipassana Sangha

Meets at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays

This group practices meditation in the Vipassana or Insight tradition meeting weekly except during the summer. The group’s approach to practice is simple. A typical evening practice group involves a sitting period of about 40 minutes, followed by 15-20 minutes of walking meditation, followed by another sitting of about 30-40 minutes.

Some instruction is usually offered each evening, a talk of about 30-40 minutes twice a month and a discussion period of 15-30 minutes most evenings. There are occasional opportunities for individual meetings with the teacher, who is always available upon request, though most formal interviews occur during retreats.

Retreats follow the same format as evening practice groups with alternate periods of sitting and walking throughout the day, communal meals, a daily work period, individual meetings, and yoga sessions at least once a day. Retreats are conducted in strict silence.

Douglas Phillips, the teacher, has practiced Vipassana and Zen for over 30 years. His primary teachers have been Maureen Stuart, Roshi; Zen Master George Bowman with whom he took Jukai; James Ford, Roshi; and Larry Rosenberg. Doug began his work in Vipassana with Larry in 1990, received permission to teach in 1995 and Dharma Transmission in 2003. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist and maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Newton, Massachusetts. You can learn more online.

Henry David Thoreau Zen Sangha, which met for many years at FUSN under the direction of former FUSN Senior Minister James Ford, now meets Monday nights at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newton MA. This group, nicknamed Hank, is not affiliated with FUSN. To learn more, contact hanksanghainfo [at] gmail [dot] com.

Suggested Buddhist Readings

Martine Batchelor Thorsons, Principles of Zen, Arguably the best short introduction to Zen in the English language.

James Ishmael Ford, This Very Moment, A concise introduction to Zen and Buddhism aimed particularly at Unitarian Universalists and other religious liberals.

Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs, A reflection on Buddhist practice from an engaged agnostic approach. Highly recommended.

David Brazier, The Feeling Buddha, A contemporary exploration of Buddhist psychology.

Bernie Glassman, Bearing Witness, Zen reflections on social action and social justice.

Stephanie Kaza & Kenneth Kraft, Dharma Rain, Explorations in ecological consciousness from a Buddhist perspective.

The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, A highly useful reference work for Buddhist and Zen terminology.

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, A glossy Buddhist-oriented quarterly magazine.

Web Sites

Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library

An exhaustive Internet guide to Zen online resources. Of particular interest might be the Harada-Yasutani School of Zen Buddhism, which situates the historical connections of the Henry Thoreau Zen Sangha.

Boundless Way Zen

Pacific Zen Institute
HTZS is affiliated with this experimental Zen community. James Ford is a member of the Pacific Zen Institute teacher’s Collegium.

Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship
Networking Unitarian Universalist Buddhists and friends.

Spring Hill Zen
A Zen community at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford, MA, affiliated with the Henry Thoreau Zen Sangha.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Zen Sangha
A Zen community at First Church of Boston, MA, affiliated with the Henry Thoreau Zen Sangha.