Mini-Retreat: Koans, Parables, and other Strange Sayings

*Last Mini-Retreat until September!

Register in advance: https://onrealm.org/TrinityEpiscopalpdx/PublicRegistrations/Event?linkString=YzBjYTE4YTEtMGQ4Mi00NjkyLTgxYmUtYjE1YzAwMDA3NDBh

(In person only; Led by Chris Bell) Koans are the recorded incidents of the interactions, conversations, and proclamations of many Zen masters through the centuries, first compiled in China in the 12th Century. The study of koans combined with silent sitting is a well-established path to awakening used to this very day.

Rich with imagery, koans are puzzling, inviting, often funny, even shocking invitations to a direct experience of Reality as It Truly Is. As such, they are similar to the aphorisms and parables of Jesus, which we will also consider. Come hear the sound of the single hand!

About the facilitator: The Rev’d Chris Bell earned his M.Div from Harvard Divinity School in 2005, then led the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Santa Rosa, California for 15 years. Since moving to Portland in 2021, he first served as a hospice chaplain, and is now the coordinator of the volunteer program for BeLoved Hospice. In 2023, after completing the Rinzai Zen koan curriculum, he was designated a Zen Teacher by Roshi Rachel Mansfield-Howlett.

Contemplative Mini-Retreats take place every 3rd Saturday, 9:00 am-noon. Join us for meditation, contemplative prayer as we sit together in community, with time for reflection, learning, and support, with guest teachers to help us explore the contemplative path. Mini-Retreats are free, but donations are gratefully accepted.