Beginner's Zen Class 2024
Learn basic Zen concepts and meditation skills in this 3-session course.
The Beginner’s Zen Class is a 3-session course for newcomers to learn basic Zen ideas and meditation skills.
The video classes are AI-generated and edited by Team Wisdom members of the Center: Elaine Hsiung, Andrew Tan, Khang Hua Pang, and William Lin. With this 2024 version, we aim to deliver the Center's teachings accurately and vividly, explaining Zen concepts and meditation skills with accessibility and passion.
In this 3-session course, you will be learning some basic Zen concepts, including the Zen term "duality", the purpose of Zen meditation, the self-nature, and the processes and levels of Zen meditation. You will also learn and practice three meditation skills, including the breath-counting meditation, just-breathing meditation, and doubting meditation (Chn. huatou, Jpn. wato, Krn. hwadu).
None Zen Center is a volunteer-based non-profit organization, providing tuition-free Zen classes and running entirely by donation. Our founding masters and volunteer instructors are our primary donors. We need your help to support a tuition-free Zen environment and help continually grow the Zen community. Please consider donating $5, $8, $12 or any generous amount monthly. Any one-time or recurring donations at less or greater amounts are truly and deeply appreciated. We thank you for your love, care, and generosity for the Zen community.
Your Instructor
Elaine Hsiung, Andrew Tan, Khang Hau Pang, William Lin
Course Curriculum
Session 1 of 3
Available in
days
days
after you enroll
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StartBE1.01_Introduction to Beginner's Zen Class (1:14)
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StartBE1.02_Code of Silence (0:30)
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StartBE1.03_End Bell (0:40)
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StartBE1.04_Gathering Bell (0:44)
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StartBE1.05_Meditation Gear (0:37)
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StartBE1.07_Sitting on a chair (2:21)
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StartBE1.06_Sitting on a Meditation Cushion (5:12)
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StartBE1.08_Think of Nothing exercise (4:00)
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StartBE1.09_Conclusion for the Think-of-nothing exercise (0:35)
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StartBE1.10_To Think And Not To Think (1:31)
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StartBE1.11_Duality v.s. Ultimate Solution (1:40)
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StartBE1.12_Three Meditative Levels (1:39)
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StartBE1.13_The Method of Breath-Counting Meditation (1:35)
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StartBE1.14_Practice Breath-counting Meditation (5:07)
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StartBE1.15_Evaluate the Practice of Breath-counting meditation (1:53)
Session 2 of 3
Available in
days
days
after you enroll
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StartBE2.01_Introduction (0:53)
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StartBE2.02_Three Tips to advance your Zen meditation practice (1:08)
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StartBE2.03_The Method of Just-breathing Meditation (1:43)
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StartBE2.04_Practice Just-breathing Meditation (5:40)
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StartBE2.05_Evaluate the Practice of Just Breathing Meditation (0:56)
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StartBE2.06_The Zen Concept of Ultimate Solution or No-self (1:52)
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StartBE2.07_A Challenge Question to No-self (1:04)
Session 3 of 3
Available in
days
days
after you enroll
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StartBE3.01_The method of Doubting Meditation (2:15)
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StartBE3.02_Practice Doubting Meditation (7:17)
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StartBE3.03_Evaluate the Practice of Doubting Meditation (0:56)
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StartBE3.04_The Origin of Doubting Meditation (1:11)
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StartEB3.05_Doubting Meditation in the Chineses Zen Tradition (0:29)
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StartEB3.06_Not Thinking of Good and Evil (1:35)
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StartBE3.07_Recap Doubting Meditation (1:10)
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StartBE3.08_Selfless Nature and Selfless Devotion (2:52)
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StartBE3.09_Recap Beginner's Class (1:16)
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StartEB3.10_Assessment, Self-regularity, and Classes to Take (1:40)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is None Zen Center?
None Zen Center is a community to advance your Zen practice.
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At None Zen Center, Zen meditation is not about looking for relaxation, tranquility, or stillness; it is about uncovering the nature of your self, or reaching enlightenment. We started our first meditation center in Taipei, Taiwan in 2013. In 2015, we founded our San Jose Center in California, USA. Two years after that, we had our third meditation center in Tainan, Taiwan by end of 2017, and in February 2020, we started to provide Zen classes in Manchester, UK.
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To spread out the Zen teaching worldwide, we launched our Online Zen School on March 29, 2019, with two courses (Basic Zen Concepts and Monk Boshan’s Advice for Investigating Zen) as a soft opening. One year later on March 27, 2020, we started to provide online Beginner’s Zen Class and Bridging Class, and Advanced Class (May 2020), the structured Zen classes as we provide in our physical centers, aiming to provide a serious Zen meditation environment to advance practitioners’ Zen practice globally.
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You may find more information about us at www.nonezencenter.org</br>
I want to learn Zen meditation and build up a regular meditation habit. Which courses should I enroll in? Should I take the courses in a certain order?
We suggest that you start from Beginner’s Zen Class.
In this 3-session course, you will be learning some basic Zen concepts and three meditation methods, including the breath-counting meditation, just-breathing meditation, and doubting meditation (Chn. huatou, Jpn. wato, Krn. hwadu).
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After completing the Beginner's Zen Class, you are welcome to join the Bridging Class. The Bridging Class is a 3-session course. In this 3-session course, you will be learning, practicing, and getting familiar with Doubting Meditation, a time-tested and widely-applied meditation skill that has been proven to lead people to enlightenment, to uncover their self-nature.
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After that, you are welcome to join Advanced Class. Advanced Class is an ongoing course. You will be reading some Zen doctrines and/or Zen stories (Chn. Gongan, Jpn. Koan) to build up the right view about Zen and Zen meditation, and you will be continually practicing Doubting Meditation, as Doubting Meditation is the major meditation method that we apply in the Center. </br>
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Because the platform Teachable is unable to provide a compliance for setting up an order for the courses, and we do want you to complete Beginner’s Zen Class and Bridging Class before you take Advanced Class.
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We are thinking about providing our Disciple Training Program (including Instructor Training) online too. Hopefully, we can provide the online Disciple Training Program by 2024. You may find the information about Disciple Training Program at https://thenone.org/discipleship/</br>
What should I prepare before taking the courses?
You will need to have a meditation cushion or a firmly stuffed pillow to sit on If you want to learn meditation. You will also want to wear loose-fitting clothes to be comfortable for sitting meditation. And it would be better if you could mute your handset and not check emails/texts during class hours.
How about the tuition fees? How much should I pay for a course?
Just like all the Zen classes provided by None Zen Center, the Online Zen School is tuition-free. As a non-profit organization, providing tuition-free Zen classes and running entirely by donations. Our founding masters and volunteer instructors are our primary donors. We need your help to support a tuition-free Zen environment and help continually grow the Zen community. Please consider donating $5, $8, $12 or any generous amount monthly. Any one-time or recurring donations at less or greater than these amounts are truly and deeply appreciated. We thank you for your love, care, and generosity for the Zen community.
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You may give your donation by clicking on the link below to our Paypal donation page. You do not need a Paypal account to donate. But if you consider giving motherly recurring donations, you will need a Paypal account. Link to donate - https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=SQU2FUA98SP4G&source=url
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Can I retake the courses?
Sure. You may retake the courses anytime.
Who can I contact if I have questions?
You are very welcome to email us at school@nonezencenter.org