Peace of mind
Local residents find community at Troy Zen Center
Inside an open 2,900-square-foot space sits several rows of cushions in a semi-circle around an altar donning a golden statue sitting under a huge Bodhi tree. Plants surround each side of the altar creating a sense of nature and peace, overcoming the space with its simplicity.
Members of the Dharma Gate Zen Center in Troy start to pile in waiting for 10 a.m. Sunday service to start. Each member is dealing with something different — grief, confusion, seeking a sense of mindfulness and peace, etc. They all have something in common, a sense of community and acceptance with and for one another in the sangha.
Service is led by founder Venerable Hoden Sunim — a Buddhist Monk from Birmingham who trained in South Korea.
Dharma Gate Zen Center was founded in 2014 as a resource for people to experience and learn ways to gain mindfulness and balance through Buddhism and zen practice.
“Hoden’s approach to the Dharma offers a nice connection to traditional ceremonies and living in the Midwest,” said Jordan Ceresnie, Royal Oak resident and member of Dharma Gate Zen Center.
During Sunday service, Ceresnie prefers to sit cross-legged in front, near the altar. Likewise, Royal Oak resident Mark Reynolds can be found sitting in a chair near the back. Reynolds is a retired veteran who served in the Air Force.
Each service includes a period of 20-minute silent meditation — a time to clear one’s mind and live in the present as a community. A time to focus on breathing and enter an internal center of peace.
The only sound comes from the above ceiling fan blades cutting through the air. Tranquility fills the room.
Both Reynolds and Ceresnie are in different stages of life but both have found a home at the Dharma Gate Zen Center and are closing in on one year as active members.
Reynolds was looking for a way to ease his mind, which was full of guilt and anger from events in his past, while Ceresnie was feeling void of a community of like-minded people and craved a group to practice meditation with.
As a community of over 100 members, a common theme amongst sangha members is not only a community of acceptance but also guidance on how to live a more centered lifestyle.
Ceresnie comes from a Jewish background but growing up with Jewish faith and tradition never seemed to fit him and he eventually lost touch with the religion.
“From a young age I was interested in how the world worked and what makes life what it is,” he said. “In learning about Buddhism, I learned about being on the path to self liberation and awakening and in the process, vowing to help all others.”
Ceresnie was a chef for about 15 years but the demanding hours didn’t fit the lifestyle he wanted when his first child was born six years ago. Wanting more balance in life, he did some soul searching and decided on a career change.
“I was in a life crisis and feeling anxious and uncertain of things,” he said. “I used meditation as a way to center myself and make clear decisions and become more accepting of what is happening right now.”
In finding the Dharma Gate Zen Center, Ceresnie feels he now found something spiritual to help in his everyday life. Wanting to pursue a path of service to others, he is working towards a Bachelor’s degree in counseling.
As a form of meditation at home, Ceresnie finds comfort and creativity through the art of Origami. As a way of sharing that creativity with others, he recently held a class on the art of paperfolding at the Zen Center.
“In pursuit of wanting to give back I wanted to offer something to other community members,” he said.
While Ceresnie found a community of like-minded individuals, Reynolds was looking to calm feelings of guilt and anger from his past.
“Meditation has had an incredible effect on calming those feelings I was wrestling with,” he said. “I can really focus and think about the issues, break them down and deal with them.”
After 50 years of searching for relief, Reynolds found clarity in one word while speaking with one of the Dharma students — intent.
Asking himself the question “What’s my intent?” was the key to absolving his feel
of guilt and anger.
The 69-year-old veteran said he has transformed in the nine months that he’s been attending the Zen Center and has been able to overcome two of his biggest life issues.
“It’s absolutely been life changing,” he said. “I’m breaking down so many barriers I’ve constructed over my life and am on a really good path right now and I just love these guys,” he said.
Reynolds is currently involved in several volunteer organizations, including Habitat for Humanity and being a first responder with disaster relief organization Team Rubicon, where he is deployed around the country to help when natural disasters occur.
“All this volunteer work is very Buddhist and spiritually oriented,” he said. “I firmly believe that our purpose is to help other people.”
Dharma is a gateway to a practice that allows one to have a better understanding of life through balance and compassion and the Dharma Gate Zen Center offers programs centered around building awareness and mindfulness.