Almost every Class and Event we offer is recorded live. These unedited recordings are held in our Media Archive. Certain ones of these are only viewable by the participants in a particular Class or Event but the vast majority are available to everyone.

There are currently over 3,600 audio and video files stored there that go back to the 1970's starting at the Los Angeles Zen Center and continue through the years up to our current offerings. They include Zen teachings on a vast number of Zen topics by numerous different teachers. They are arranged by year and topic. 

See the Media Archive Index here

Recordings of our current classes are posted within a day or so of the event so our students can go back and review or catch up on a class they missed.

The Media Archive is one of our great treasures and real benefit of having Kanzeon Big Mind Membership.

Your Membership will allow you to review the vast majority of the historical files in the Archive as much as you like, and you will have access to the current schedule of classes you might attend according to your Membership level or participation as a non-member.

However, we do not give access to current recordings of classes and events that are not a part of your particular Membership level.

Kanzeon Big Mind Membership or participation in a class or event implies your permission to record and archive our classes. If you do not want to be identified on these recordings you may leave your zoom camera off or use an avatar with a different name.

That being said, we have a warm and friendly membership group that is respectful and caring about your preferences.

Not everyone wants to take the path of becoming a monk or a Zen priest such as a Sensei or Roshi. However, Genpo Roshi has ordained over 500 men and women to become Zen monks and a number of them have gone on to become a Sensei or Roshi and have established their own Zen Teaching Centers in North America and Europe. 

If this does interest and inspire you we can definitely guide you through the process.

For the vast majority of people, many thousands who have studied with Kanzeon Big Mind, Zen practice is something that they have incorporated into their lives as a way of better appreciating and supporting their lives as parents, co-workers, and members of their local communities. This is a very important way for Zen principles and practices to become embedded in the social fabric of modern Western life to the benefit of all.

Our regular classes and events are therefore focused on showing how our practice is relevant to, and beneficial for, daily life and not so much on the formal procedures and ceremonies that accompany most Buddhist Monasteries and training centers. You will have opportunities to witness and participate in services and ceremonies if you wish but these are not required to bring Zen into your life as a useful tool. The Buddha is not a God and he is not worshipped but rather is honored for the insights of his enlightenment and for the teachings that have been passed down to us. The ceremonies and services we do are directed toward bringing peace and harmony to all beings through the efforts of all of us, individually and as a community, each day.