Relationship as Practice
The Six Paramitas and the Ground of Interconnected Being
Saturday, Feb. 28 | 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Soji Zen Center | Lansdowne, PA
Our relationships—intimate, familial, professional, and communal—are where the Dharma becomes embodied in the shared spaces of meaningful connection. The way we meet one another reveals our habits, our tenderness, our reactivity, and our inherent capacity for boundless care. When we bring presence and openness to these encounters, relationships become part of the seamless ground of practice, a place where we can explore growth at our edges and discover what supports genuine connection.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how the six paramitas—generosity, integrity, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom—can guide us in the everyday work of being with each other. These “perfections” offer teachings that illuminate how we show up in relationship. They invite us to notice what we seek, how we listen, how we speak, how we steady ourselves in difficulty, and how we recognize the deeper freedom available wherever we truly meet another person.
Through conversation, guided exercises, and shared inquiry, we’ll explore:
- Dana (Generosity): Offering yourself without clinging—giving that dissolves the boundary between giver, receiver, and gift.
- Sīla (Integrity): Living in alignment so that your actions, speech, and presence naturally reduce harm and build trust.
- Kshanti (Patience): Meeting difficulty with humility and openness—allowing things to unfold as they are without rejecting or turning away.
- Virya (Energy): Sustaining wholehearted engagement—devoted, steady effort toward that which is supportive and beneficial.
- Dhyana (Meditation): Resting in deep awareness—attention that is settled, embodied, and fully present in the space of a relationship.
- Prajña (Wisdom): Seeing clearly into causes, conditions, and non‑separation, the insight that frees the heart.
Come on your own or with a friend or partner. All are welcome—no prior experience with Zen or meditation is required. What matters is your willingness to explore relationships as a path of practice and a doorway into wider awareness.
Teachers
Sensei John Ango Gruber is a Soto priest and guiding teacher at Soji Zen Center. He has taught for thirty‑five years and has conducted seminars on education, ecology, and community. At Soji, he has led workshops on meditation, writing practice, paradox, and impermanence. As a Zen teacher and ecologist, he is deeply interested in collective healing, practices of bearing witness, and ways to open ourselves to the ground of connection and interdependence.
Sonja Lindgren, MSS, LCSW, is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist in Wayne, PA, whose work focuses on trauma, relationship, and the embodied process of healing. She brings a steady, compassionate presence and a commitment to ongoing integration—individual, relational, and creative. Sonja is drawn to the ways authentic connection can open new possibilities for understanding and transformation.
This workshop is in-person only, and the suggested donation is $40 for members, $45 for non-members. To attend, please complete the registration form no later than February 25. Payment can be made in cash or check (made payable to “Soji: Dedicated to the Study of Soto Zen Buddhism”) or through PayPal. If you have any questions, please contact us.
