What is Sanctuary?

It is a personalized space where one can negate the phenomenal self, silence the external noise of urban existence, and return the spirit to its rest position. The koans teach that the self is a void, but one that is charged with the energy of the individual spirit, which moves in patterns and has unique shapes. The self, the being, is empty but unique. The rest place, the temple of being and the self and therefore also unique.




Sanctuary (san(k)-chu-were)
n. M. English: A consecrated place,
a place of refuge and protection.



Samadhi (sum-ad-e)
n. Sanskrit: Absorption, the quality of zazen
(meditation), oneness with the universe.



Koan (koan)
n. Japanese. A presentation of the harmony
of the universal and the particular; a theme
of zazen (meditation) to be made clear; a
contemplative paradox that clears the mind.



Environment (in-vi-runment)
n. M. English: the circumstances, objects,
or conditions, by which one is surrounded
and influenced.



As the World Honored One was walking with his followers, he pointed at the ground and said, "This is a good spot for building a sanctuary." Indra, the Emperor of the Gods, took a blade of grass, stuck it in the ground and said, "The sanctuary is built." The World Honored One smiled.

-from The Book of Serenity