About the HBS Zen Group

We hold regular meditation-based meetings in Totton. For newcomers, we usually suggest attending one of our monthly open meetings first. These are normally held on the last Monday of the month and offer a chance to ask questions and learn more about Zen and about our group in particular.

The location is about fifteen minutes’ walk from the rail station on Ringwood Road. There is no charge for any of our meetings.

The Zen Group is affiliated to the Zen Centre, which has temples in London and Luton and offers a structured training programme. The Zen Centre is closely associated with the Buddhist Society.

The head teacher of the Zen Centre is Martin Goodson, who was appointed by our founder, Venerable Myokyo-ni. Venerable Myokyo-ni, then known as Dr Irmgard Schloegl, trained in Japan for twelve years during the 1960s and early 1970s at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto and qualified as a Zen Master. She died in 2007 and is now formally known as Master Daiyu Myokyo.

Talks by Martin Goodson can be found on The Zen Gateway . These introductory talks are a good place to start.

Buddhist principles can be learned at the Group’s meetings and by study, but the Buddhist Society’s correspondence course is recommended for a systematic approach. Two members of the Group are correspondence course tutors.

Once a month there is an opportunity to attend an all-day Sunday meeting at the Buddhist Society in London, usually led by Dr Desmond Biddulph and by Venerable Sogen of Fairlight Zen Buddhist Temple in Luton.

Every summer there is an opportunity to attend the Buddhist Society’s residential Summer School, held at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester.

For those further along in their training, the Zen Centre offers sesshins (retreats) ranging from one to five days. There is no need to do everything at once. The best place to start is usually one of our monthly open meetings.

If you would like to come, please email hbs.zen.group@gmail.com for details.