Stillwater Zen Community - Fall Practice Period

Welcomes both new and seasoned meditators

Wednesday Evenings

October 14 - December 9, 2026

6:30 - 8:30 pm

September 9th - WARMING IN

An additional practice evening to re-unite after the summer. Full practice schedule includes instruction, practice guideline, introduction to body of fall study and time to meet each other.

*We aim to never turn anyone away due to financial barriers. Please reach out.

*Due to limited physical space, we are limited to accept 22 attendees for this series.

* For seasoned and brand new practitioners

This fall invites us to read, contemplate, then fully embody through practice ~ Illumination by Rebecca Li. In her lucid and gentle guide, Rebecca Li presents Silent Illumination, a Buddhist practice from the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen.

Li’s teachers taught this process as “let through, let be, let go.” Li expounds on these steps of recognizing and allowing our thoughts and emotions while refraining from reactivity. And after explaining what Silent Illumination is, she spends several chapters explaining what it is not. This is helpful because we can recognize ourselves in the descriptions of common modes of operation and begin to unlearn unhelpful habits. Some of these modes are craving mode, aversion mode, trance mode, problem-solving mode and intellectualizing mode. Many meditators will observe their own tendencies in these chapters.

This wonderful book and body of practice works to sift through our intellectualization of Buddhism and meditation. Reading and conceptualizing can seduce us into fitting our experience into neat categories. It is comforting to believe we have it all figured out! But as Li reminds us, if we substitute concepts for “directly experiencing each emerging present moment, we are not gaining insight into the subtle habits of the mind.” Li’s teacher, Master Sheng Yen, used the analogy of studying the menu instead of eating the food. “If we mistake reading Dharma books for practicing, for directly experiencing each moment as it is, we will be like the hungry person who reads a menu without eating.”

Schedule

6:20 pm - arrive early to be ready for the bell to ring (please do not arrive at 7 pm or after)

6:30 pm - Bell rings

Meditation - 25 minutes - upright progressive relaxation technique (working with muscle tension and releasing techniques through embodiment practice).

7 pm - Kinhin - Walking Meditation

7:10 pm - Zazen (just sitting)

7:35 pm - Heart Sutra

7:45 pm - Dharma offering of Chan ~ Illumination by Rebecca Li

8 pm - Tea, shared curiosity & insight.

8:30 pm - Closing Chant

Location

The Domestic Monastery Home Studio

637 Kincaid Road

Kelowna BC V1W 4P5

Contact : melissaberryappleton@gmail.com

250-870-2101

*All cushions & chairs provided. You are welcome to bring personal meditation benches. 

MORE ABOUT COMMUNITY PRACTICE

ZEN IS A PATH ~  definitely not for the expert meditator or a journey to be travelled alone. Gathering in practice generates great support and commitment. 

The word “Zen” is tossed around so carelessly in the commercial world, the human potential world, the world of design, and in popular culture in general, that for someone new to it as an authentic spiritual tradition, it has become too vague to have much meaning. Real Zen is the practice of coming back to the actual right-now-in-this-moment self, coming back to the naturalness, the intimacy and simplicity of our true nature. Zen practice is not about getting away from our life as it is; it is about getting into our life as it is, with all of its vividness, beauty, hardship, joy and sorrow. Zen is a path of awakening: awakening to who we really are, and awakening the aspiration to serve others and take responsibility for all of life.

Stillwater Zen Community ~

Have you even seen flowing water?

Have you ever seen still water?

If your mind is peaceful it will be just like still, flowing water.

Have you ever seen still, flowing water?

There! You've only ever seen flowing water and still water, haven't you?

But you've never seen still, flowing water. 

Right there, right where your thinking cannot take you, even though it's peaceful you can develop wisdom. 

Your mind will be like flowing water, and yet it's still.

It's almost as if it were still, and yet it's flowing. 

So, I call it "still, flowing water."

Wisdom can arise here.

(Ajahn Chah)

Who Are We?

We are a gathering of regular householders, neighbours, and meditation friends in Kelowna ~ both brand new and old. We have chores, jobs, family responsibilities, and pets, amidst the messiness and joy of life. Together we enliven the idea of a domestic monastery ~ walking the path of a seeker and spiritual formation through meditation and Zen Buddhism. Our commitment builds strength, courage, wisdom and action to support vulnerable aspects of our lives and community.

We have become an Upaya Seed Sangha!

Seeds are “bundles of creation” that hold both history and the future within their firm seed coat.  When the earth warms and the seed coat breaks open, the radicle roots deep into the dark ground, followed by the shoot which extends toward the light, connecting earth and sky.

Ancestral seeds can be passed down for thousands of years. They reflect the richness of the past and the potential of the future, also hope for survival and for a future rich with possibility. This is the way of dharma, a transmission through time and space, through meeting darkness and light, through acknowledging the past and caring for the present and  future.

Thus we have given the name of  “Seed Sanghas” to and deepening communities of practice and service. These local communities are dedicated to watering seeds of care and awakening in others and ourselves and cultivating the heart and mind of the Buddha.

It is with this deep honoring and understanding that the Upaya community is supporting Seed Sanghas in many parts of the world. Seed Sanghas gather locally and in person, practice together and join together in acts of service as socially and environmentally engaged sanghas. They are grounded in the tradition of Upaya Zen Centre, Soto Zen, and follow the teachings of Roshi Joan Halifax and the spirit of Thich Nhat Hanh and Roshi Bernie Glassman.

Stillwater Guiding  Counsel

Jody Pihl

Dr. Alysha Mackenzi-Feder

Natalie Matthews

Melissa Berry Appleton

Home Teacher 

Melissa Seikai Berry Appleton, received jukai lay ordination by Roshi Joan Halifax in 2018, Psychotherapist, Buddhist Chaplain, Somatic Movement Teacher (University of British Columbia Okanagan, Third Space Charity, Interior Health British Columbia)

Shared Leadership 

Jody Pihl (former lawyer and Upaya Zen Centre Chaplain in training)

UPAYA ZEN CENTRE PRECEPTS

We gather in the spirit of beginner's mind. Even the one who has never sat on a cushion before ~ you are most welcome and capable! Together, we are here to support you.

Upaya Zen Centres 16 Buddhist Precepts, also known as vows or ethics. 

A commitment to vows/ethics begins with recognizing that everything

we do makes waves. These waves begin in body, speech, and

mind, and ripple through our lives and the lives of those around

us. Although we often think of ethics as rules, choosing an ethical

way of life is also an expression of deep interconnectedness.

THREE REFUGES 

Inviting all creations into the mandala of my practice and vowing to serve them, I take refuge in: 

Buddha, the awakened nature of all beings, 

Dharma, the ocean of wisdom and compassion, 

Sangha, the interdependence of all creations 

THE THREE TENETS and THREE PURE PRECEPTS 

Taking refuge and entering the stream of engaged practice, I vow to: 

• First, do no harm: I vow not to harm others or myself, and to live in not knowing as the source of all manifestations. 

• Second, do good: I vow to bear witness to the joys and pain of all life, and clearly see what is, without attachment or judgment. 

• Third, do good for others: I vow to invite all hungry spirits into my life, and commit my energy and love to the healing of the earth, humanity, and all beings. 

THE TEN PURE MIND PRACTICES 

Endeavoring to actualize my vows, I engage in the practices of: 

1. Recognizing that I am not separate from all that is: this is the practice of Non-harming. I will not lead a harmful life nor encourage others to do so, and I will live in harmony with all life and the environment sustaining it. 

2. Being satisfied with what I have: this is the practice of Non-Stealing. I will not take anything not given, practicing contentment by freely giving, asking for, and accepting what is needed. 

3. Encountering all creations with respect and dignity; this is the practice of Chaste Conduct. I will give and accept love and friendship without using or clinging 

4. Listening and speaking truthfully with kindness: this is the practice of NonLying. I will compassionately and constructively speak the truth as I perceive it, deceiving and harming no one. 

5. Cultivating a mind that sees clearly: this is the practice of Not Being Deluded. I will embrace all experiences directly, without the many intoxicants of this world.  

6. Realizing kindness: this is the practice of Not Talking About Others’ Faults and Errors. Accepting what each moment offers, I vow to realize that I am not separate from any aspect of life and will abstain from criticizing others, taking responsibility for my own life. 

7. Cultivating humility. This is the practice of Not Elevating Myself and Blaming Others. I will not blame or judge others, nor compete with others or covet recognition. I will hold all beings in equal regard and practice inclusiveness. 

8. Being generous: this is the practice of Not Being Stingy. I will not foster a mind of poverty in others or myself, and I will use all the ingredients of my life, giving my best effort and accepting the result. 

9. Transforming suffering into wisdom: this is the practice of Not Being Angry. I will not harbor resentment, rage, or revenge, and I will let anger teach me. 

10. Honoring my life as a source of compassion and wisdom: this is the practice of Not Disparaging the Three Treasures. I will recognize that all beings, including myself, are expressions of oneness, diversity, and interdependence. 

THE FOUR COMMITMENTS

I commit myself to a culture of nonviolence and reverence for life. I commit myself to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order. I commit myself to a culture of inclusiveness and a life based on truthfulness. I commit myself to a culture of equal rights for all people regardless of race, gender, ability, and economic status.