Tag Archive for: Rev. Taizan Alford

Cultivating A Heart of Compassion

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Cultivating A Heart of Compassion
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Reflection by Alex Frantz
Sermon by Rev. Taizan Alford
Cultivating a heart of compassion in the midst of suffering is not an easy thing. You might be wondering what good this might be in our modern world. The Boddhisatva vows in Buddhism point us towards living life remembering we are all in this boat of life together. Soto Zen priest, Tai Alford will explore how pointing ourselves in the direction of freeing all beings might just be the answer needed for personal freedom from suffering. He will share stories, practices, and songs.

Guest speaker Tai Alford is a long-time member of the Fox Valley UU Fellowship along with his husband Tom Pynenberg. He is an ordained Soto Zen priest in training at Clouds In Water Zen Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. He hopes to train in Japan in the next year or so. The focus of his practice is how suffering can be alleviated in daily life through living the precepts wholeheartedly with compassion.

Healing Trauma with the Help of the Buddha

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Healing Trauma with the Help of the Buddha
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Reflection by Leah Thibodeau
Sermon by Rev. Taizan Alford
Shakyamuni Buddha has been quoted as saying: I teach one thing and one thing only… suffering and the end of suffering. Rev. Taizan Alford, will explore ways the principles and practices of Soto Zen Buddhism might help alleviate the roots of suffering stemming from old trauma. How can the eightfold path of Buddhism lead to new ways of reacting to old hurts and provide a way out of suffering for everyday people?

Taizan Alford has been a member of the Fellowship since 1998. He was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in training by Sosan Flynn at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN in 2016. He recently spent three months in residency at the Zen Mountain Monastery in Upstate New York. When not traveling for zen training his lives in Appleton with his husband, Tom Pynenberg.