Ordinary Mind Zen Melbourne

Ordinary Mind Zen Melbourne offers a Zen Buddhist approach to cultivating mindful awareness and presence in the activities of daily life.

Our group practices a style of Zen Buddhism that is adapted to Western temperaments and ways of life, but maintains the discipline of its traditional roots.

We offer meditation meetings (2½ hours) at Kangaroo Ground, near Eltham and Warrandyte. Everyone is welcome to join us: beginners, experienced practitioners, and people of all traditions.

The meditation meetings are suitable for anyone with little or no meditation experience. If you would like to attend and are coming for the first time, please read about Starting Out and then Contact Us one to two weeks in advance.

upcoming sesshin

Geoff Dawson, Zen teacher and psychologist, will be visiting Melbourne to lead a 4-day residential Sesshin

Lower Plenty, Melbourne
9:00am Saturday 4th of November
4:00pm Tuesday 7th of November 2023

Sesshin literally means, “to touch the heart mind.” It is a time put aside from our daily lives to substantially deepen our Zen practice, by participating in a meditation intensive at a residential retreat.
If you are interested, please provide the completed registration form by the 29th of October. Further information is provided in the form.

Sesshin_Application_Form_2023.docx (live.com)

Geoff’s new book on the Zen precepts has now been published, and is available online at Amazon books as a paperback and kindle version.

The Ten Zen Precepts: Guidelines for Cultivating Moral Intelligence

Zen Buddhism is best known for its cultivation of spiritual insight, rigorous practice of sitting meditation and mindful simplicity in every-day life. What is less known about Zen is its ethical foundation, its roots deep in the Buddha’s teachings of non-harm and generosity of spirit.

These teachings are the ten precepts. They are not commandments, or moral absolutes, but guidelines on how to cultivate good character, to conduct our lives with better wisdom and compassion.

Our Practice

We are a small group of students practising under the guidance of our teacher, Geoff Dawson. The heart of our Zen practice is meditation: being in life as it is, in the present moment. We extend this into our daily life, supporting ourselves and others around us. 

Readings & talks

Our Zen group reads a number of Sutras (texts) and books on Zen by modern teachers. There are also Dharma Talks by our teacher Geoff Dawson, and Students Writings shared by our group.

Recent Dharma Talks

Recent Student Writings

Life and Generosity

Life and Generosity

Nature exists freely giving for the benefit of the whole, without expecting anything in return. It’s what cells do naturally without thinking, and to me it describes the spirit of generosity, one of the paramitas in our practice
Toxic Positivity

Toxic Positivity

Recently I stumbled across the phrase ‘toxic positivity’, which graphically conjured up unhelpful ways of dealing with the challenges of everyday life

Acknowledgment of Country

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, and pay respect to them and to their Elders past, present and emerging. We give thanks for their wisdom and for their care of country since ancient times, and acknowledge their resilience, their continuing culture, and the ongoing contribution they make to the life of this region.