Blog — No Barriers Zen

We just uploaded our first 6 entries into our ASL Buddhist Dictionary here on the website! The site is starting to really come together, and front and center is this great new educational page; our dictionary! Our hope for this dictionary is that it helps to create a culture of education and access. With study and communication being two of our Five Expressions, it is vitally important to continually foster the study of our languages. Our communication, or how we express the Dharma in our lives, and how we connect with each other while doing it, is an important piece of our spirituality!

Added to this new dictionary are ASL signs for: "Buddhism", "Buddhist", "Nirvana", and three sign variations for "Buddha". With many more signs to come in the near future. If you have questions about these signs, or you would like to offer feedback, please contact us.

Monju Bosatsu resting on a matching walnut platform — *Monju Bosatsu* resting on a matching walnut platform

This is our first blog post!
We wanted to share a nice little piece of news with the sangha, and what a better way than to test out a new area of our website. Our altar has a wonderful new addition! Zen practitioner, master woodworker, and friend of the NBZ sangha, Eric Shokei Manigian has donated a wonderful altar platform to us! Seen above and below in some sample pictures, this handsome platform matches our Monju Bosatsu or Manjushri Bodhisattva statue.

Monju Bosatsu on the new altar platform with incense koro, candle, water offering and flowers. — *Monju Bosatsu* on the new altar platform with incense koro, candle, water offering and flowers.

Crafted by hand in his workshop in Brooklyn, NY, this walnut platform will serves us well for years to come. Shokei sends his best wishes and loving support to our burgeoning community.

And we thank Shokei for his generous dana, and skillful work.

If you would like to see more of Shokei's work, you can see his online portfolio here:
Eric Shokei Manigian