The great Master Dogen said, "To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self, and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things." To be enlightened by the ten thousand things is to recognize the unity of the self and the ten thousand things (the phenomenal universe). This sequential process takes the form of a ceaseless spiritual journey that encompasses training, practice, realization, and actualization.

Our logo is the gift of Bob Dawe, who designed it for the former Zen Buffalo Group, the last incarnation of a now defunct local sitting group aligned with the Rochester Zen Center for over 30 years. It has been brought out of retirement to continue to serve its purpose – signifying our desire and commitment to take up the challenge of realizing one’s true self (one’s Buddha nature) via training and practice in the Zen tradition.

The logo consists of the third of the Ten Ox-herding Pictures—Seeing the Ox (i.e., our first glimpse of the True Self), the third stage of the spiritual journey on the path to realizing our ever-present enlightenment, symbolized by the Enso (Japanese for “circle”).

An Enso with an opening in the circle symbolizes that the Enso is not separate, but is part of something greater. Similarly, the Buffalo Zen Dharma Community is not separate, but part of something greater – the Society of Mountains and Rivers.